It took a long time for Ganley to realize his ambition to become a Grand Prix driver - which was fired by a visit as a youngster in his native New Zealand to the Grand Prix at Ardmore in 1955. He sailed for England in 1961 with just $50 in his pocket, and found employment as a mechanic preparing cars at a racing school. The urge to drive was occasionally satisfied over the next few years, but his engineering talent kept him well occupied (and paid), so his racing career was on hold.

It was 1967 before Howden embarked on a serious season of Formula 3 in his own shiny new Brabham which had been financed by his engagement as crew chief for Skip Scott and Peter Revson in the 1966 Can-Am series. Howden plugged away in the formula for another two seasons, mixing it with the best, hoping for the big break which was to come in 1970.

Given the opportunity to compete in F5000, he finished runner-up to Peter Gethin in the championship with a private McLaren M10B, and this success brought an offer to join the BRM team for 1971 as a junior driver. It was a mixed first season, but Howden scored some points at Monza and Watkins Glen, and in non-championship races finished second in the Oulton Park Gold Cup, fourth in the Jochen Rindt Memorial at Hockenheim and fifth in the Race of Champions. )n the Can Am side, he had a 3rd at Riverside, beaten only by the McLarens. Continuing with BRM for 1972, he did not enjoy the best of seasons, again being restricted in the main from using the latest chassis. The high spot of his year came in a different arena, with second place at Le Mans sharing a works Matra with Cevert.

For 1973 Howden threw in his lot with Frank Williams and the Iso-FX3, which was to be a severe disappointment for all concerned, with only a sixth place in Canada salvaging some pride. The season was redeemed a little by his inclusion in the Gulf / John Wyer sports car team, for whom Ganley's best result was second in the Spa 1000 Km in the Mirage with Schuppan. Ganley started the 1974 season racing for March in the first two GPs, taking fifth in the GP Presidente Medici - a Brazilian non-championship race - he then accepted an offer to drive the F1 Maki car. 

This was an ambitious F1 project that had originally intended to be an all-Japanese contender. However the team initially used a Ford Cosworth DFV engine. This turned out to be a rather poor move. The car failed to qualify on its debut at the British Grand Prix. Howden then suffered a major suspension failure during qualifying for the German GP at the Nurburgring. The ensuing accident left Ganley with serious foot and ankle injuries and an end to his Grand Prix career.

That year he entertained the idea of entering F1 with his own car and designed and built a Ganley F1 car; however it was never run due to the withdrawal of his sponsors.

Once recovered from his injuries, he returned to racing sports cars in 1975 with Gelo Racing's Gulf Mirage. He finished second at the Nurburgring 1000 Ks and drove for Gelo at Le Mans with Tim Schenken in a Porsche 911 Carrera RSR, retiring after fourteen hours. In Interseries races with a Gulf Mirage he took a second and a third. Howden had met Judy Kondratieff in 1971 and in 1975 they married in England. Judy was from San Francisco was an accomplished racing driver, race team member and race team administrator.

In January 1976 Howden founded Tiga Race Cars with Tim Schenken. Over the coming years they supplied cars for Formula Ford, Formula Ford 2000, Formula Atlantic/Pacific, Thundersports, Can-Am, Sports 2000, Formula K, IMSA, and Group C, scoring numerous wins.

He was back at Le Mans in June with Gelo Racing in their Porsche 911 Carrera RSR, this time sharing the driving with Clemens Schickentanz and once again retiring, this time after seven hours with a failed driveshaft. He also competed in Interserie racing. He also undertook testing and development work with March during the year. He continued with his testing duties for March in 1977.

His final race came in June 1978 but by now Tiga Cars was taking more and more of his time and in 1978 after a final race in the Can-Am round at Mid-Ohio in a Gulf Mirage, finishing fifth overall and taking a class win, he retired from racing to concentrate on the business.

In 1987 he sold his stake in Tiga to pursue other interests which included working with Vern Schuppan on his road going Porsche 962 project. He also continued to provide race instruction until the mid 1990s.

In 1990 and after living solely in England since the 1970’s, Howden and Judy bought a home in the San Francisco Bay Area with a plan to eventually settle there full time.

Splitting his time between Europe and America, Howden continued to be involved in the sport. He served as secretary of the British Racing Drivers Club between 1998 and 1999 and was a Director between 1992 and 2003. He was a former director of Silverstone Circuits and Silverstone Estates and has been Vice President of BRDC since 2006. He was also once Chairman of Maidenhead Golf Club.

We're sorry to report that his wife passed away in 2007 after a long battle with cancer.