Victoria 1955

Re-live the action from 1955

Year in review

Highlights

Many established annual events continued to be conducted by a growing number of car clubs involved in rallying. The Melbourne University Car Club was reformed after being disbanded over the war years.

The third Sub Rally was conducted and the final REDex Round Australia came through Victoria, and was won by Victorians!

Major Events

The third Sun Rally was held in April. Directed by Donald Thomson, the week long event traversed almost every part of Victoria. It was won by B. Hall and T. Fawcett in an MG.

The third REDeX Round Australia Trial was held in August-September and was won by Victorians Laurie Whitehead and Bob Foreman in a VW with Eddie and Lance Perkins second. The route circumnavigated Australia in an anti-clockwise direction with the later sections in Victoria.

Start of the 1955 REDeX Trial

Open Events

We have very few records of the open events conducted in 1955.

The Begonia Rally was held in conjunction with the Ballarat Begonia festival at the beginning of March.

The Australian Motor Sports Club conducted the Cords Ring Trial on March 13. There were 83 starters of which 72 finished. The winner was L. Stevens in a Morris Minor.

The Victorian Sporting Car Club’s annual Blue Ribbon Trial was held in June and was won by Bob Scarlett (navigator not mentioned) in a Vanguard.

The Light Car Club conducted their annual Experts Trial, which was won by Reg Smith and Rob Whyte in a VW.

The North Eastern Car Club conducted their annual North Eastern Trial which was won by Ron Phillips and Jack Cox in a Ford Consul.

The Light Car Club conducted the annual Alpine Trial which was won in 1955 by Harry Firth and Graham Hoinville in a Hillman Minx.

Closed Events

Several clubs were active running trials and rallies.
 
CCRMIT, then the Car Club of the Royal Melbourne Technical College, ran its first Autumn Midnight Trial, won by Richard Collingwood and Barry Lloyd in an Austin A40. The club also ran the Peninsula Trial, won by David Harman in an MG, and the Show Day Trial, won by Doug Andrews and Ivan Semmier in a Rover 75. It appears that there may have also been a 100 Mile Trial, but few details are evident. The Winter Trial was planned to run around Gembrook but was abandoned, presumably due to bad weather.

The Rally Calendar for this year

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