Pre
War Vintage cars - The Golden Era of Grand Prix racing
Before
the breakout of WWII grand prix racing was experiencing its golden
era, particularly in Europe.
Here
in Australia the first Australian Grand Prix was held in 1928 at Phillip
Island. In those days Australian Grands Prix were staged as handicap
events. The 1928 event was won by Col. Arthur Waite in a supercharged
Austin 7.
One
car that has survived time from this first AGP was the German Wanderer
W6, which has remained in Victoria, Australia and is now back on the
road (pictured below). The car remains in mainly original unrestored
condition.
Durin g
this pre-war period many creative, mechanically-minded Australians
set out building “Aussie specials”. Such cars took on
the most expensive cars from overseas. Cars such as Black Bess achieved
great results against Monza Alfa’s, Delahaye and alike, particularly
closer to war breaking out.
The
historic racing events feature races comprising of Group J and K cars,
which now days are combined with Group Lb (immediate post war sports
racing and racing). In recent times history has repeated itself at
events where Ford V8 Specials have won against Alfa Romeo 8C-35’s.
We
are now blessed to see a great cross-section of vehicles, from newly
built specials like the Gipsy-Fiat to T35, T37A & T51 Bugatti
on the grid.
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