Tauranac was born on 13 January 1925. Before his Formula One career, he and his brother Austin used the Ralt name — a combination of their surnames — for hillclimb specials built in Australia during the 1950s. The Ralt 500 won the NSW Hillclimb Championship in 1954, establishing Tauranac's reputation as an engineer capable of building fast, effective machinery from limited resources.
In 1962, Tauranac and Jack Brabham established Motor Racing Developments Ltd (MRD), which built and raced cars under the Brabham name. The partnership was highly productive: Brabham won the 1966 Formula One World Drivers' Championship driving a Brabham-Repco car, making him the only driver to win a world title in a car bearing his own name. The team also won the Constructors' Championship that year. Tauranac was the engineering backbone of the operation, designing the chassis while Brabham brought driving talent and public profile.
Beyond the works team, Brabham operated a successful customer car business, supplying Formula 2 and Formula 3 machinery to private entrants across Europe and beyond. This customer programme was a significant commercial operation and helped fund the works F1 effort.
When Jack Brabham retired from driving at the end of the 1970 season, Tauranac took full ownership of the team. His tenure as sole owner was short-lived. During the 1971 season he was approached by businessman Bernie Ecclestone, who offered approximately £100,000 for the team. Tauranac accepted, initially staying on as designer and factory manager. The two men had very different personalities and approaches to running the team, and Tauranac departed from Brabham early in the 1972 season.
Following his exit from Brabham, Tauranac briefly assisted with a redesign of a Politoys Formula One chassis for Frank Williams in 1973, and helped Trojan develop a Formula 5000-derived Formula One car.
After a period of retirement in Australia, Tauranac returned to England to revive the Ralt name as a commercial racing car constructor. The first modern Ralt was the RT1, designed for Formula Three, Formula Two, and Formula Atlantic competition. The RT1 proved immediately competitive, winning the 1975 European Formula Three Championship in the hands of Australian driver Larry Perkins, and repeating that feat in 1978 with Jan Lammers.
Tauranac also designed the Theodore Racing Formula One car for the 1978 season. New Ralt designs followed: the RT2 for Formula Two and the RT3 for Formula Three, both introduced for 1979. The RT3 became one of the defining single-seaters of its era, winning the 1983 European F3 Championship for Pierluigi Martini and taking five consecutive British Formula 3 titles. A joint venture between Ralt and Honda produced the RH6 chassis, which won the British Formula 3 title in 1981, 1984, and 1985.
In October 1988, Tauranac sold the Ralt business to March Engineering for £1.25 million.
After leaving Ralt, Tauranac remained connected to motorsport. He worked on racing school cars for Honda, contributed to a Formula Renault project, and undertook consulting work for the Arrows Formula One team. He also served as design judge at the Formula SAE Australasia competition in Melbourne.
In the 2002 Australia Day Honours, Tauranac was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for his service to motor racing, specifically recognised for engineering design, construction, and production of Formula One racing cars, and for creating opportunities for young drivers.
Ron Tauranac died on 17 July 2020 at the age of 95. His career spanned over four decades of racing car design, from Australian hillclimb specials through the Formula One constructors' championship to a generation of Formula 3 champions. The Ralt marques in particular shaped the careers of numerous drivers who went on to reach Formula One, cementing Tauranac's place as one of the most influential designer-constructors in European single-seater racing history.