This was the first post-war Alpine Trial, organised by the Light Car Club and held over the weekend of December 2nd and 3rd. The previous Alpine Trial had been in 1935.
The event attracted more than 60 entries (some reports indicate 64 starters) varying from a 4.5 litre Bentley down to a Baby Austin, a couple of Jaguar XK120s, a number of Morris Minors and many MG of various vintages.
Directors were Bill Hicks and Bill Leech who maintained a lot of the pre-war tradition of a “tour” with sub-events. In fact three crews completed the trial without penalties:
- Owen John and Ern Abbott, Riley 2.5, who were declared outright winners on the basis of the best time on the sub-event
- Harry Firth (navigator unknown) in an MG TC
- Geoff Brotherton (navigator unknown) in an Austin A40
The sub-event appears to have been a 1½ mile climb on Hinomunjie Station 15 miles from Omeo. The remainder of the route followed the “main” roads of the time, bearing in mind that most of the route from Bruthen through Omeo, over Hotham to Bright and on to Wangaratta was gravel, as was much of the route from Mansefield to the finish at Narbethong.
