Bob Jane passes away

Australian tyre industry figure Bob Jane has died aged 88. A statement issued by his children shares that Jane passed away on 28 September “after a long and brave fight with prostate cancer.”

A well-known personality in Australia, Bob Jane first gained prominence as a racing driver in the 1950s and went on to take numerous touring car championship titles. Jane paired racing with automotive sector business ventures, and after opening several car dealerships with his brother in the early 1950s he established Bob Jane Autoland, a company for distributing Jaguar and Alfa Romeo parts. In the 1960s he turned his attention to tyres, founding Bob Jane T-Marts, today a nationwide fast-fit network, in January 1962. He remained at the helm of the company until January 2011, finally stepping down due to differences with son Rodney, the current chief executive officer of Bob Jane Corporation. Bob Jane was prevented by court injunction from using his own name to promote later tyre industry business ventures, including Webtyre.net, a B2B and B2C portal that Jane founded in 2010 and described as “Australia’s leading online tyre retailer”; the site is currently inactive.

Bob Jane was no stranger to controversy. He made headlines in Australia in 2007 through his accusations that ex-wife Laree Jane had threatened to kill him; Laree was found not guilty of the five charges against her in 2009. The pair later rekindled their relationship and were very much together when Tyrepress.com met them at a Chinese tyre exhibition in 2011. At the time, Bob and Laree Jane were promoting their Vendetta Tyres brand, which they intended to roll out in the UK and European markets, however the brand ultimately failed to gain a foothold in our part of the world. Bob Jane filed for bankruptcy in 2016.