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 dropkick from Tweed Heads – the Queensland/New South Wales border.
This photograph has proved a bit of a mystery though.
I popped up 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.
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’s records show events were run in December 1958, 1960 and 1962. 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 Jane’s enterprises – contained therein is Bob’s voluptuous Maserati 300S. It’s 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.
Roll forward again, this time to January 2024, and the bunch of photos taken by Peter Button’s grandfather shown below. Pauline Burrows Booth recalled, “I remember the climb well, going to watch the hillclimbs was very exciting. The hill was Currumbin Hill, on the east side that wasn’t allowed to be built on as it was a dangerous slip area.”
‘The street was on the crest, Crest Drive – it wound around the top of Currumbin Hill to the Shell Museum corner corner to Millars Drive – winding down to Millars Drive and past the now Currumbin Wildlife Hospital. The other side of the hill, Alpha Drive, we used to ride down with our go carts-billy carts
Anyway, many thanks to Quentin and his late father Bill, Stephen, Dick, Brian, Terry, Andrew, Peter Buttons and those who responded to his FB post, 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.
This bunch of shots at the ‘Currumbin Heights Hill Climb’ were spotted by Doug Grant on the Old Gold Coast Facebook page in January 2024.
They were posted by Peter Button whose “Grandad was a keen amateur racer at the time.”
Dick Willis, “The Glynn Scott (Cooper T23 replica) Repco Holden driver by Roy Morris, now raced by Victorian, Nick McDonald.”
The shots above and below are of Glynn Scott’s ex-Alec Mildren Cooper T43 Climax.
“Crest Drive looking across Miller’s Drive to where the wildlife hospital is now and the park across the road with the old water pipe running through it. Blamey Drive is running up and over the hill…” Glenn Bycroft.
Ivan Tighe, perhaps, on his Vincent Formula 500.
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, Peter Button Collection, Bruce James
Tailpiece…
Finito…
primotipo... 