On 16 July 1928, Francis Birtles drove his 14 HP Bean racing car (the Sundowner) into the city of Sydney, with his travelling companion P E Stollery. Arriving to crowds, journalists and photographers outside the Dunlop Rubber Co headquarters in Wentworth Avenue, they had reached the final leg of their driving voyage, which began for Birtles in London almost nine months earlier. The journey was not repeated until 1955..... Francis Birtles’s remarkable journey driving from London, England to Melbourne, Australia in 1927/1928 represents a pivotal era in Australia’s automobile history. The increase in availability of more sophisticated and practical vehicles and road services in the early 20th century contributed to the gradual decline of interstate passenger travel by ship in Australia.
Posted on: Mon, 24 Mar 2014 19:22:41 +0000
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