Manawatu’s Geof (with one ‘f’ as he wanted his name to be different) Argyle was destined to catch the rally bug. The Bunnythorpe local recalls watching the Heatway Rally cars cross Saddle Road—a part of his playground.
In his youth and immersed in all things automotive, Argyle felt an inevitable pull towards rallying. “I thought I could do that,” he says, reflecting on his early days as a spectator.
"A mate and I went halves on a car and thought we’d go out and have a play,” he adds. What followed was an impressive debut in the 1984 Daybreaker Rally, driving a Datsun 1600. It was during this rally that he caught and passed Keith ‘Yeti’ Stewart in the first stage of his very first event.
The Datsun 1600 came with an open differential, but in true ‘Geof’ style, he took matters into his own hands. “I opened it up and welded it solid,” he laughs. That decision paid off when Argyle, from a now 19th position, emerged from the gruelling 72km Karioi forest stage in fourth. "I caught and passed three cars, and the rest were either off the road or parked up,” he says. “It was pretty wet and suited having a locked diff.”
Despite finishing fourth overall, Argyle wasn’t entirely satisfied. “We would have been third if…,” he explains, pointing to a stage timing issue that cost him a better result.
That year, the Daybreaker Rally was the only event he entered, but the experience fuelled his desire for more. After competing in two more Daybreaker events with the Datsun, Argyle upgraded to a four-wheel-drive Subaru Leone. His rallying career continued to gather momentum, and in 1993, he took the former Ashton Wood Nissan Pulsar GTi-R to scholarship contention. This evolved into owning Kim Austin's car in 1994, leading to a 21st overall finish at the Rothmans Rally New Zealand.
“What really lit me up was Rally New Zealand,” Argyle reflects. “It was the self-belief that I could get a result when I had a car that was consistent. There were those who would go fast and then do something stupid—I didn’t have that.”
In 1995, with the scholarship title in sight, Argyle faced a major setback when he broke a drive shaft at the Hamilton Rally. Dropping to 20th overall, he made a storming comeback to run second behind Joe McAndrew. Unfortunately, a failure in the main drive gear at the start of the penultimate stage dashed his title hopes.
Argyle's perseverance paid off in 1998 when he moved to Mitsubishi, claiming his first of two successive Goldstar New Zealand Rally Champion titles. In 2000, he won the Daybreaker Rally with co-driver Paul Fallon (co-organiser of the Daybreaker Rally) and went on to finish eighth overall at that year’s Rally New Zealand – two places behind Possum Bourne.
The year 2003 marked Argyle’s favourite chapter in his rally career. It was the final year that Group A cars were eligible to compete at the WRC level. “Bruce (Herbert) and I were always within 3-4 seconds of each other on every stage,” he recalls. Argyle closed that chapter with a 13th overall finish at Rally New Zealand and shifted his focus to the Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC).
“I wanted to show people that if I can win here (New Zealand), I can win somewhere else,” Argyle says. However, in hindsight, he admits that trying to compete in both the Asia Pacific and New Zealand championships stretched his budget too thin. “We were forever chasing our tail with budget,” he adds.
He closed that chapter in 2005 with a second overall finish in the APRC, tied with Japan’s Toshi Arai.
When the Daybreaker Rally returned in 2013, Argyle placed third overall and first among the non-championship cars. A decade later, in 2023, he dusted off the ex-Andrew Hawkeswood and now Andrew Lowe-owned Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 7 and took to the familiar roads once again. He finished eighth overall and first among the non-championship cars.
Keeping the winning genetics in play Geof is a frequent assistant to daughter Emma as she consistently delivers title results in the NZ Archery National Championships.
Questioned if he’s been asked to put an apple on his head, he delivers a blunt response: “That’s not very nice.”
As for his plans for the 2024 Daybreaker Rally? Argyle laughs as he delivers one of his trademark statements: “I’ll take it easy and see how it goes.
“I’m there to have some fun. It would be nice to be first of the non-championship cars again and maybe get a top five result. We were almost there last year—new tyres would have helped.”
Asked of iconic or memorable moments of his rally career comes a defensive response, especially when quizzed on his lack of footwear at one international rally event. “Yeah, ummm. There are a few stories along the way. Put it this way, I didn’t get hurt.”
That’s code for someone else did.