John Sawyer’s MG K3 #K3752 tail out on the Mount Martha Hillclimb, on Melbourne’s Mornington Peninsula, in November 1955.
Richard Millington wrote that ‘K3752 was the K3 prototype and was the recce car for MG’s attack on the 1933 Mille Miglia.’
Sawyer originally ‘did his time’ with Otto Stone, assisting in the preparation of Stan Jones’ Maserati 250F and other cars, ultimately becoming team manager of Bob Jane Racing in the glory years from the early 1960s, when it was Australia’s biggest and most diverse.
Some healthy exchanges on Bob Williamson’s Facebook page between Richard Millington, David Trunfull and Tony Johns, and then later between Tony, Bob King – who competed at the Mount Martha Hillclimb – and I determined that the event was at Mount Martha, near Balcombe rather than the Tuerong Valley Hillclimb, the other contender, ‘just down the road from Foxey’s Hangout, close to the corner of Tubbarubba and Balnarring Roads where the local farmers slung their dead foxes over the fence!’
(J Plowright)
What is clear in these two shots: Laurie Rofe’s Jaguar SS100 in 1955 above, and Bob King’s Bugatti T57C below, on November 18, 1962, is the encroachment of suburbia upon Mount Martha in the intervening seven years.
(J Plowright)
Laurie Rofe’s Jaguar SS100, again in 1955.
Bob King giving his Bugatti Type 57C Atalante Coupe some wellie at the VSCC Mount Martha meeting in November 1962, not too long after the purchase of chassis #57788 from Henry and Peter Dale.
‘I set equal FTD with my great friend, Graeme Lowe’s Alfa Romeo 6C1750.’ Bob owned the car for only two years; the end of his exciting ownership came during a trip to Sydney to take in the Warwick Farm 100 Tasman Cup meeting over the February 16, 1964 weekend.
Overheating problems diverted the young Doctor’s attention from both Jack Brabham’s on-track performances and, more importantly, the attractive young lass who accompanied him north to Sin City. Salvation came over that weekend in the form of Eric Pengilley, who paid a good deal more for the car than the classy Frenchie owed Bob. The machine has been owned for decades by Stuart Murdoch.
(J Plowright)
Laurie Rofe again in 1955, this time aboard an MG SA Coupe, and R Dowrick below in a Talbot 105.
(J Plowright)
More on the locational stuff from Tony Johns, who spectated at the 1962 event, and provided this excerpt from a Victorian Drivers Club magazine outlining one of the upcoming Sporting Motor Club’s Mount Martha events.
‘COMING EVENTS:
Hill Climb at Mt. Martha…This meeting is being organised by the Sporting Motor Club under a C.A.M.S. permit, and we are being invited as a club to take part. There will be a special category for Vintage Cars.
For those who can come in the morning, meet at the Mornington War Memorial at 11 a.m (then, I think, located on the intersection of Main Street and the Nepean Highway, Mornington). Entry fee £1. Unregistered vehicles 25/-. Prize: Pewter Tankard (Vintage Class). Fastest of several runs.
Hill climb not steep, and a picture-postcard atmosphere prevails. All food to be brought. Barbeque to be held after the finish of the climb. Any members without cars will be welcome to come in other members’ cars. If not, bring Pop’s Holden.
If members come later, drive down the Nepean Highway three miles past the War Memorial, turn right on the first road past the bridge at the School of Signals. Drive along the road one mile, then turn left a half mile, where the hill climb will be seen on the left.’
Credits…
Richard Millington, Jon Plowright, Don Ashton Archive via Tony Johns, Bob King Archive
Tailpiece…
(R King Arc)
King’s Bugatti Type 57C, and friend, in Dicer Doug’s – Doug Whiteford Tuning Service – emporium of speed at number 5 Carlisle Street, St Kilda, in late 1961 or early 1962, not long before he bought it. Ring for an appointment on XJ1233…
I love this shot of Ken Ward’s Morgan Ford – Series IV 4/4 aluminium bodied Ford 1498cc – at Warwick Farm during the December 1969 meeting, taken by Stephen Fryer. A little later after this, the roll bar regs ruined such a pucka-racy look!
Several years ago, talented racer/car builder/historian/photographer Peter Houston very kindly gave me a copy of his photo archive, which I’ve finally got around to having a serious look at! Thanks so much, Wirra!
