Harry Beith – 25/12/1889-26/5/1964 – seems to have done more than most to build and polish the nascent Chrysler brand throughout Australia in the 1920s and 1930s.
Here, he is on the way to victory in his Chrysler 70 in the Victorian Sporting Car Club Trophy, a 35 lap, 116 mile race held at Phillip Island on New Year’s Day, 1936.
17 starters took the flag of this handicap event – hence the competitiveness of a 10 year old car – with W Bullen’s Singer second and Tom Hollindrake’s MG K3 third.
Albury racer, Beith’s time was 1hr 38min 34 sec off a handicap of 2min 20 sec, his average speed was 64.1mph.
Harry’s riding mechanic is either pointing the way or at a pretty young lass in the crowd. It’s probably Heaven Corner, given the way the road – Berry’s Beach Road – drops away.
The car below is – perhaps, having wrongly suggested it was the E Buckley driven McIntyre Hudson some years ago – Les Burrows’ fourth-place Terraplane Spl.
Phillip Island notes…
The May 6, 1935 Jubilee Handicap meeting was the last held on the Victorian Light Car Club’s (VLCC) 6.5-mile rectangular course used from the two March 31, 1928 100 Mile Road Race(s) – retrospectively named the 1928 Australian Grand Prix by the VLCC – until the April 1, 1935 AGP.
A less dangerous, shorter 3.312-mile triangular course, incorporating some of the old pit straight (Berry’s Beach Road) was then made and promoted by the Australian Racing Drivers Club and the Victorian Sporting Car Club.
It was used until November 1, 1938 for cars, and ‘bikes until January 30, 1940. The Grand Opening Meeting of the modern track we all know and love was held over the December 15, 1956 weekend, it’s closed a couple of times along the way, but has been in continuous use since 1988.
Harry Beith…
Harry James Beith was one of those extraordinary Australians who fought in both the first and second World Wars, it tells you all you need to know about the bloke’s character and grit.
Unsurprisingly! his roles were as a driver and driver mechanic, in 1939-45 he was a Staff Sergeant in the 1 Company Australian Army Service Corps and was one of many who became a POW in Malaya.
The Age newspaper announced the appointment of Beith as chief adviser to the carnival committee of the Interstate Grand Prix meetings at Albury-Wirlinga in February 1938.
That February 10 piece provides a useful summary of his career, describing Beith ‘as one of Australia’s best known racing motorists with a unique career as a competition driver and road-record breaker.’
‘He first competed in a Talbot at Wildwood (near the current Melbourne Airport) in 1912. Aged 16, he won the hillclimb, defeating his employer, CB Kellow! He continued to compete and then in 1927, ‘when becoming associated with the first Australian agency of Chrysler, he set out to break road records.’
Beith set a new Melbourne-Sydney record of less than 11 hours. ‘As cars were improved new records were created by other drivers, but within three days of each new record, Beith set out to beat it.’ He held the Melbourne-Sydney record at the end of 1927, 1928 and 1929. ‘Finally the police authorities of Victoria and New South Wales intervened and put a stop to these speed tests over the inter-State highway.’
Harry’s flathead-straight six Chryslers are variously quoted at 3582 and 3583cc, and 4-litres with his endurance machine still going strong after 43,000 record-breaking miles. That car had a difficult birth being purchased by Beith from an insurer for £80 after it was burned-out!
Chrysler 70s were pacey at Le Mans in the late 1920s, the engines were advanced for the time: seven main bearing cranks, crank vibration damper, full-pressure lubrication, replaceable oil-filters and the rest. See here: https://www.drivecj.com/the-chrysler-70-a-revolutionary-leap-in-automotive-history.htm
Beith held the record for the final meeting held on the RACV’s rectangular, sandy-gravel course at – what is now Safety Beach – Dromana, ‘which had been held for three years by Harold Cooper’ in the Cooper brothers’ fearsome ex-Louis Wagner 4.8-litre ‘Indy’ Ballot 5/8LC.
‘Mr Beith also held the Perth-Sydney record with Dr Manning. Altogether he has won more than fifty motor races in Victoria and New South Wales.’ At the time of publishing he was employed by Neal’s Motors Pty Ltd, Melbourne as country organiser.
Neal’s was a large car assembler with premises in Fishermans Bend. By 1938 their empire encompassed the import and assembly of Hudson, Hudson Terraplane, Diamond T, Fiat, Studebaker cars and trucks, Chrysler, Chrysler Plymouth, Morris cars and trucks, De Soto cars and Fargo trucks…making our Harry a works-driver!
Beith didn’t contest any of the 1927-35 Goulburn-Phillip Island Australian Grands Prix, but raced in the successive 1936 and 1938 AGPs held on the Victor Harbor-Port Elliott, and Mount Panorama, Bathurst road courses. He was ninth and 14th respectively, aboard a Terraplane Special.
The Harry Beith trail runs cold post-war, can anybody advise further about his life in cars and otherwise?
Etcetera…
Harry Beith and Terraplane Special during the January 3, 1938 South Australian Grand Prix meeting at Lobethal. DNF in the handicap race won by Noel Campbell’s Singer Bantam.
See here for a ridiculously long feature on that event and related: https://primotipo.com/2018/11/08/the-spook-the-baron-and-the-1938-south-australian-gp-lobethal/
Credits…
The Car January 1936 and photos are from Bob King’s collection, various articles via Trove, in particular The Age February 10, 1938, Fairfax, Reg Nutt Archive via Bill Atherton, Greg Smith and David Zeunert, Bob Lea Wright Archive via Nathan Tasca, Mr Rewind for the Australian War Memorial link
Finito…
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