Tomorrow 100 years ago:
On the 18th March 1916 Boyd Edkins, the noted Sydney motor enthusiast, dealer and competition driver left Melbourne at 5am with the intention of breaking the then existing Melbourne to Sydney record of 19 hours and two minutes set in 1913 by A.V.Turner. Boyd arrived at the Sydney GPO, 558 miles later, at 9.55 pm breaking the record by 2 hours and 7 minutes and amazingly beating the Melbourne to Sydney rail express time by 5 minutes. This was a major breakthrough in travel times in Australia demonstrating the great value of the motor car.
Boyd Edkins as a favoured and successful Vauxhall dealer, had been presented with a 1914 A type Vauxhall, chassis A210, by the Vauxhall Company in Luton UK for the purposes of competition and promotion in Australia. This famous car, now protected by a NSW Moveable Cultural Heritage order is to be used again by members of the Vintage Sports Car Club of Australia this coming Friday the 18th March to exactly re-enact the event as a centenary celebration. In Boyd's time of course the roads were appalling with many farm gates and creek crossings to be made. It was a heroic drive fraught with great complications and dangers in those days. The car has always been known as 50 Bob owing to its chassis number A210, or in earlier Australian currency two pounds ten shillings, or fifty bob.
The re-enactment this Friday will use many parts of the old Hume Highway and hopefully communicate with many vintage car enthusiasts and town dignitaries on the way. The car will again leave Melbourne GPO at 5am and arrive at Sydney GPO at 9.55pm.
The drive will finish in front of the Art Gallery of NSW and will be flagged in by NSW Minister for Roads Duncan Gay. A small convoy of vintage Vauxhalls will accompany the final leg of the car from Ingleburn to Sydney.
A poignant note to this event is that the car's owner for the last 15 years, Peter Adams, passed away only last weekend after a long illness and his family are both participating and enthusiastically allowing the VSCCA to use it for this event.
The car should pass through Albury at 10.30am and Goulburn at 3pm.
Tim Shellshear
President,
Vintage Sports Car Club of Australia Ltd