He was in Tanzania, assisting the organisers of the East African Safari Classic Rally, when he was taken ill. He died in his sleep of a suspected heart attack.

Richard Anthony Fall was born in Bradford. After leaving school, he became a car salesman, in his spare time driving a Mini as a club rally driver.

In a recent interview, he told how he started in the sport: "I got a job at Appleyards at Bradford" – an Appleyard won many rallies in Jaguars – "and I wanted to go rallying, but they wouldn't let me use my company car.

"Then Marcus Chambers, who was previously competitions manager at BMC, joined us as service manager and said I could use the demonstrator Mini Cooper."

It was 1963 and young Fall soon made a name for himself on local road rallies against stiff competition with his first navigator, David Fawcett. Chasing the Morris Minor of rally legend of the day, Pat Moss, over the Yorkshire Moors was all part of the job in those days, he said.

Tony won the Yorkshire Rally twice, then came the call every amateur driver of the day dreamt about. BMC's Stuart Turner was well known for his blunt approach.

"Stuart called and said, You will do the Alpine Rally. We will give you £250. You will take Mike Wood as your co-driver. We'll enter the car, on the condition we don't hear from you, speak to you or get pestered by you before we see you in Marseilles for the start," Tony recalled.

He was co-opted into the works team alongside Paddy Hopkirk, Timo Makinen and Rauno Aaltonen. His first major international victory in the Mini was the 1966 Circuit of Ireland, co-driven by Henry Liddon.

Tony rallied with BMC for three seasons, a period in which he competed in the original London-Sydney Marathon, finishing 23rd in a Morris 1800. He then joined the Lancia team with whom, in 1969, he achieved his highest-ever finish – he was third – in the RAC Rally of Great Britain.

He joined Datsun for three seasons, achieving many high placings in world rallies, at the same time driving for other factory teams, including BMW, Porsche and VW.

Tony tackled the World Cup Rally from London to Mexico in 1970 with a celebrity co-driver – footballer Jimmy Greaves – and they finished sixth.

Twenty-five years later, he competed in the re-run of the event, finishing one place higher. Tony achieved 12 international rally wins in his driving career.

A long association with General Motors commenced in 1974, when he established Dealer Opel Team (DOT) at Tonge Park, Castleford, employing talented drivers such as Ari Vatanen and Tony Pond.

Success in the UK with DOT led to his appointment as director of motor sport for General Motors Euro Sport, based in Russelsheim, Germany, in 1978.

Under his direction, Walter Rohrl became World Rally Champion in 1982, and – in the latter part of the decade – Tony introduced the Opel-Vauxhall Lotus formula for single-seat racing cars, which launched the careers of many Grand Prix stars, including Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard.

Tony Fall returned to the UK in 1990, initially as manager, then owner of the motor sport safety equipment manufacturer, Safety Devices, famous for the production of roll-over cages. He was managing director at the time of his death.

In recent years he drove a replica of his original Datsun in historic rallies with Yvonne Mehta, and was in Africa on "holiday", helping with the organisation of an event he loved, and which had been the scene of many of his triumphs.

He leaves his wife Pat, his sons Richard and Oliver from a previous marriage, and three grandchildren.

The funeral will held in Bradford next week, and will be for family only. A memorial service is planned for next year.