Vale Canberra's full-throttle visionary

The host was a bush capital steeped in public service conservatism and process while the visitor was loud and brash, revving cars until all hours of the night, occasionally boorish and generally less than politically correct.

And yet, for the most part, the Odd Couple of ACT major event tourism worked out: Canberra and Summernats got along just fine, despite the odd incident now and again.

However, it is a fair assessment that without the sheer energy, crash-or-crash-through style and fearlessness of Summernats founder-promoter Chic Henry, the biggest car show in the Southern Hemisphere may never have made its home in Canberra.

One of the long-running mysteries was why, given there was almost certainly a tempting cash incentive on offer, the event was never poached from the ACT, much like the grand prix being stolen from under the nose of Adelaide and packed off to Melbourne.

A key element anchoring it here, all down the years, has been Exhibition Park, a huge, unique open-air exhibition space that won over Chic Henry as soon as he clapped eyes on it.

Sadly, we lost the colourful and effervescent Henry last week after a long battle with cancer. He passed away aged 75.

Not just the revheads, but a multitude of everyday people, many of them from all around this region, will mourn and miss the man who drove the event along, and in doing so over decades poured hundreds of millions of dollars into the ACT economy.

For ringing the registers at a time when most of Canberra is down at the South Coast, the ACT government owes Chic Henry its heartfelt thanks.

Current promoter Andy Lopez, who bought the event from Mr Henry in 2009, has estimated the event's economic contribution to the ACT over three decades at $750 million.

But it's not just about the money.

Through Summernats, our city has been revealed to those who, for many years and partly because of our city's - let's admit it - slightly boring reputation, would have either had no primary reason to visit, or would have driven on by.

Surveys taken of Summernats visitors have found their experience while in Canberra had changed their perceptions for the better.

There are important lessons in this: widening the vision, and spreading visitor appeal across the demographics, works.

And Chic Henry showed them how.