A return to the general
Without a job, Watson was offered a position at Bendix Corporation, in which he found himself back at Holden, ensconced as resident engineer at Fishermans Bend, liaising with people he had worked with throughout the 1960s, working on fuel systems and pollution systems, to meet the coming 1976 emission laws.
The job at Bendix was important, because in 1972 Bob got married. He’d met his new wife, Heather, in 1970, soon after she had split with her rst husband, a bloke named Peter Brock. Heather had been married to Peter for three years and had been a rally and rallycross driver in her own right, even driving the HDT Monaro to a class win at Calder Rallycross at one stage.
While working for Bendix at Holden, Watson was approached by Renault again, this time to help run the team of Peugeot 504s it was planning to enter in the 1977 London Sydney. So despite the birth of their son Daniel in 1976, Bob and Heather thought it was too good an offer to pass up. Bob took leave of absence from Bendix and was a part of the Peugeot team in the ‘77 Marathon. The three-car team was well placed but Bob Holden crashed in Australia and Brian Hilton’s car suffered from overheating. The car Bob shared with Ross Dunkerton and Roger Bonhomme nished in fth.
He rejoined Bendix but left in 1978 to start the Bob Watson Service Centre in Melbourne’s east, with a focus on Renaults and Peugeots, selling out to his partner Bruce Shepheard in 1990.
Watson’s history with Holden still had more to play, and while continuing to rally in a series of cars over many years, in 1995 he accepted a contract back at the General, undertaking a variety of engineering roles, culminating in being in charge of the chassis engineering for the Holden Adventra. His time with Holden ended when the Adventra went into production in ‘03. Bob still drives one in his ramblings around Australia and is proud of the car and its engineering despite its meagre sales – which were largely thanks to shifting buyer demand, one of the issues behind Holden’s demise.
His rally career went on well into the 2000s in everything from Renault 5 Turbos to Ford Escorts, a Renault Alpine, various Datsuns and even a Porsche 911 in tarmac rallies. There are too many rally cars and too much history to recount here. He may have only won one Australian title, but Bob Watson’s career is a glittering one by any standard.
Unfortunately, his wife Heather passed away in 2010 from a form of cancer, after 38 years of marriage. It was a tough time for Bob; however, in recent times he has re-married and he and new wife Jenny continue to be closely involved in the sport they love
In a long and storied history around motor spot and automotive engineering Bob Watson has had an amazing ride and is still actively involved at the age of 82. We get the feeling he will be for some time to come.