Historic Racing Cars in Australia - Second Edition

By: John B. Blanden ., ISBN: 9780908031832

Description

This second and greatly expanded edition of John Blanden's ground-breaking 1979 book now covers Historic racing cars in Australia built from the early days up to 1970. Whilst some cars from the earlier edition have been omitted, the history of those that remain, in most cases up-dated, is shown together with details of many well-known Australian racing cars from the following decade.

Some 460 photographs accompany detailed information about these much sought-after cars and their ownership history.

Book Introduction

The interest in historic racing during the twenty or so years since the publication of the first edition of Historic Racing Cars in Australia has been amazing with it not uncommon for some 'all Historic' race meetings in the early 2000s to attract over 400 entries.

The first edition of Historic Racing Cars in Australia was published in 1979 and was sold out shortly after its release. Being a handy reference source it became an essential part of any enthusiast's library. In the years that followed I had fortunately maintained a record of the movement of many of the cars involved and with the encouragement of many friends and associates I weakened and embarked on a second edition.

In compiling this new edition there were some guidelines I set myself. Firstly, while the original book covered cars built prior to 1960, many cars which have had no more recent activity have been deleted from this edition. As well as taking the history of most of the original cars a further 20 plus years, I have extended the book to include notable competition cars built between 1960 and 1970. Further, in recent years there has been a proliferation of pre 1970-built race cars with no Australian history until after their arrival. To assist historians with later research some of these new arrivals have been included but appear in italics to emphasise their status.

Two recent publications, Bugattis in Australasia (Bob King) and Elfin Sports & Racing Cars (John Blanden and Barry Catford) cover the history of those two makes in detail. As a result, other than a few significant Bugatti entries, those makes have been omitted and readers are directed to those publications for details of individual cars.

With so many cars, some with many owners over the years, it is impossible to ensure total accuracy of information. Notwithstanding the popularity of Historic racing, events are poorly reported in National magazines making charting of car movements difficult. The problems of tracing the whereabouts of early owners, fading memories and the unwillingness of some to provide frank, or any, information has understandably presented difficulties. I have endeavoured to ensure that the histories recorded here are as factual as my present knowledge allows.

About the Author

John Blanden's wide experience in motoring and motor sport circles as a competitor, collector, restorer and administrator gave him a broad background from which to research and write this authoritative volume. John's familiar presence at Historic meetings and events throughout Australia as he moved among the competitors and cars collecting photographs and information, will make his absence in the future all the more notable. He will be long remembered for his application and unflagging effort over many years.

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