18/08/2026
🏁 HOW HISTORIC RACING BECAME HISTORIC RACING — PART ONE 🏁
Before Historic Racing was “Historic Racing”
Over the past few weeks we've been looking back at the origins of Historic Racing in Australia and the events that ultimately led to the first All Historic Meeting at Amaroo Park in January 1976.
But history often looks a little different depending upon where you were standing at the time.
Bob King was there.
A competitor, enthusiast, Bugatti authority and one of the people involved in establishing the Historic Racing Register in Victoria in 1971, Bob has very kindly allowed us to reproduce his own recollections of how Historic Racing developed in Australia.
Interestingly, Bob doesn't see a particular race or meeting as the point at which Historic Racing suddenly began. Instead, he remembers a gradual evolution, as yesterday's racing cars became too old to compete with the latest machinery and eventually began racing amongst themselves.
So, from here, we'll let Bob tell the story...
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A BRIEF HISTORY OF HISTORIC RACING IN AUSTRALIA
By Bob King
I believe there was never a given moment when it could be said that Historic Racing commenced; it was a more-or-less seamless transition from old cars racing against what were then modern cars, to old cars having their own events.
In the forties and early fifties, a good old-un could be raced successfully against more modern cars which, in Australia, were mostly Specials.
However, in the mid-fifties all this changed with the importation of more modern machinery for racing, commencing with the likes of five-year-old Talbot Lagos and moving on to even younger Cooper Bristols, Ferraris and Maseratis. At the same time, the mid-engined Cooper revolution was taking place, with relatively inexpensive new cars being imported.
No longer could the pre-war car keep pace with these imports.
Nonetheless, a few pre-war cars remained competitive, usually in ‘B’ Grade races. I still recall a furious battle for first place in a B Grade race at Fishermans Bend in the fifties between a Bugatti Holden and Les Murphy’s Q Type MG, driven by his son Rod.
When the old cars were finally outclassed, some ‘Vintage’ races were held at modern meetings at Fishermans Bend under the auspices of the Light Car Club of Australia, probably at the instigation of the Leech brothers.
These were mostly contested by pre-war drivers in their old cars; Cec Warren in the Talbot Darracq, Bill and Jim Leech in Bugattis and, notably, Les Murphy and Otto Stone in their supercharged MGs.
In about 1960, a younger group of old racing car enthusiasts began to go interstate to compete in races for historic cars, still held under the umbrella of a modern race meeting.
These early meetings attracted a band of travellers to Mallala for the Easter meeting, to Warwick Farm and later to Hume Weir during the Christmas break.
This was when ‘Historic Racing’, in the modern sense, began.
Sandown Park opened for cars in 1962 and initially held ‘Historic Demonstrations’ for the old cars rather than races.
The Vintage Sports Car Club (Vic) had been an active promoter of speed events for predominantly pre-war cars, notably at Rob Roy, Fishermans Bend, Lakelands, Geelong and Mount Tarrengower, as well as ‘lap dashes’ at Calder, Winton and Phillip Island.
The growing number of these events eventually exceeded the capacity of that club to organise them.
It was time for a new, dedicated organisation to promote Historic Motor Racing.
(The LCCA, which had promoted the early Vintage races, had bigger fish to fry; this eventually led to their undoing.)
The inaugural meeting of what was initially called the Historic Racing Register was held at the Light Car Club of Australia premises on 21 April 1971.
The meeting was held at the LCCA clubrooms in Queens Road, with support from the then President of the club, John Ould, and was chaired by Graeme Steinfort of the VSCC.
There was much discussion as to what the organisation should be called. While ‘Historic Racing Drivers’ Association’ was initially supported, I felt the emphasis should be on the cars and suggested ‘Historic Racing Register’ — a natural choice for me, as I had already been involved in establishing, in order, the Australian Lancia Register, the Australian Bugatti Register and the Australian Ferrari Register.
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And so, by 1971, the movement that had gradually developed from old racing cars simply continuing to race had acquired an organisation dedicated specifically to them.
But there was still another step to come.
There had been Vintage races. There had been Historic demonstrations. There had been Historic races within larger modern race meetings.
What there had not yet been was an entire race meeting devoted to Historic machinery.
And the idea for that would eventually involve a restaurant in Albury, a group of interstate Historic racers... and, apparently, a certain amount of alcohol.
To be continued in Part Two...
🏁 NEXT: An alcohol-fuelled plot, Amaroo Park and the birth of the All Historic Meeting.
Words and Photos: Bob King
Edited: Matt Snape
