As you all know, before I got involved in bikes, I was a mad, keen car racing fanatic. It started when the late Jack Brabham won the F1 world championship in 1959 and continued on even past the time I bought my bike and started going to the bike races. Circuit racing was my favourite but I also loved hillclimbing with the likes of Dick Willis, Tom Sulman, Colin Bond and others being my favourite drivers. And, of course my local favourite, Ron Thorp, in his booming Shelby Cobra.
Thorpie at Huntley, photographer unknown.
So it was very pleasant to see one of muso mates, Elwyn Jordan, posting the picture at the head of this article on his Facebook feed yesterday. It was taken by him, at Huntley Hillclimb (about 5kms away from where I now live in Dapto) in 1969. There is simply so much to love about this photo, taken from the side of the track with a Kodak Instamatic, fixed-focus camera. Note, for example that the driver, Charlie Tolhurst (known to his racing mates as “Chuckie”) who lived not far from the track himself in the Wollongong suburb of Unanderra, is not wearing a seat belt. The compulsory wearing of seat belts in road cars did not become law until 1973 here so it’s likely that this car didn’t even have seat belts fitted. The car, of course, is a 1968 HK model Holden Monaro GTS and it’s fitted with the 327 V8 engine that powered this model to a Bathurst win the year before this photo was taken.
Note also that this car was probably Chuckie’s road car away from the track as it is fitted with a tow bar. The side-on shot doesn’t show it but I’ll be it still had its number plates fitted, too.
Chuckie was known, renowned, even, for his “press-on” driving style and this can clearly be seen in this photo also. The racing numbers appear to be made of electrical tape which were no doubt removed when Chuckie drove the car home after the event.
The posting of this photo brought back some very nice memories for me and, if you will stick with me, I’ll tell you an interesting story.
Not long after we moved from Wollongong to Canberra in 1976, I made the acquaintance of my in-laws’ next door neighbour. Geoff was a petrol-head, like me and his daily mode of transport was an early-50s Peugeot 203 sedan, fitted with a 2.5L Daimler V8 engine. It was quite a weapon and it wasn’t long before we became good friends. Knowing that I was an enthusiast, Geoff suggested that I go out to Lakeview Hillclimb and have a look at the event being held there in a couple of weekends’ time. That sounded great but my thoughts immediately turned to the possibility of photographing the event, I’d not long purchased my SLR camera and was anxious for any opportunity to use it.
Geoff gave me the phone number of the Organising Secretary and he was more than happy to give me a Press Pass on the proviso that I provided the club with copies of my photos which I was delighted to do. Now, those of you who know Canberra well might be thinking that the event was to be held at the Fairbairn Park hillclimb track on Sutton Road, just out of Queanbeyan, but you’d be wrong. That track wasn’t built until the 90s (and I had a lot to do with IT, too) No, the event was to be held at the delightfully-named Lakeview track between Queanbeyan and Bungendore.
You may be wondering where the name derives but it was actually appropriate because, from the crest of the hill, it was possible to look north and see the southern end of Lake George. Doing so while racing was probably not a good idea though as the finish line was just there and you’d have been travelling mighty quickly at that point in your run.
So, let me explain. From 1962 through to the end of 1984, Lakeview was an actively-used hillclimb track. For a number of years it hosted rounds of the NSW Championship as well as local events. It was 800 metres long and rose steeply throughout that distance. There were only a couple of corners in it (more kinks than corners) and it was narrow, rough and closely enclosed by gum trees. The track was actually a disused section of the Kings Highway that had been by-passed when the highway was upgraded. It has been by-passed even further since then as a further highway upgrade has taken the main road further north than it was then.
Bits of it can still be seen including a lay-by at the bottom of the hill which was where the Starting line was located. If you travel the road, look for it immediately after you crest the big hill and start to drop down onto the plain that leads you out to Bungendore, it’s on your right.
It was a layout that was not for the faint-hearted that is for sure which is probably why Chuckie Tolhurst, who had moved to Canberra to live some years before this and resided in the suburb of Melba, loved it so much.
Elwyn’s posting of his photo prompted me to search for my old Lakeview shots and I was anticipating a long, drawn-out affair. Suffice it to say that I was amazed to find them almost straight away and right in the place that I was anticipating they would be. Someone had obviously blundered.
And, sure enough, amongst the collection was this one.
Apologies for the quality (or lack thereof) it’s a photo of a photo. Charlie had obviously upgraded since the 1969 shot as this is an HT Monaro but it is still obviously Chuckie’s car and it’s still road registered. He had obviously won the Improved Touring class that day as he is clearly waving his winner’s trophy out the window.
A couple of extra bits of trivia. The track actually was in two states (well, one state and one territory) The majority of the track was in NSW but, just before the Finish line, the road crossed into the ACT. This was to lead to a couple of strange confrontations on race weekends where ACT Police (actually it was the Federal Police then) waited on the slow-down part of the track and began issuing infringement notices to the competitors once they had crossed the Finish line. They were booked for speeding, driving an unregistered vehicle, driving a defective vehicle and anything else that the AFP officers could think of.
The situation was only resolved by organisers driving back into Canberra (no mobile phones, or even landlines out there) and getting an urgent meeting with the Commissioner who told his officers to stand down (by radio) and to allow the meeting to continue.
The track was listed in the CAMS handbook right up till 1990 but it is generally acknowledged that the last meeting held there was in 1984. If you’d like to read up about it more, follow this link. It includes some great posts from the legendary Paul Hamilton who records his 27 second time in winning the meeting in his Elfin 600 in September 1976. On reflection, this was probably the meeting where I took my photos! There are a couple of other Wollongong connections here. Paul records that he had to battle Gary Cassar for the FTD. Cassar was driving the Wortmeyer SCV (a Wollongong car) which is now on display at the MotoLife Museum in Dapto. And, there are several entries from a guy called Ray Bell who, I am sure, is still a member of WSCC and helps organise the hillclimbs at Huntley.
https://forums.autosport.com/topic/106824-lakeview-hillclimb-bungendore-nsw-australia/
Isn’t it amazing what you can wring out of one photograph?
