1956 - 1979

One of Australia’s longest and most gruelling motorsport rallies – the 11,000km Ampol Trial, also known as the Redex or Round Australia Trial – roared off from Bondi’s esplanade in 1956 and again in 1964. Over 14 days, competitors in the 1956 event raced clockwise via Goulburn and Canberra to Melbourne, then Mildura and Adelaide, and north to Alice Springs and Tennant Creek before turning east for Mt Isa, Hughenden and Cairns, then down the coast to Brisbane and the finish line at Bondi.

Of the 113 crews, only 32 finished the harsh route, enduring melting snow, extreme cold, darkness and floods. The challenges began with early casualties when one car rolling off the road into a creek near Goulburn. Several crews lost their way in Canberra’s circles, before confronting the narrow, winding road to Orbost in eastern Victoria in the dark. Roads around Cooma were snow-covered, and cars confronted cattle on roads. Port Augusta was ‘a mud bath all the way’ after torrential rain. The 135km stretch from Mount Isa to Cloncurry continued the torture, before tragedy struck between Grafton and Glen Innes, when two drivers drowned in a creek.

Finishers described the event, won by Wilfred Murrell and Allen Murrell, as ruthlessly hard. Sydney grandmother Blanch Brown took out second place in the ‘big car’ class with her 3-tonne Rolls Royce.

The 1964 Redex Trial also began at Bondi. Drivers left the beach at two-minute intervals on June 14. Each crew was given an instruction book covering the first 12 days, the final two ‘secret’ days only being revealed when drivers reached Goulburn. Flooded roads forced a change of route before Lithgow. Eleven cars retired at Bourke.

When the dust settled on arrival at Bondi Beach, the £3000 first prize went to Harry Firth and Graham Hoinville, driving a Ford Cortina GT. The Australian-made Lightburn Zeta 325cc engine won the trophy for outstanding performance. Of the 147 teams who began, 101 finished. The event was run in 1957, 1958, 1964 and 1970, but ended in 1979 due to a decline in entries and public interest.