Chic Henry
Australian car enthusiast (1946–2022)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chic Henry, born Anthony Robert Henry (15 December 1946 – 14 April 2022),[1] was a car enthusiast and the founder of the Summernats motor festival in Canberra. He was the Summernats director between 1988 and 2009.
15 December 1946
Chic Henry | |
|---|---|
| Born | Anthony Robert Henry 15 December 1946 |
| Died | 14 April 2022 (aged 75) Canberra, Australia |
| Spouse | Doreen (1968–1984) |
| Children | Angela Michelle |
| Parent(s) | Robert Henry and Alma Horton |
Life and career
On 15 December 1946, Henry was born in Launceston, Tasmania to returned serviceman father Robert Henry and mother Alma Horton.[2] Henry's great, great grandfather had been Tasmania's first Postmaster; his great grandfather had worked on the project to lay underwater phone cable between Tasmania and mainland Australia; and his grandfather and father had both served with the Postmaster-General's Department.[2]
Henry attended Queechy High School in Norwood, Tasmania, repeating his last year.[2] At school he was a strong competitive swimmer and board diver.[3]
Accepting an apprenticeship with the Australian Army, Henry moved to Melbourne in 1964.[2] His army career saw him living in Sydney and Townsville before his resignation in 1973.[2]
In the 1980s, Henry was involved with the Australian Street Machine Federation.[3] In 1987, Henry built a dedicated burnout track at Exhibition Park in Canberra (EPIC, then known as Natex), and he held the first Summernats at the venue in January 1988.[2] Thousands of attendees turned up at the event, which featured cars and entertainment from rock and bush bands, including hundreds for the first Summernats Street parade down Northbourne Avenue on 2 January.[4] Henry told media that promotion costs amounted to around $500,000.[5]
Summernats went on to become one of Canberra's premier tourism events.
In January 2009, Henry was cautioned after he drove 77 kilometres an hour in a special 40 kilometre zone outside the Summernats venue.[6][7] Henry explained to police that he had not seen the new sign and avoided a fine.[8] After the 2009 event drew fewer attendees than expected,[9] Henry entered negotiations with a possible buyer for the business.[10] He confirmed the sale of the business to an undisclosed buyer in July 2009.[11]
Henry ran for a seat at the 2012 ACT election, contesting in the northern suburbs electorate of Ginninderra for the Australian Motorist Party.[12] Ahead of the election, Henry told voters to give their second preferences to the Canberra Liberals.[13]
At the end of 2013, Henry left the Australian Motorist Party and joined the ACT Liberal Party.[14]