Tired of the long, bitter feud, sad son Rodney Jane seeks a peace Rodney Jane is calling for a truce in his war with his father, tyre legend Bob Jane / Pic: Daniel Wilkins Source: The Daily Telegraph Bob Jane and son Rodney in happier times / Pic: David Caird Source: The Daily Telegraph IT has been a bitter family feud, played out in the public arena involving accusations, legal claim and counterclaim. Racing car driver and tyre millionaire Bob Jane has looked a broken man as he went to war, first with his beauty queen wife - and more recently his son Rodney. In a sign the ice could be thawing, Rodney revealed he wants to end the war of words and lawsuits and make peace with his former best mate. Speaking for the first time about the rift that has become a public soap opera, Rodney admitted it had become "fairly ugly." He said he was saddened by the loss of the pair's relationship and wished it could be resolved: "My dad, up until 2010, was my best friend, without doubt. We were really close. The bottom line is I lost my best friend ... we did everything together for 30 years. The war between father and son broke out in 2011 when Rodney took his father to the Federal Court to protect the famous Bob Jane trademark from being used in a rival tyre business. During the bitter dispute Bob accused his son of betrayal and being instrumental in the breakdown of his third marriage - to Laree - whom he married in 1987 when she was 19 and he was 58. Bob has since filed numerous court claims in bitter fights over assets. I lost him as a friend. I lost him as a father and now I am having a horrendous fight with him which I would prefer not to have. I am sad," Rodney said. To lose that friendship is really difficult. Rodney said he stood by his father during his dad's ugly split from Laree. The divorce soap opera saw Laree cleared of falsely imprisoning, assaulting and threatening to shoot and stab her husband before it was rumoured she received a $40 million divorce settlement. It's got fairly ugly in the sense of my dad went through a horrendous divorce and then that finishes and somehow him and his wife reconcile. Rodney said his relationship with his father was already "a mess" by the time he took the court action to protect his business and its 1000 employees. Every time the media decides to write a story they look fairly fondly at Bob as a legend and I'm the second-generation person who has come in and received everything on a silver spoon and taken everything away from him. All I want is a balanced story because it is not as simple and vanilla as the world sees it," he said. Rodney claimed that when he took over the family business it was in dire financial trouble and they were at risk of losing everything. He said he grew up dreaming of working on a farm and had no interest in the tyre business. However, he had come to love the industry and over the past decade had rebuilt the business. Rodney said his best day last year was when he met his father for a mediation session and gave him a hug. But he said it turned into one of his toughest days when the dispute was not resolved. I wish every day I could sort it out. "I don't know that common sense can prevail," he said. On the chances of reconciliation with his son, Mr Jane said: "It takes two to make that happen." Bob and Laree Jane in 1990.