1955 Round Australia Trial Explained

1955 Round Australia Trial
Native Name:	Redex Trial
Previous Round:	1954 Round Australia Trial
Next Round:	1956 Round Australia Trial (Ampol)
Startdate:	21 August
Enddate:	11 September 1955
Stages:	17
Overallkm:	16900
Surface:	Tarmac and Gravel
Driver1:	Laurie Whitehead Bob Foreman
Team1:	Regent Motors Pty Ltd
Teamsstart:	176
Teamsfinish:	54

The 1955 Round Australia Trial, officially the Redex Trial, was the third running of the Round Australia Trial. The rally took place between 21 August and 11 September 1955. The event covered 16,900 kilometres around Australia. It was won by Laurie Whitehead and Bob Foreman, driving a Volkswagen 1200.

Results

		Entrant	Drivers	Car	Penalties (Points)
1	90	Regent Motors Pty Ltd	Laurie Whitehead Bob Foreman	Volkswagen 1200	21
2	2	E.B. Perkins	Eddie Perkins Lance Perkins	Volkswagen 1200	27
3	60	Regal Motors Pty Ltd	Malcolm Brooks Frank Tate	Standard Vanguard Phase II	45
4	133	W.H. Hayes	William Hayes Tom Quill		161
5	83	Carl Kennedy	Carl Kennedy Bill Turner	Peugeot 203	236
6	38	Greig and Lloyd Kook	Greig Kook Sidney Braithwaite Lloyd Kook	Standard Vanguard Phase II	399
7	89	D.A. McLachlan	Bill McLachlan Marie McLachlan		506
8	101	Bill Edmonds	Bill Edmonds Eric Keft	Standard Vanguard Phase II	591
9	152	Advanx (Gosford) Motor Service Pty Ltd	Robert Burgin Sam Griffiths	Peugeot 203	622
10	164	F.E. McMahon	Francis McMahon Bruce Creber Pat Joyce	Mercury 1948 Eight	656
11	169	Team Hines and Eastlake	Bert Hines Frank Eastlake Glen Tippett	Holden FJ	699
12	72	W.L. Pitt	Bill Pitt Walter Anderson Richard Howard	Morris Oxford Series II	725
13	55	Manly Pacific Garage	Ronald Green Jack Scharkie	Peugeot 203	740
14	154	Robert Sears	Robert Sears Unknown	Peugeot 203	750
15	99	Team Fraser and McLoughlin	Rod Fraser Colin McLoughlin	Volkswagen 1200	773
16	136	F.W. Hecker	Sam Hecker Arthur Griffiths Norwood Warry	Holden FJ	795
17	174	Team Watt and Peniston	Neil Watt Arthur Peniston	Peugeot 203	847
18	74	NSW Country Holden Dealers	Ken Miller Terry Wheatley Harry Cape	Holden FJ	965
19	59	W.A. Rudder	W. Rudder Raymond Pickett M. Somerville	Humber Super Snipe Mark IV	1,020
20	76	Christey's Motor Auctions Pty Ltd	Tom Mills Jack O'Hara Bert Easterbrook	Ford 1954 Customline	1,114
21	125	D.A. Pollack	Kevin Pollack Donald Pollack John Sample	Ford Zephyr Six	1,132
22	167	J. Lefoe and R.S. Upton Pty Ltd	John Lefoe Evan Green	Standard Vanguard Phase II	1,245
23	140	Richardson and Kirwan Pty Ltd	Val Richardson Max Kirwan Bob Crewdson	Humber Super Snipe Mark IV	1,249
24	12	A.A. Johns	Tony Johns Patrick O'Conner	Peugeot 203	1,281
25	67	'Possum' Kipling	'Possum' Kipling Leigh Stevens Les March	Holden FJ	1,299
26	107	Koroit Motors	Eric Richardson Gordon McDowell Ian Crockford	Holden FJ	1,359
27	134	Team Belling, Cumming and Peake	John Belling Forbes Cumming Robert Peake	Ford Zephyr Six	1,363
28	31	Gordon Bray	Gordon Bray Sandy Raywood	Peugeot 203	1,422
29	62	Team Smith and McCrohon	Ross Smith Keith McCrohon Chris Higgins	Standard Vanguard Phase II	1,499
30	48	J.R. Hall	John Hall George Reynolds	Volkswagen 1200	1,516
31	58	Mrs C. Hayes	'Granny' Hayes George Ross Jack Ricardi	Volkswagen 1200	1,653
32	54	Young's Car Sales	Robert Young Jack Vaughan	Volkswagen 1200	1,678
33	102	Jack Hay	Jack Hay Arch Heyward	Standard Vanguard Phase II	1,702
34	173	Major Warwick	Major Warwick Joseph Little	Škoda 1101	1,837
35	1	A.W. Standfield	Wes Standfield Ron Standfield	Standard Vanguard Phase II	1,882
36	158	D.H. Antill	Peter Antill George Reed Max Winkless	Plymouth 1955 Savoy	1,926
37	108	Goodfellow Brothers	Horace Goodfellow Leo Goodfellow	Standard Vanguard Phase II	1,973
38	168	K.F. Thallon	Keith Thallon Ike Stubbin Graham Richter	Standard Vanguard Phase II	2,054
39	141	E.A. Gibson	Eric Gibson Leonard McGill James Whelan Arch Nicholson	Chevrolet 1951 Deluxe	2,222
40	170	Team Allen and McComb	James Allen Raymond Allen Gordon McComb	Standard Vanguard Phase II	2,266
41	118	Stewart Alexander	Stewart Alexander John Hillman Selwyn Murphy	Dodge 1948 Deluxe	2,292
42	39	Jim Hirst	Jim Hirst Geoff Chew	Standard Vanguard Phase II	2,358
43	6	Rex Parkinson	Rex Parkinson John Hope Tony Lucas	Holden FJ	2,508
44	94	Tom Farrell	Tom Farrell Frank Denlay John Jones	Ford 1954 Customline	2,689
45	111	R.J. Williams	Robert Williams Milford Johnson Ian Robertson	Holden FJ	2,709
46	25	J.E. Pedley	Joe Pedley Maxwell Oliver	Austin A50	2,745
47	50	J.F. McCafferty	John McCafferty Peter Richardson John McKinney	Holden FJ	3,310
48	20	K.V. Tubman	Ken Tubman Ken Pleasant	Standard Vanguard Phase II	3,327
49	44	Ride-Esi Shock Absorbers	Harry Walker George Walsh Arthur Green	Ford Zephyr Six	3,472
50	115	D.T. Murray	Des Murray Unknown	Holden FJ	3,894
51	126	C.A. Fulton	Cecil Fulton Neil Stewart Thomas Cawdroy	Austin A70 Hereford	4,068
52	137	'Pop' Morgan	'Pop' Morgan Neville Bird	Standard Vanguard Phase II	4,691
53	36	Lenaghan's Belmont Taxis	Elaine Lenaghan Reg Lenaghan	Holden FJ	5,127
54	113	W.J. Robinson	Bill Robinson Barry Bolton	Holden 48-215	6,483
Source:^[1] ^[2] ^[3]

Notes and References

1. Bill Tuckey & Thomas B. Floyd, From Redex To Repco: Gregory's 25 Years of Around Australia Trials, 1979, pages 68-80
2. News: 182 Cars Entered in Round Australia Trial . The Sydney Morning Herald. 19 July 1955.
3. Hal Moloney, Long Distance Trials in Australia by Car, Plane & Motor Cycle, 2018, pages 187-191