Personal Narrative: A Personal Journal Of Rex's Loss

Rex won many accolades in all forms of motor sport, even to the more sedate reliability and economy trials in the family sedan. By the late 1940’s the family car was a little rear-engine Renault 750 and on one occasion he took me along in the Reno on a club economy trial.
My memory of that day is again much about a rough ride! He had emptied the car of all unnecessary objects (apparently my weight was insufficient to cause much concern) and inflated the tyres to the max (I’m talking concrete...) to limit rolling resistance. I remember he won the day with a fuel consumption of something of the order of 92 mpg.
The only racing injury I remember him ever sustaining resulted from an engine fire during a race at the ex-wartime airstrip at Strathpine, north of Brisbane. He somehow suffered a burnt hand before bringing the car to a stop and having the fire

I was an eighteen year old, and was to take the excess four passengers in Rex’s Falcon car as a double-header in company with the scheduled coach. All rather risque’ but considered safely do-able at the time.
Even at my tender age, there was no tour driver anywhere who knew that Brisbane to Sydney itinerary and commentary better than I, after riding behind my Dad often over the years as an ‘unofficial apprentice.’ In fact I had every tenet of the ultimate professional coach tour captain ingrained in my psyche, all learned ‘on the job’ from long observing one of the greatest such operators ever to shift a gear.
My tour went off without a hitch, however I’m reluctant to spill all the beans regarding the size of the nice couple of tips I received on arrival in Sydney!
I immediately turned around and headed back over the ‘coat-hanger’ for home, electing to travel the New England route overnight to be back in Brisbane by daylight the next