RACING INTO HISTORY - Australian Grand Prix

Car: LAGO TALBOT T26CDriver: Doug TalbotRace #: 1Position: 1Talbot Lago or Lago Talbot? Theformer seems to have won, as DougWhiteford’s crew fondly called the bigcar the ‘Large Tablet’. This is the secondT26C owned by Whiteford, chassisno.110002. It was in chassis no.11007that Whiteford, a St Kilda garage-owner famous before Albert Park for his exploitsin the Ford V8 Special known as ‘Black Bess’, won the 1953 Australian Grand Prix.The 4.5-litre T26C was introduced in 1948; only 14 were built at the French firm’sSuresnes plant. While the car was never quick enough to be a consistent winner, itexcelled through sheer reliability and frugality, often running through to the finishwithout a stop for fuel. Whiteford’s first T26C came via Marseilles in 1950 for itsoriginal Australian owner Tom Hawkes. Whiteford bought it in 1951 and won the1952 Australian Grand Prix with it at Bathurst. His first Lago Talbot charged tovictory in the 1953 Albert Park race when Stan Jones’s Maybach retired; Doug evenhad time to come in for repairs to a right rear puncture, rejoin and still win bythe handsome margin of five laps. The car on display has belonged since 2006 toMount Martha enthusiast Ron Townley, who has put a great deal of work into it:reconditioned engine (crankshaft, conrods, pistons), new radiator core, pump, brakesand more. Arriving in Australia in 1954, it did not race until the 1955 AustralianGrand Prix at Port Wakefield.Car: KLEINIG HUDSONDriver: Frank KleinigRace #: 7Position: 7Frank Kleinig’s racing career beganon two wheels but his reputation wasforged at the wheel of the HudsonSpecial, a car that was already 18 years old when it competed in the 1953 AustralianGrand Prix. It was in the hands of one Mr. Gus McIntyre when it was sold toKleinig as one of a pair. The car made its Australian Grand Prix debut at VictorHarbor in 1937. Its 1.5-litre Miller engine was found wanting when it came to thechallenge of places like Bathurst, venue for the 1938 Australian Grand Prix, so Frankremoved it and dropped in a 4.4-litre Hudson said to come straight out of his ownnew road-going sedan. He would develop the Kleinig Hudson unrelentingly overthe next decade and a half, the car eventually being capable of over 200 km/h. Itsbugbear was reliability: although it was fast – Kleinig was favourite to win the1949 Australian Grand Prix at Leyburn in Queensland – it rarely lasted the distance.In fact in its seven AGP appearances the Kleinig Hudson finished only twice: itwas 17th at Lobethal, the South Australian track where Frank was something ofa specialist, and its peak came at Albert Park when it came home seventh. Eventhen the car had only first and fourth gears still working… The Kleinig Hudsonnow belongs to Tom Roberts of Seville, VIC, and will be driven by experiencedhill-climber David Bell at Albert Park.14