Gerry Pritchard informed us that he sent a letter to the two wives of the Japanese dentists that died in the Ferrari F40 at the same time their son died.
The wives had arrived in Alice Springs under a media frenzy when they were told that Keith had said the “Japs were crazy and were going to kill someone.” In Australia, we know that when someone is “crazy,” it can mean a variety of things. In this case, “crazy” implied that the two Japanese drivers were a bit gun ho, or a bit too showy. Nothing wrong with that, they had a Ferrari F40. The fastest car on the planet at the time, who wouldn’t be just a slight bit “showy”? 😉
However, in Japan, the word “crazy” was taken quite literally and Gerry Pritchard (Keith Pritchard’s father) set out in the letter to right the wrong. There was no disrespect intended. The letter was sent to the wives through the Japanese Consulate. Gerry was told that the letter had been published in every Japanese newspaper at the time
The following is the reply from Mrs Kabe. Both in Japanese, and the translation from the Consulate.
