1964

Re-live the action from 1964

Year in review

Highlights

The Ford factory team continued its dominance in 1964, Frank Kilfoyle and Roger Abrahams won the Victorian Trials Championship in a Falcon and also won the annual Alpine Trial. Harry Firth and Graham Hoinville won the year’s biggest event, the Ampol Trial in a Cortina. But Ford did not have it all their way, with a new Holden in the hands of Bob Watson having some success.

The first ever Victorian Trials Code was released in 1964 and sold for 3/- (3 shillings).

Major Events

The BP Rally of South Eastern Australia was conducted from 5-10 May, effectively starting in Geelong and finishing at Chadstone Shopping Centre. The event was won by Ray Christie and Joe Dunlop in a VW.  Kilfoyle again swapped seats to navigate for Firth, but they could only manage sixth after receiving a penalty for stopping in sight of a control. For more detail on the event, go to Ross Runnalls’ compilation of BP Rally history.

The 1964 Ampol Trial was a 7000 mile trek around eastern Australia, including quite a lot of competition in Victoria and a stopover in Melbourne. It was won by Harry Firth and Graham Hoinville in a factory Ford Cortina.

The 1964 Alpine Trial was won by Frank Kilfoyle and Roger Abrahams in a factory Ford Falcon.

Ken Harper, Frank Kilfoyle and Bob Forsyth with their Ampol Trial Falcon.

Victorian Trials Championship

VTC events for 1964 were believed to be the Begonia, Akademos, Experts, Blue Ribbon, Benalla, Two Day and Alpine.

Outright champions: Frank Kilfoyle / Roger Abrahams, Ford Falcon XP

For more details, including event results and points tables, go to the 1964 VTC page.

Other Open Events

Various clubs ran open events that were not part of the VTC. These included the following.

The Car Club of RMIT ran its annual George Derrick Memorial Trial. It is possible that for the first time, the Presidents Trial was run as an open event.

The Western District Car Club ran both its annual Otway Trial in July and the Cooper Memorial Trial in November. It also ran the open restricted BP Novice Rally in March.

The BP Automobile Club also ran an open novice event in October, the BP Restricted Trial.

The Victorian Sporting Car Club ran its annual Midnight Trial at the end of August.

Closed Events

Many clubs ran closed events but we only have information on a few.

The Melbourne University Car Club ran three closed events, starting with the Commencement Rally in April, then Winter Trial in July and the Night Trial in September.

The Car Club of RMIT appeared to only run one closed trial, their annual Autumn Midnight Trial, in addition to the Derrick and Presidents mentioned above.

The Morris 850 Club ran the North-East Hill Country Trial.

The Rally Calendar for this year:

No doubt many closed events missing from this.

DateEventClubStatus
16 FebTrialBPACClosed
29 FebBegonia TrialBLCCVTC-1
29 FebSummer TrialCRBCC/MUCCClosed
6 MarMotor Show TrialVSCCOpen
15 MarBP Novice RallyWDCCRestricted
12 AprCommencement RallyMUCCClosed
5-10 MayBP RallyLCCANational
16 MayAutumn Midnight TrialCCRMITClosed
30 MayAkademosMUCCVTC-2
7 JunCec Warren Memorial TrialAMSCOpen
14-28 JuneAmpol TrialARDCInternational
4 JulOtway TrialWDCCOpen
4 JulWinter TrialMUCCClosed
18 JulExperts TrialLCCAVTC-3
2 AugBlue Ribbon TrialVSCCVTC-4
23 AugBenalla TrialBACVTC-5
30 AugMidnight TrialVSCCOpen
12 SepNight TrialMUCCClosed
26 SepTwo Day TrialVWCV/ VADCVTC-6
10 OctPresidents TrialCCRMITOpen
18 OctBP Restricted TrialBPACClosed
14 NovCooper Memorial TrialWDCCOpen
21 NovAlpine TrialLCCAVTC-7
unknownNorth East Hill Country TrialM850Club
unknownGeorge Derrick Memorial TrialCCRMITOpen