(S Fryer)
Some of Stephen Fryer’s shots, almost entirely at Warwick Farm, caught my eye, so I thought I’d start there. I’m sure Peter will give us Stephen’s CV once he spots this post. I’m guessing this is our man shortly after obtaining his licence and putting his P’s on a Cooper S. Not a bad first car at all!
(S Fryer)
I suspect this bunch of photographs was taken during the RAC Trophy meeting at the Farm over the May 3, 1970 weekend.
It was the second round of that year’s Australian Sports Car Championship (ASCC) won by Niel Allen’s Elfin ME5 Chev 5-litre (below) from Frank Matich’s dominant Matich SR4 Repco 760 5-litre (above), with Phil Moore’s Elfin 300C Lotus-Ford third. Dennis Uhrane follows in his Elfin 300 Lotus-Ford 1.5.
(S Fryer)
There is no way Niel beat FM on equal terms that day; Matich must have had mechanical problems with the car that toasted the opposition in the 1969 ASCC. SR4 was famously built to contest the 1968 Can-Am Cup, but the chassis, body and engine all ran late, so the car never made it stateside and instead became king of the kids at home. It was somewhat akin to taking an AK47 to a fight where the rest of the crew were armed with 303s.
Stephen’s overhead shot above, taken from the steps of the Dunlop Bridge, I suspect, shows Garrie Cooper’s edgy-wedgy for 1969 body design. This monocoque chassis big sporty had quite a short wheelbase and needed an elite-level driver such as Allen to get the best out of it.
He didn’t race it for long. With the onward march of F5000, he had Peter Molloy crank the Bartz Chevy outta the Elfin and into a ‘spankers McLaren M10B. ME5 co-design/contribution credits to Tony Alcock and John Webb.
Matich, SR4 (S Fryer)(S Fryer)
At that same meeting, there was a 100-lapper for Series Production cars, the Castrol Trophy was the second round of the Australian Manufacturers’ Championship.
The shot above shows three very capable long-time steerers: Bob Forbes in a Fiat 1600 Coupe, Allan Moffat’s works Ford Falcon GTHO, and Don Holland’s Holden Torana LC Torana GTR XU-1, the latter duo fighting for outright honours.
(S Fryer)
Moffat and Holland are monstering an Escort Twin-Cam this time, on the Northern Crossing (of the horse racing track underneath). Stephen’s panoramas of a circuit I love, despite never having been there, are fantastic, and help in my understanding of the place!
Lynton Hemer tells us that ‘The race started at 11.30am and lasted just over three hours, the longest race ever held at the Farm, a race distance never to be repeated there. The Holden Dealer Team Toranas of Colin Bond and Peter Brock were the only cars to go the distance, taking first and second, 30 seconds apart, with Moffat in third place, a lap down.’
(S Fryer)
Thankfully, the Australian G & G F’cd attitude prevails even in these, homogenised, pasteurised, sanitised and purified days. Warwick Farm c-1971.
I reckon Stephen waited for Chummy to get bored up on his fabulous perch, then jumped up and took the shot below, which appears to be the start/warm-up lap of the 1971 Warwick Farm 100 Tasman round.
That’s Frank Gardner’s works Lola T192 Chev #31 peeling out on this side with Frank Matich’s McLaren M10B Repco-Holden on pole. #25 is Chris Amon’s Lotus 70 Ford, and the splash of yellow is Kevin Bartlett’s Mildren Chev. Gardner won the 45 lap 100 mile race from Amon and Bartlett. See here:https://primotipo.com/2025/06/15/warwick-farm-100-1971/
(S Fryer)(S Fryer)
Another of Stephen Fryer’s high shots, again from the Dunlop Bridge (?) this time a bunch of battling Cooper ‘Esses’.
I thought it was an improved tourer race at first glance, but the presence of John Leffler’s blue-white works sports-racing-closed/sports sedan Cooper S Lwt tells me it’s a mixed grid. Peter Manton is up the front, but who are the blue and red cars, circa-1970, how about the May 3, ’70 meeting?
(S Fryer)
It could be the same race, but Stephen has swapped lenses. This time it’s Jim McKeown’s Porsche 911S 2.4 improved tourer and below Pete Geoghegan’s immortal John Sheppard built Ford Mustang 302 carrying #1 as the reigning (1969) Australian Touring Car Champion in 1970.
