Two cars that raced each other for the inaugural Australian land speed record will appear together on the track for the first time in almost 106 years at the Historic Leyburn Sprints on 20-21 August.
The cars, a 1912 Willys Overland and 1916 Studebaker, raced for the land speed record on Southport Beach on Christmas Day 1916.
The story of the event has been told in the recent book Car Wars Down Under, The Untold Story of Australia’s First Land Speed Record.
Although the cars were displayed at a private book launch by the author, motoring authority Murray Hubbard, they are understood to have not been seen in public together since their historic race across the sand.
The oldest participants in a gathering of more than 300 historic, classic and performance vehicles at the Sprints, they will be on display and complete demonstration laps of the 1.0 kilometre round-the-houses course on both days of the event.
“It will be a privilege to have these two incredibly historic racing cars at our event,” Sprints President Tricia Chant said.
“They represent the earliest days of the Queensland motor industry, and particularly motorsport. Visitors to the Car Wars Down Under display in Macintyre Street will see two magnificent racers and discover a story of fierce rivalry and sheer determination in the face of the extraordinary motoring challenges of the time.”
Copies of Car Wars Down Under will be on sale at the display.
The Willys Overland, known as Whitey, was driven by Fred Eager, son of the founder of Brisbane motor dealer Eagers.
In an early example of using motorsport to promote the product, he was a frequent and successful competitor in local events, especially hill climbs.
Hungry for its own share of the burgeoning car market, rival dealer Canadian Cycle and Motor pitched its driver Alec Jewell and a Studebaker Six into the fray.
Each car claimed success in various events until the competitiveness came to a head at the Southport Speed Trials, then – and at low tide – the only stretch where cars could run to their top speed.
Jewell and the Studebaker won the competition with a speed of 137 kilometres an hour – a whisker faster than the Willys – to claim the first Australian Land Speed Record.
Then both machines went on to other, separate, successes including long-distance records until they disappeared.
Current owner Graham Crittenden found the Willys Overland in 1966 and restored it to original condition.
Gavin Mutton had a bigger job with the Studebaker, using even some original parts that had been re-purposed for a Darling Downs corn harvester to reconstruct his car in the form that set a Sydney-Brisbane record in 1917 (Whitey re-set the record in 1918).
Tricia Chant said the annual Sprints celebrates its Australian Grand Prix history born in the aftermath of World War 2, yet the Willys and the Studebaker were making their own history a generation before in the midst of World War 1.
“That they will be motoring around our track 106 years later is a tribute to their current owners. They are priceless motoring artefacts and should be an unmissable attraction for Sprints visitors,” she said.
