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Alpine Rally SHORTS – Murray Coote ~ My memories of the Alpine

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  A lpine R ally SHORTS – M urray Coote My memories of the Alpine It was like an end of year pilgrimage for me – the last rally for the year. Rally crews taking over the friendly town of Bright creating a special atmosphere.  Winning the Alpine (to me) was even more of an achievement than winning the Australian Rally Championship. Scantily clad girls cleaning the windscreens at the end of stages. The cricket matches on the oval at Bright at the end of the event were something I will never forget.  John Dawson-Damer acting as umpire with a bottle of wine stored at the base of the wickets. I guess in my memory it was the entire package, the area, the roads, the social atmosphere before and after and during the event yet so highly competitive as everyone wanted to win the Alpine. Murray Coote has competed in many Alpine Rallies  from the mid-1970s to 1991,  when he won BP Alpine Rally  that year  on his way to secure the  Australian Rally ...
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Alpine Legend Frank Kilfoyle - What are my most poignant memories of the Alpine?

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As editor of the November 2005 edition of the Historic Rally Association Journal  I did an interview with Australian Rally Hall of Fame member &   Alpine Rally legend Frank Kilfoyle as a 6 6-time winner & 4-time Director.  I have reproduced the words here with some extra recently  researched  information & pictures  to add some more colour  as we prepare for the  2025 Lovells Suspension Alpine Rally of East Gippsland. Man on Road Alpine Legend   Frank   Kilf oyle What are my most poignant memories of the Alpine? I’ve competed in some 12 Alpines.   I think I finished in 11 of them, won 6  or maybe 5.5, depending on how  you count the one as co-driver.   ed note - an Alpine Rally win as a Navigator certainly counts! The first was 1959, which we rather won be accident.  George Reynolds in the 1985 Olde BP Rally with Frank's long-time Navigator Mike Osborne Bruce Ford, with Harry ...
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 Mollison Motors Kyneton History End of the road The Age November 26, 2008 — 12.00am When a Holden dealership in Kyneton folded, it sent a collective shiver through the township – and across the nation. Geoff Strong reports. T HE showrooms of Mollison Motors are empty now. Where new Commodores and Holden utes once gleamed for customer attention, there are just a few hubcaps on a rack and brochures stacked on the red carpet. Outside the wind toys with bits of paper and a plastic cup rolls across the vacant used car lot. The high points and lows in the history of this long-established Kyneton Holden dealer have mirrored the Australian automotive industry for the past 60 years. In its latest twist, Mollison Motors has been hit by something the industry fears could soon be the fate of many. If that happens the pain being felt in this town would then be magnified across Australia. A little over a month ago Mollison Motors closed when its finance company refused to extend credit to pay f...
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Vale Roger Baker - a tremendous Victorian Rally Servant Most of the Victorian rally community are aware   of Roger Bakers contribution to Victorian motorsport over many years with his   contributuion via the WICEN radio network and the revolutionary “Pienet” radio network, but Roger was also a rally competitor and rally organiser of note during the 1960s and 1970s. Here are a couple of highlights of earlier Rogers rally career I was aware of and have unearthed some more details since I heard of Rogers passing last week. Roger Baker, centre, somewhere late at night on the 1965 BP Rally, with Jim McAuliffe to his right. 1965 BP Rally of South Eastern Australia Roger competed as a navigator in the 1965 BP Rally, a BP rally that was both famous and infamous in media reports of the time and in Australian rally forklore. A snip from a Pathe film shows Ian McKnight & Roger Baker with their Triumph 2000 at the finish at Chadstone Shopping Centre A glance at the official results ...
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"A mostly wet 1996 Targa Tasmania in a quick BMW M3R"

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  "A mostly wet 1996 Targa Tasmania in a quick BMW M3R" In my 51 years of rallying this is the prettiest & fastest rally car I have been in.  It was a gentleman crew - yes, we were "dreamin" of Pat Barber & Simon Brown Brought to you by an array of BHP’s associate sponsors! BMW Melbourne as well as M & J Novak Panels – South Melbourne  – for the “ab fab” stunning hand painted BMW coloured logo badge tail decor Beaurepaires - for the Dunlop R - "Dry" spec  BHP Transport - from the Team Captain BHP Petroleum - cause we used a bit of it BHP Temco - cause they are in Tassie BP - cause the small BP logo looked cute on the rear 1/4s of the M3R! Bells Hotel South Melbourne - for event planning meetings Now-a-days old rally mates often chat about the "good old days" via social media rather than a halfway rub - a - dub.      Here is a facebook messenger chat a few months ago between these team mates. Simon Brown Pat thanks for th...
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And chasing southern lights ... I just looked up at our clear night sky tonight - as all good rally people are told to do so as to see further up the road (thanks Rod Browning) And this tune came to mind. Looking forward to a desert cruise on many an open plain, very soon, thanks to Grahams Mallee Tour. (thanks Graham Wallis) Driving Wheels Song by Jimmy Barnes ‧ 1987 =Overview Lyrics Search Results Main results Lyrics Well he's following the broken lines Living on borrowed time Motel rooms and broken hearts all left behind You swear he couldn't close his eyes As he shifts into overdrive He's been up and down this road so many times The man of his own And searching just keeps him proving That only the road Can tame the rebel in his soul It's the rhythm of the highway As he rolls on down And city lights as they fade from sight Drives the man behind the driving wheels Like a cowboy in a rodeo Riding hard but never letting go You'll be wand'ring through the twiligh...
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