(S Fryer)
And how ’bout Marvin the Marvel in the same race? Were the Minilites on that shagadelic thing in 1970? Allan Moffat, Kar-Kraft Boss 302.
(S Fryer)(S Fryer)
Lets change the pace a bit. Frank Matich giving the punters a wave during his very first race meeting with his brand new McLaren M10A Chev, again at Warwick Farm, in September 1969.
The period of Matich dominance, if not absolute domination of Australian F5000 racing started right here. It’s still two years until the class became Australia’s National F1 ‘ANF1’ but the 1970 Tasman Cup was run for Tasman 2.5s and F5000 and FM was in on the ground floor. Rothmans Team Matich wasn’t far away, soo too Repco’s F5000 program with Holden, of which FM became the works driver.
For the moment, the focus of just arrived from the UK, Derek Kneller, Peter Mabey and FM was making this car as fast as the new McLaren M10B. That’s Derek’s recently fabricated rear engine cover-wing, the Traco Chev is on Webers but was injected by the Tasman’s commencement. It’s all here:https://primotipo.com/2023/06/25/matichs-mclaren-m10c-repco-holden-v8/
(S Fryer)
Stephen has caught Jochen Rindt sliding his way around the Farm during the terribly wet February 6, 1969 Warwick Farm 100 aboard his works Lotus 49B Ford DFW 2.5. He was on another planet that dreary day providing yet another reminder to just minted teammate F1 World Champion Graham Hill that it was game-on! in ’69.
That’s Frank Gardner in Alec Mildren’s Mildren Alfa Romeo T33 2.5 V8 – soon to be dubbed the Yellow Submarine – below, while the following photo is Graham Hill, sans goggles, I think, about to gather up Niel Allen’s ex-Piers Courage McLaren M4A Ford FVA F2.
The Allan Moffat and John French works Ford Falcon GTHO Phase 2s lead away at the start of the Rothmans 3 Hour race for Series Production cars at Mount Panorama on Easter Monday, April 12, 1971.
They were first and second in the 65 lap race – the first heat in the 1971 Australian Manufacturers Championship – from the HDT LC XU1s of Peter Brock and Colin Bond.
Stephen only took only the one shot it seems, new girlfriend to attend to is my guess as to poor prioritisation…
(S Fryer)
Its got a bit of a 1969 feel about it to me…
Bob Jane, Pete Geoghegan and Peter Manton, then AN Other in the Warwick Farm Esses: Shelby Mustang, Sheppo Mustang and Skinny Cooper S.
That’s Chris Brauer in the ex-Jane ‘390 Mustang’below, he did pretty well in it until the car’s death in the Lakeside July 1970 ATCC round, so therefore he is at the Farm before then…see here:https://primotipo.com/2020/01/03/jano/
(S Fryer)
Credits…
Stephen Fryer photographs via Peter Houston, Lynton Hemer
Tailpiece…
(S Fryer)
Let’s finish with a shot from the same race as the first one.
This time, Merv Newby’s Jaguar XK150S FHC. ‘He raced that Jaguar at Bathurst. Merv had an automotive/smash repair business in Sydney’s western suburbs’, wrote Paul Newby.
It’s much too nice a car to race, much better to be taking the babe to Palmy or Bowral, surely?
Spencer Martin in the Scuderia Veloce Ferrari 250LM, looking for an outside run on Wally Mitchell’s RM1 Climax FPF 2.5 into the Viaduct, you can see the dark, looming Water Tower at the top of the photograph, during the 1966 Australian Tourist Trophy.
This photograph, taken by Peter Duckworth from the Viaduct spectator area on the railway line, shows the sheer majesty and scale of Australia’s long-lost – 1968 was the final race meeting – Longford road circuit that ducked and dived over 4.5 miles through the local environs in and around the northern Tasmania rural hamlet southwest of Launceston.
Some of the photos taken by Peter, posted on the excellent Historic Racing Car Club of Tasmania Facebook page some years back, I retro-fitted into articles I’d already done, but I was looking through that site for the first time in a while and thought they really deserved a piece all of their own to let them breathe.
