1953
Re-live the action from 1953
Year in review
Highlights
1953 was a significant year for motor sport in Australia, and rallying in particular. The Confederation of Australian Motor Sport was established by a small group comprising Doug Verco, Maurice Monk and Donald Kingsley Thomson (DKT), with DKT appointed honorary secretary. CAMS took over the previously somewhat fragmented administration of the sport. Rallies had previously been loosely administered by the RACV under the auspices of the Australian Automobile Association.
And in rallying, the first REDeX Around Australia Trial was conducted, while in Victoria, the first Sun Rally was run in addition to several other well established events.
Below we have presented some events for which we have information. No doubt there were many more events than are listed here.
Major Events
The first Sun Rally was held in April, directed by Maurie Monk and Donald Thomson. The 4 day event traversed almost every part of Victoria. It was won by Lex Davison and Peter Ward in a Holden.
The first REDeX Round Australia Trial was held in August-September and was won by Ken Tubman and John Marshall in a Peugeot 203. This was a “half” round Australia, not going to WA, and passed through Victoria with a stopover in Melbourne enroute to the finish in Sydney.
Open Events
We have a few records of the open events conducted in 1953.
The Victorian Sporting Car Club ran their Summer Trial on February 22nd.
The fourth annual Women Drivers Trial was conducted by the Light Car Club on March 1st.
The Light Car Club conducted the Autumn Trial, possibly in late April. It was directed by Lex Davison and Peter Ward and won by R.T. Craig in a Singer. A brief report appeared in Australian Motor Sports.
The Australian Motor Sports Club conducted a Two Day 300 Mile Trial on May 30th. We have no details other than this announcement in The Argus.
The Victorian Sporting Car Club ran their second annual Blue Ribbon Trial on June 21st.
The VSCC then ran their Midnight Trial on July 11th. It was won by Harley Mehegan and Maurie Nelson in a Holden.
The Light Car Club ran their annual Experts Trial on July 25th. It was won by Stan Jones and Bill Patterson in a Holden.
The VSCC ran their Open Novices Trial on September 6th.
The Light Car Club ran the Mountain Trial on September 20th.
The VSCC ran their annual Eastern Trial on October 11th.
The Victorian Amateur Drivers Club ran their Two Day Trial on October 17-18 generally in the north with a stopover in Shepparton. We have few details other than announcements in The Age and The Argus.
The Australian Motor Sports Club ran a Navigators’ Trial on November 7 or 8.
The Light Car Club ran the annual Alpine Trial on December 5-6 under the direction of the Bills (Leech and Hicks). Harry Firth and Graham Hoinville were winners in their Sunbeam Alpine.
Closed Events
Several clubs were active running trials and rallies, particularly the Light Car Club, the Victorian Sporting Car Club and the Victorian Amateur Drivers Club, but we have no details of these events.
Several regional car clubs were formed and were running some trials, It is not clear whether these were closed events or not.
The North Eastern Car Club ran a trial on July 25th.
The LCCA (Ararat) ran a trial on September 5th.
The LCCA (Wimmera) ran a trial out of Horsham on November 28th.
The Shepparton Car Club ran a reliability trial on October 25th.
The Rally Calendar for this year
We do not yet have a calendar of events from this year.