It seems impossible that Tom Walkinshaw is gone

He worked and hustled and bullied his way to the top of the car world, eventually becoming a Formula One team owner in addition to his successes in Australia with Holden Special Vehicles and the Holden Racing Team.

There was also contract work for his TWR operation, lots of it top secret stuff, for a range of big brands including General Motors, Jaguar, Aston Martin and Volvo - as well as victory at Le Mans with Jaguar in 1988.

When Walkinshaw's global TWR empire came crashing down in 2002 a lesser man would have been crushed. But the former boxer never gave up, held onto HSV and eventually wrangled the return of HRT.

The last time we spoke was when he called from Britain this year to complain that I was was making too much of his cancer.

"I'm bloody fine. I'm calling you, aren't I?," he thundered in his deep Scottish burr. "I'll buy you lunch the next time I'm down. That good enough for you?"

But lunch didn't happen and now it never well.

Instead, I'm writing a tribute _ obituary is not nearly strong enough _ to a bloke who became a legend in Australia after taking over at Holden when Peter Brock was thrown out of the Fishermans Bend family.

There was a lot of angst and suspicion when Walkinshaw first became the front man for Team Red.

His early media meetings were tough and confrontational, too, and I can remember fronting a bloke with arms like a butcher who was prepared to chop down any opposition. Walkinshaw never cut anyone slack and fools had their foolishness pointed out to them.

If he didn't want to answer a question he didn't. There was a stony silence and a brutal glare.

But he won people over with some impressive road cars and successes on the track that built on his first appearance at Bathurst in 1984 and victory in 1985 with a Jaguar crewed by local hero John Goss.

The bottom line was simple: Walkinshaw was prepared to roll up his sleeves and get the job done.

He was a charismatic leader who inspired great things in his race teams and among his close-knit group of motoring specialists, as well as fear among his rivals.

Yes, he was called `Cheating Tom' by some people - and there are some great stories about rule bending and more - but he was a racer to his core and near enough was not remotely good enough. Sometimes the rules were just a guideline.

His absence has been obvious at HRT in recent seasons, and particularly at Bathurst 2010 when Team Red missed his rock-like stability and confidence. Walkinshaw was the heart of the team and the crew always lifted for him.

Now I am forced to rewind through many, many meetings to try and unravel a complicated man.

Walkinshaw was as tough as anyone I've met, yet he had an almost-impish sense of humour. He loved a joke or the chance for some mischief.

He was a wonderful host - gracious, thoughtful and generous.

He was also incredibly loyal and committed to his people. They were more like a family than employees, which probably explains a lot of the spats.

Ian Callum, once with Walkinshaw and now chief designer at Jaguar, says simply "I love the man".

The key to Big Tom was to push back. If you were prepared to fight your corner, you got respect. If not . . .

There will be people who are happy that Walkinshaw is gone, but they were probably on the losing side at a stoush of some sort.

It's hard to know what will happen to HSV and HRT now that Walkinshaw is gone, but he was usually one step ahead of his opposition and the business should be in safe hands. Walkinshaw's own strong hands allowed him to built an empire and a list of successes that stretches for decades.

Big Tom was almost larger than life and will be remembered in a similar way to Brock. He was a hero.