Pioneer motorists needed to be well prepared for a range of motoring exigencies and they developed an impressive blend of mechanical know-how, resourcefulness and dogged determination in order to survive the primitive road conditions. The fact that early cars provided little or no protection from the elements meant that most journeys included a certain amount of hardship.
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Road conditions
In the early 1900s road consciousness was born and protest about poor road conditions began to have a profile on local authority agendas. As an example, complaints were registered with the Brisbane City Council in 1905 about loose gravel and poor wet weather conditions in Queen Street.
For longer trips a can of grease - needed to periodically grease the chassis bearings - an axe, pick, shovel, crowbar and a coil of rope were essential accessories for all early motorists. In the absence of convenient (or in some areas, any) service stations, petrol had to be carried, usually in four gallon tins.
The clothes typically worn by motorists in the early years - leather caps, dust coats, goggles, gauntlets and veils for women - were in fact largely dictated by road conditions and in particular, by the absence of any other protection from dust, grime and wet weather. Roads were unsealed, making dust a serious problem in dry weather for both car engines and drivers. Driving in strong winds could be a particularly unpleasant experience. In wet weather, on the other hand, mud caused some roads to be dangerously slippery or impassible.
Country roads in particular were often in appalling condition and drivers were forced to straddle the huge ruts made by wagon tyres or to detour around rutted areas and washed out sections of the road. Getting bogged was a common experience and in black soil wheels were often sunk well below their axles. Timber slats fixed to the wheel by wire were sometimes used to provide some kind of grip on the slippery surface and “caterpillars,” a type of track made from slats of wood, were also popular. Many motorists carried a pulley and a coil of rope up to 75 metres in length which with the help of a convenient tree, could be used to winch the car out of water or mud. Failing these measures a team of horses, if available was sometimes engaged to drag stranded vehicles out of trouble.
There were numerous other ingenious solutions to the many motoring challenges. When windscreens became available they did not often come with windscreen wipers and drivers improvised with a slice of apple or potato smeared over the screen to encourage the water to run off the glass. Blown tyres, a frequent hazard on rough roads, were sometimes stuffed with leaves or other material to make the journey home and leaking radiators were variously plugged with a raw egg, unprocessed bran or old horse manure. Such skills, accumulated, passed down and refined, enabled our motoring pioneers to survive some quite remarkable trips into the more remote parts of Australia in the early part of the twentieth century.
Last updated: 28th May 2008
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