As I’ve admitted many times before, I’m completely captivated by Longford despite never visiting during the day, but I’ve made up for it since! I covered Jackie Stewart’s victory in the South Pacific Trophy nearly sixty years ago on March 7, 1966 aboard a 1.9-litre BRM P261 V8 in this piece:https://primotipo.com/2016/05/19/jackies-66-longford/
(HRCCT)
The perils of this part of Tassie and the inferior aerodynamics of the Elfin 400 are revealed in this shot of Globe Products’s Noel Hurd-driven Elfin 400 Ford 289 V8 (#BB661), which took flight at or near the top of the rise shown in the photo above, beyond the start-finish straight, the following year, 1967.
The two championship feature events of the weekend were the South Pacific Trophy and the Australian Tourist Trophy won by Frank Matich in his Elfin 400 Oldsmobile V8, a car entered by Frank as the Traco Oldsmobile for the twelve months he raced it. Otherwise, it was called by most of its owners an Elfin 400, given the car was built by Garrie Cooper’s Edwardstown, Adelaide firm, and left said establishment in late 1965 with an Elfin badge on the nose and Elfin chassis plate on the dash.
(P Duckworth)
The flag drops at the start of the 1966 Australian Tourist Trophy at Longford on March 7.
The front row cars took the podium places, poleman Frank Matich won the 23-lap 103-mile race in his two or so meetings old Elfin 400 Oldsmobile V8, by 7 seconds from Alan Hamilton’s similar vintage to him Porsche Distributors’ Porsche 904 Spyder 2-litre flat-six and then Spencer Martin in the Scuderia Veloce/David McKay Ferrari 250LM 3.3-litre V12. another 28.5 seconds further back.
That’s Lionel Ayers’ white fourth-place Lotus 23B Lotus-Ford behind Hammo. Another Lotus 23, I’m not sure which of the other three that started, while Kevin Bartlett’s white Alec Mildren Alfa Romeo GTA stands load and proud (DNF head gasket).
Frank Matich’s Laurie O’Neill funded Elfin 400 Oldsmobile – the Traco Olds in FM speak – at Longford in 1966. The blokes are, perhaps, Bruce Richardson leaning over the bonnet, Bob Holden in the sunnies, FM in the cap, and Laurie O’Neil next to Matich (P Duckworth) Alan Hamilton’s ex-works Porsche 904/8 ‘Kanguruh’ chassis #906-007 in the Longford paddock; the first of his three Porsche sports racers to be blessed with that chassis number…(P Duckworth)
Other notables in the race were Dick Thurston, who was fifth in the ex-Stillwell Cooper T49 Monaco, by then Buick V8-powered; the redoubtable local crowd pleaser, Kerry Cox, who was seventh in the Paramount Jaguar. Bob Holden was ninth in the Lolita BMC, and Alan Ling was a splendid 10th in a Lotus Super 7. Paul Bolton, Frank Demuth and Steve Holland – all the way from Hong Kong – raced 23Bs, surely one of Colin Chapman’s finest ever production racing cars?
Also worthy of note is Ross Ambrose, later co-founder of Van Diemen Racing Cars with Ralph Firman and father of Marcos, local sports car perennial, who was 17th in his Elfin Streamliner Ford, Bob Wright in a Tasma 1500 18th, and Max Brunninghausen who was classified 19th in his Alfa Romeo TZ1 despite head gasket failure. A fantastic Australian sports car grid of the era in every respect.
Longford pre-start. Jackie Stewart #3 and Graham Hill aboard BRM’s exquisite 1.9-litre P261s and Jim Clark’s Lotus 39 Climax FPF, which has resided in Tasmania for quite some while. Note the different heads fitted to Bourne’s finest (P Duckworth)
As written above, Jackie Stewart won for BRM at Longford in 1966 and also popped the Tasman Cup into his CV. While the 1964 BARC British F3 Championship was his first series win, the ’66 Tasman was his first international series triumph; a respected one at the time, given the strength of the competition and therefore the degree of difficulty in winning it!
