Today we commemorated the 80th Anniversary of the first veteran car run in SA in May 1934. Originally only 18 cars took part in the first “Old Crocks” Run. 3 days later the Sporting Car Club of South Australia was founded for veteran vehicles, the second oldest surviving veteran car club in the world. Only the VCC of GB founded in 1933 is older.
Today 2 of the original 18 cars took part; a 1913 Prince Henry Vauxhall & a 1912 Ford. At lunch on the stage were 2 more original run survivors; a 1904 De Dion Bouton & a 1904 Pope.
Arthur Mullins bought the 1912 for £5 from the original owner Dr. Anstey Giles in 1935, after the run. For the run Dr. Giles loaned the Ford to 4 of his uni medical students that drove it on the run. Today Arthur and his Ford was on the run, he is now 99 &49 weeks, his 100th birthday is in early June. I had a photo taken with my dear old friend and can’t wait to be there for his centennary celebrations.
Another great moment was having a 1911, 1912 and a 1913 in year order for a photo. After the Mullins' 1912 Ford, the 1913 was found in 1958, and ‘Mabel’, the 1911 is the relative new comer only coming on the road in 1970. I hope you enjoy the moment too.
Good to see you were out enjoying a Sunday drive as well. That Vauxhall is one magnificent car.
Hello David,
Great pictures as always.
Best regards, John
The Vauxhall was imported by Murray Aunger in 1913 and took the Melbourne to Adelaide speed record. On February 26th, 1914, Murray Aunger and F. Beasley, driving this Prince Henry, reduced the Melbourne to Adelaide record by 5 hours 12 minutes to 14 hours 54 minutes, an average of 38.8mph for the 580 miles. The car is seen at speed in the Coorong, where it was able to travel at over 80 mph on the pipe clay.
Afterwards Murray loved the car so much he stripped the racing body off and had a passenger coachwork built by his company Aunger Motor Bodies in Adelaide. My photo does not do it justice, it is a magnificent motor vehicle and its current owner looks after it very, very well. It is a Grand Old Lady.
We signed up for the Sea, Mountains & Valleys Tour (Rally) 2016 that David Dare posted on the forum.
Look forward to meeting many of you across the big pond and enjoying fun in Australia with model T's. Our entrant fee has already been receive and we have our assigned no.
We will be riding in back seats on the Rally as we are leaving our 13 touring at home.
How many other model T owners from the U.S. plan on attending????? It sounds like a great Rally....what better way of seeing Australia for our first time.
The Sea, Mountains & Valley 2016 run the Model 'T' Ford Club of Victoria (the Victorian chapter of the MTFCA) promises to be a beauty!
David,
Do you plan on attending the tour? If you are....look forward to meeting you. From what I have been told, it is planned to handle over 150 model T's. That's a large car gathering. Takes a lot of planning and work to put on a tour (Rally) that size.
Thanks for the great pictures David. I really like seeing the early right hand drive T's as I'm restoring a couple of those myself. I also wouldn't mind that big 6 cyl Napier sitting in my shop....
Ken
Thanks David for the extra story on the Vauxhall. I assume that was the same Murray Aunger that drove the 1908 Talbot to Alice Springs. He was a real Aussie motoring pioneer a bit like Francis Birtles. I hope you and the family will join us on the 2016 Rally. We are working hard to make sure it is a great event and it will certainly be different to any other National T rally held before.