Victoria 1946

Re-live the action from 1946

Year in review

Highlights

After the end of the war, it took some years for life to return to some kind of normality for many people. Servicemen were still being repatriated well into 1946, petrol rationing was enforced for many years, and many people were struggling financially. Despite this, it was not long until motor sport enthusiasts wanted to get back into competitive events of various kinds, from races and hillclimbs, to reliability and navigational trials.

The two active car clubs to lead the way were the Light Car Club of Australia, with established clubrooms in Brunswick Street, Eastern Hill (which had been occupied by the army during the war), and the Victorian Sporting Car Club. By the end of 1946, a number of trials had already been held.

Article in the Argus, June 1946

Open Events

We have found evidence of a few events in the latter part of 1946, but few details.

On September 15th the Light Car Club ran a “Ramble”, A short announcement appeared in The Age. The organiser was Bill Hicks who would go on to organise many Alpine Trials in the 1950s. The “Ramble” included sub-events, such as hillclimbs, and probably other driving tests.

On November 10th the Western District Car Club, seemingly at the time affiliated with the Light Car Club, organised a reliability trial. This announcement mentions that the event was sanctioned by the Australian Automobile Association. The snippet also mentions the re-opening of the LCCA Clubrooms on November 22nd.

The Victorian Sporting Car Club ran what was perhaps its first post-war reliability trial on November 17th. This announcement in The Age indicates that the event was an economy run from Melbourne to Cowes with the return being a reliability trial.

Closed Events

It is not clear whether events were really “open” or “closed” (to club members) at this time. They were just “trials”!

The Rally Calendar for this year

We do not yet have a calendar of events from this year.