OUR STORY
After the 1928 London to Brighton sparked the creation of the Veteran Car Club of Great Britain, a man by the name of Dr. Cliff Downing thought to do the same in South Australia. He teamed up with a man named Percy Wien-Smith to find all of South Australia’s veteran cars.
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With only 120 cars recorded in South Australia in 1905, it was a difficult mission that went for two years. In the end 18 cars and 10 motorbikes took part in the original Old Crocks Run on the 5th of May 1934. The run started from the Adelaide CBD and finished at Glenelg Football Oval. Despite two cars not making it due to mechanical failure, the run was a huge success. Over 85 thousand people lined the streets to watch on.
To run the event, the organisers needed a business, like a club behind it. The year before the run took place, the Veteran Car Club of South Australia was created. After the event, it was determined that a club limited to veteran cars would not be feasible. As a result, a new club was created, the Sporting Car Club of South Australia.
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Dr Geoffrey Howard was elected as the club’s first president, Gronwy Morris as secretary and Kenneth Johnson as treasurer. A Veteran Section within the SCCSA was introduced. Percy Wein-Smith was elected Chairman.
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Membership was half a guinea (ten shillings and sixpence). A week after it was founded, the SCCSA hosted its official first event, a run to Mannum. The week after that, at Snake Gully, the club hosted its first ever hillclimb. On the 10th of October 1934, the SCCSA hosted its first speed meeting. Held on the beach at Sellicks Beach, the event was ‘too’ successful as the gathering of spectators was simply too much to handle. By the end of 1934, the club had 30 to 40 members.