Spencer Martin’s Scuderia Veloce Brabham BT11A Climax FPF #IC-4-64, soon to become Spencer Martin’s Bob Jane Racing car in which he won the 1966-67 Australian Drivers’ Championships. The ‘divorce’ was handled elegantly by all parties if you believe what you read; that Shell was the mutual sponsor was helpful in relation thereto (P Duckworth)
That year was a turning point, the season in which the Coventry Climax 2.5-litre FPF four-cylinder engine, which provided a key, probably the key, foundation piece, in establishing the 2.5 Tasman formula, was supplanted by V8s. The BRM V8s – 1.9-litre variants of BRM’s successful P56/P60 1.5-litre F1 engines – showed the future path to win the trophy, while Repco’s new Repco-Brabham 2.5-litre 620 V8 also showed promise.
Jack Brabham raced BT19 #F1-1-65 at Sandown and Longford powered by 2.5-litre variants of the RBE V8 on a development path that saw its first F1 win (3-litres) in the International Trophy at Silverstone on May 14, first championship win at Reims, in the French Grand Prix on July 3, and the World Drivers and International Cup for Manufacturers championships wrapped up at Monza on September 4.
Jack, BT19 2.5 620 V8 and Jack’s longtime local manager, Reg Thompson (thanks, Stephen Dalton!). Longford 1966, the car’s third race: the South African GP January 1 DNF and the Sandown Park Cup Feb 27 DNF, being the first two (P Duckworth)
Not a bad result against the might of Ferrari, Lotus, BRM, Cooper et al for a company that commenced in 1961 – Motor Racing Developments – and not bad for a company that had never built an engine before – Repco!
This weekend, during the 2026 Australian Grand Prix carnival, on Thursday, BT19 was inducted into the Australian Motorsport Hall of Fame. It’s the 100th member, the first, and probably the last ‘non-person’ to be accorded that honour.
BT19 at Albert Park yesterday after induction into the Australian Motorsport Hall of Fame. That’s David and Sam Brabham in the white/white and black shirts (M Bisset)
If memory serves, Repco restored the car with a team of Repco/ex-Repco Brabham Engines artisans led by the late Don Halpin in time for the 1978 ‘Fangio Meeting’; the ’78 AGP at Sandown where Jack ‘duelled’ in BT19 with JMF’s Mercedes Benz W196 in several events.
So the car is a familiar face for many of us, with the car pressed into regular service since Repco became the V8 Supercars Championship sponsor in recent years. A national treasure, it would be intriguing to know the sum for which it’s insured!
Etcetera…
(P Duckworth)
Rob Bartholomaeus tells me this Bolwell Mk5 Holden lookalike is Bruno Carosi’s Carosi B-Type special, resplendent, no doubt, in one of the Bolwell Brothers’ lovely bodies. Red Falcon Hardtop at left, and blue Valiant and Ross Ambrose’s Elfin Streamliner Ford to the rear.
Credits…
Photography by Peter Duckworth courtesy of the Historic Racing Car Club of Tasmania, oldracingcars.com, Google, Graham Howard
Tailpiece…
Didn’t Alan Hamilton get the jump in his Porsche! From Matich, Dick Thurston, Cooper Monaco Buick, Spencer Martin 250LM, a swarm of Lotus 23Bs: Frank Demuth #5, Paul Bolton #3 and Lionel Ayers #11 with Wally Mitchell’s RM1 Climax at left and Max Brunninghausen’s Alfa Romeo TZ1 at right, and the rest…
David and Andrew Hewison catch Neill Murdoch at the wheel of the family Lombard AL3 1.1-litre DOHC, supercharged Voiturette in North Warrandyte in Melbourne’s outer east on November 22, 2025
The occasion was a photoshoot of the uber-rare French car for an article I wrote, published in the March issue of The Automobile, which is in-store in the UK right now. Please buy it! https://www.theautomobile.co.uk
(M Bisset)(The Automobile)(B King Collection)
Bill Lowe and John Cleaver on the way to third place in Lombard AL3 #334 in the 1929 Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island on March 18. That’s John Bernadou’s Bugatti T23 following; that pair were fifth in the race won by Arthur Terdich’s Bugatti T37A.
Lowe, a Melbourne engineer and industralist of note, raced a Metallurgique in the 100 Miles Road Race, later named an Australian Grand Prix, the year before and was after a more competitive mount for ’29; he raced the new Lombard AL3 and secured an agency for the eponymous marque founded by Andre Lombard, which was already, in its infancy, in financial strife.
The main man, Andre Lombard, in the Brooklands paddock, tending to his Salmson during the October 22, 1921 meeting in which he won the Light Car Derby. He made his name competing in the engineering of the Billancourt-based marque.
