1954 Mt Druitt NSW 24 Hour Road Race. This short colour film features Mrs Anderson in the winning Jaguar XK120 Coupe, Peter Whitehead’s Jaguar ‘C’ Type XKC039, a Bristol 400, an Aston-Martin DB2, several MG TDs that were beaten by a TC, a Standard Vanguard Spacemaster, the Humber Super Snipe of Tom Sulman that had completed the REDeX Round Australia trial and the week before won the Manly Trial, a Jaguar Mark V that finished with 5 cylinders, a Fiat 500, a couple of Peugeot 203s, a 1939 Ford V8, a lone Holden 48-215 (aka FX) and an Austin A90 Atlantic entered by Belfed Jones who was also the organiser.
This was a production car race and had a diverse range of cars entered. It was the first attempt at a 24 hour car race in Australia and there wouldn’t be another for many decades. Facilities were basic, crowd control was virtually nil and the track became muddy and full of pot holes which took its toll on many cars. Even so it became an epic race etched in many peoples memories who were and who weren’t there. The race started at 2pm on 31st January, with a 'Le Mans Start'. Organised by Belfred Jones and his company Speed Promotions and run under the Australian Racing Drivers Club (ARDC) for unmodified production cars. 28 cars were entered with 22 cars starting.
There are lots of stories connected with this race (check the Cummins Archive Facebook page), probably the most interesting are parts that were borrowed or had to be bought from nearby Parramatta. Neville Perkins' Ford V8 (1939) had to borrow a radiator hose but had to return it before the race finished and ended up crossing the finish line without a hose, which may account for some of its low lap count. Bill Ford's Singer borrowed a stub axle and hub from a private car. The Anderson Jaguar XK120 FHC which won the race got carbie bits from a spectator's car. The Harrison Morris Minor borrowed a battery, The Roydell Renault had to graft a clutch cable to finish. The MG TDs of Lowe and Nind had to get new clutch plates from Parramatta and the Webber Fiat had to make the same trek for a head gasket.
Bruce Polain who co-drove a mate’s MG TC to 6th place wrote an account of driving in the race a couple of years ago: "The race, the first of its type in the country attracted a great deal of interest from both here and overseas. There were plenty of MG’s. while serious entries included a “C” Type Jaguar, a Bristol 400 and a DB2 Aston Martin plus Peugeot 203’s while not so serious entries included a Morris Minor, a ‘38 Ford V/8 and a Renault 750.
There was an air of undefined expectation everywhere - I am sure no-one was sure how all this would pan out. I reckon we all felt the track would break up and as to the cars lasting 24 hours this was a further question mark. To be added was the fact we had never done it before and that made it a challenge no one wished to avoid - and when it started to rain it merely added excitement.
At 2pm on Saturday Jan 30, 1954 the field was scheduled for a le Mans start.
On race day, after a dry start the heavens opened up and it became a nightmare in the pits - which is not the right word as the “pits” were merely the grassy verge adjacent to the track - totally unsealed and therefore quite unsuited for inclement weather.
Within almost minutes the area became a quagmire and no possibility of using a jack - we simply grabbed a few extra bods and bodily lifted the car off the ground to change a wheel. In view of the build-up of mud as we entered the pits, there was no chance of checking the amount of tread wear - we only found out after taking the wheels down the paddock and hosing them clean.
Despite the weather and the rapid track deterioration we were achieving regular lap times without suffering the reliability problems of others and as such our car was called the “Mudgee Mail” - a tribute to Rex’s old hometown!
Financially for Rex it was quite good, as in addition to the bonus for each lap completed, our result confirmed the Mudgee Mail as winner of the “open” car division. We had finished sixth outright, ahead of all other sports cars - including a C-Type Jaguar - which experienced suspension damage.
The event overall was won by a “closed car”, a coupe Jaguar driven by Bill Pitt of Qld. on 573 laps whereas we completed 537 laps.
Second placing was Gordon Greig’s Bristol 400 on 569 laps and third was “dark horse” Tom Sulman in a Humber Super Snipe with 563 laps. Then came Dick Shaw in his Holden 48/215 - a regular competitor at Mount Druitt. John Crouch/David McKay were in a Peugeot 203 and were fifth followed by our effort in sixth. We thought our sixth outright placing quite remarkable." [End quote from Bruce Polain]
13 май 2023
