primotipo…

Competitors assemble for a Queensland Motor Sport Club Currumbin Hillclimb, Monday 12 June 1961…

Most east coasters have holidayed on Queensland’s Gold Coast, visited the Currumbin Bird/Wildlife Sanctuary and no doubt had a surf on the beach close by. Currumbin is 20km from Surfers Paradise and a ‘drop kick’ from Tweed Heads- the Queensland/New South Wales border.

This photograph has proved a bit of a mystery though.

I popped an article on Lakeside circuit up last week but was uncertain about the photograph above given the wise owls of The Nostalgia Forum could not reach a consensus on where it was- a very rare occurrence i might add. I then uploaded the photograph onto the primotipo and Old Australian Motor Racing Photographs- Australia Facebook pages, the Lakeside article is here; https://primotipo.com/2019/09/23/lakeside-early-days/

After four or five days and 8,027 FB hits/views Quentin Miles is the ‘winner’ with photographic evidence to back up his nomination of place- Currumbin.

 

Information about the venue is scarce- do get in touch if you know about the interesting venue or ran there, it would be great to identify the stretch of road used. Racer/restorer Dick Willis believes the roads used were created for a housing estate and that the Gold Coast club got some events in before the influx of residents precluded further motorsport use. Brian Lear has found records of events run in December 1958, 1960 and 1962 and Stephen Dalton’s discoveries indicate the strip of bitumen used was 750 yards in length with Ivan Tighe the record-holder in 1959, he did a time of 47.5 seconds in his Vincent Special.

In Quentin’s case his father Bill attended a meeting and took these shots- its not the first time i have used the late Bill’s great material.

Several folks have identified the red ‘Rice’ trailer in the opening shot as ‘Autoland’- one of Bob Janes enterprises- contained therein is Bob’s voluptuous Maserati 300S. Its a long way from Melbourne to Currumbin to contest a club ‘climb though. My theory is that Bob would have been racing not too far away, at Lowood and did the Currumbin event whilst in the ‘hood.

Roll forward to June 2020 and Andrew Lake, a Queensland MG Car Club member emailed to advise the meeting was the 12 June 1961 Queensland Hillclimb Championship, ‘As identified it is Bob Jane’s trailer…he competed in the event in his Maserati 300S and also his Jaguar sedan…Stan Jones did FTD with a time of 45.22 seconds in his Cooper T51 Climax.’

Some further work by Stephen Dalton established that Stan contested the Lowood Gold Star round, the Queensland Road Racing Championship the day before- Bill Patterson won from Alec Mildren and then Stan all driving Cooper T51s.

Anyway, many thanks to Quentin and his late father Bill, Stephen, Dick, Brian, Terry and now Andrew- a team effort indeed!

Etcetera…

Terry McGrath tells us there was a hillclimb closeby on the Gold Coast at Burleigh Heads or Waters held on a short stretch of road with times of between 50 and 56 seconds recorded. The Dick Hamilton Jaguar XK120 is shown in full flight on 30 December 1956.

Andrew Lake advises hillclimbs were held on the Gold Coast as follows;

Burleigh Heads

• 01/01/1956
• 22/04/1956
• 17/06/1956
• 30/12/1956
• 21/04/1957

Terranora

• 29/12/1957

Currumbin

• 28/12/1958
• 15/11/1959
• 27/12/1959
• 14/08/1960
• 26/12/1960
• 12/06/1961

Credits…

Quentin Miles and the late Bill Miles, John Wright, Stephen Dalton, Dick Willis, Brian Lear, The Nostalgia Forum, Terry McGrath, Andrew Lake

Tailpiece…

Finito…