Chassis #334’s whole life has been in Australia, in Melbourne, actually! The Murdoch family – not Rupert’s mob – bought the car at auction in 2002 and have since very sensitively maintained the car as it was. This centenarian has never been the subject of a ‘restoration’ or ‘full rebuild’ but, rather, is an Oily Rag car that has been continually repaired over its very long life.
The small roster of owners includes Lowe into the 1950’s, Bill Leech for a similarly long stretch – many of us saw Bill race the car in historic events – and ‘Wild Bill’ Evans of Datsun touring car fame.
The article is my favourite type to do. A mix of marque and key people’s history, the CV of the individual chassis concerned since birth, and driving impressions. Believe me, the latter is easily the best bit!
I’ve done a few of them now: David and Pat Mottram’s Lotus Elite Super 95, Bob King’s AC Ace Bristol, Richard Stanley’s Sunbeam 20/60, Rob Alsop’s Bugatti T23, Hyundai Australia’s i20N, and i30N on both Hobart’s road and track (Baskerville), Adam Berryman’s Bugatti T37A, and the Murdoch’s Alta 21S 1100 s/c, Alta 55S 2-litre s/c and now Lombard. Oh, to be doing it every week, wouldn’t that be grand!
(Hewison/The Automobile)Neill Murdoch, AL3 North Warrandyte (Hewison/The Automobile)
I was talking to an enthusiast last week about how long the whole process takes; it’s about six months from pitching the idea to the article appearing on the printed page. Longer if the little minx concerned has a meltdown of some sort.
The research on this topic was a real challenge as the Murdochs didn’t have the mountain of material on Lombard that they have on Altas. My library is skinny on the topic, too, so my circle of mates dug deep. Phil Schudmak’s library of French stuff is strong, so Google Translate was set to work. Bob King, Stephen Dalton and Tony Johns all pitched in. Chris Beach came up with some fabulous period shots that eluded me on the internet, and he tidied up the fantastic AL3 drawing below, first published in the January 16, 1953 issue of Autosport. It didn’t make the cut, but here ’tis…
The perfect world with a car like this would be to trailer it to Deans Marsh, then unload it, saddle up and do Benwerrin, then Lorne to Apollo Bay on the Great Ocean Road, inclusive of shots. Then Skenes Creek, Forrest and back to Deans Marsh. But that ain’t ever going to happen!
In essence, the location of the car dictates the test/photo route. The AL3 lives at Neill’s place at present, in Melbourne’s inner east, very close to me. So I recce’d roads very familiar to me in Melbourne’s outer east: Warrandyte, Kangaroo Ground, Christmas Hills, with Sugarloaf Reservoir – very close to Rob Roy Hillclimb, where the little AL3 competed in the hands of all of its owners – the end point.
While I know the roads, I’m carefully choosing photo locations on the recce, static and on the move, so everybody’s use of time on the day is efficient. David Hewison, the photographer, makes the final calls on the day on the fly. I met Neill at his place at 8.30, Geoff, his brother, had the chase-car, and we went back there, having bought the client a relaxed el-cheapo meal in Eltham at about 4-ish. So, it’s a full day. In this case, Geoff trailered the car home, not that it needed it.
It’s fun. I never do any of the writing before the drive, even the corporate stuff, somehow I like the flavour of the car in my mind when I do the scribbling. There is no logic to that, just personal preference.
(Hewison/The Automobile)
No more than ten-five Neill. Scribbler and co-owner Neill Murdoch.
The cockpit is tight but comfy enough for a weekend rally. ‘Box is a four-speed crash with the shifter centrally mounted. The pedals are conventionally located, too, so the driving isn’t too challenging for an old curmudgeon, whose daily motoring is behind the wheel of manuals.
Credits…
M Bisset, Bob King Collection, David and Andrew Hewison photographers
Tailpieces…
(Hewison/The Automobile)(Hewison/The Automobile)
It was a day of smiles. Terrific photos by David Hewison and his 16-year-old son Andrew, whom I managed to leave off the credits in the magazine. Sorry, pal, my fuck up!
Thanks again, Neill and Geoff Murdoch, it’s such fun to work with you guys!
Neill Murdoch, Andrew and David Hewison, and of course the star of the show (M Bisset)
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