From the archives of Bob Montgomery, motoring historian
Off with his Beard: John Watson occupies a special place in Irish motorsport history. He straddles the era of road racing in Ireland in the 1950s and 1960s, having raced on circuits such as Dunboyne, as well as the modern era of Formula 1.
And, of course, above all, he not only made it from Irish club racing into the dizzy heights of F1 but also became the first Irishman to win a Grand Prix and came close to winning the World Championship in 1982.
But somehow, for Irish fans at least, he is best remembered for his 1976 maiden victory in the Austrian Grand Prix. It's one of those rare occasions when most Irish motorsport fans of a certain age can recall precisely where they were and what they were doing when they heard news of his breakthrough victory.
Driving for the American Penske team in only its second F1 season, the bearded Watson was making the most of his big chance as the lead driver of this increasingly competitive team. Team owner Roger Penske regarded Watson highly but one thing rankled with the American: Watson's beard didn't fit the clean-cut image of the team and its sponsors. Penske extracted a promise from the Irishman that upon the team's first Grand Prix victory the beard would go - it's even been claimed that Penske went so far as to make it a contractual requirement.
The moment came in Austria where the Irishman drove an inch-perfect race to take a hugely popular maiden victory for both himself and the team. Afterwards, driver and team owner were to be seen, faces wreathed in incredulous smiles, outside the Penske motorhome.
Watson, aware of his contractual obligation, would shave off his beard later that night. Penske, however, made another promise: "John, win another race this year and I'll grow a beard and keep it on until Christmas." Alas, Penske's beard was never grown, Watson's Austrian win remaining the Penske team's single F1 victory.
John Watson did, however, go on to become a multiple Grand Prix winner driving for McLaren and in 1982 was unlucky not to become Ireland's first world champion in F1. But that's another somewhat less hairy story!
A not-so quiet week in Dublin: When Barry Cole of the Scottish Commercial Car Company travelled from Glasgow to exhibit at the Spring Show at the RDS, Dublin, he was no doubt looking forward to an entertaining week and the prospect of doing some business. At the show, Caledon mounted a display of its cars and also a four-ton Caledon lorry. On the day before the show, Easter Monday 1916, things took a somewhat unexpected if more interesting turn.
"I was the witness of an exciting incident as I stood in front of the Hibernian Bank (on O'Connell Street) when a solider in khaki was taken prisoner by a party of six rebels, and it was not until this event occurred in front of me that I realised the bank was in the hands of the rebels, and when my attention was called to the armed men keeping watch from the upper windows, I decided to retire from Dublin for the evening.
"At midday on Wednesday I seized the opportunity of escaping to Belfast in a car, kindly placed at our disposal by Mr Thompson. It took us an hour and 40 minutes to get three miles from the city, because of the numerous times we had to turn back to avoid scenes of operations.
"Although we gathered many alarmist accounts on the road, particularly at the prospect of meeting a large party of Sinn Féiners alleged to have been ahead of us at Balbriggan, we reached Drogheda without any trouble, being stopped several times by the constabulary and military, and from Drogheda without any difficulty in reaching Belfast, and ultimately, Glasgow."
The Caledon lorry, left behind in Ballsbridge, proved invaluable for transporting fodder to the livestock trapped in the showgrounds, the vehicle working under a military escort.