Rear view looks back the history of motoring in Queensland through the pages of The Queensland Motorist, The RACQ Journal and The Road Ahead.
A STORY IN a 1994 edition of The Road Ahead was accurately predicting the future.
The report said population growth in south-east Queensland would cause significant issues on roads already struggling with traffic.
The road corridors listed back then are the same ones causing issues now – the Pacific, Logan, and Ipswich motorways, the Bruce Highway, and Brisbane’s inner northern suburbs, to name a few.
“All in all, there still is likely to be some debate on the transport infrastructure being planned to help meet growing population demands in south-east Queensland into the next century,” the report said.
It’s safe to say, decades on, that debate has never been settled.
First RACQ road inspection
Advocating for safer roads is part of RACQ’s DNA.
As we continue to call for upgrades to the Bruce Highway and survey members on the State’s most ‘unroadworthy roads’, some of the first pages of The Queensland Motorist detailed how this advocacy started.
An April 1926 edition of the magazine said members of the Club’s committee had started carrying out monthly road inspections. They planned to provide the results to the State Government and use the findings to complete maps of popular driving routes.
“These inspections will furnish the Tourist Department with useful data concerning the condition of roads and corrected speedometer readings and will also be a means of enabling the committee to check direction signs and danger and caution signs,” the story said.
The first inspection route was from Brisbane to Beaudesert. Overall, the committee encouraged other motorists to take the trip.
They were impressed by some parts of the road but seemingly bored by others: “The road to Beaudesert is fairly good, but parts are rather uninteresting… When the bridge is reached, one will immediately notice that there is insufficient room for two cars to pass on it, care must be exercised.”
Holdens an early winner
IN 1948, HOLDEN manufactured the FX 48-215, the first car “made in Australia, for Australia”.
Two years later, an advertisement in a 1950 edition of The Road Ahead promised Holden was well worth the wait.
It featured reviews from owners across the country praising the car’s performance.
One proud owner from South Australia wrote: “I feel urged to express my appreciation of the excellent design and superb performance of this much debated Australian car. My fears with regard to the strength of body and its load capacity have been dispelled.”
Another man from Echuca in Victoria said: “With that extra nippiness it possesses over other cars, and its wonderful manoeuvrability, it turned city traffic, the average countryman’s nightmare into a pleasant dream… ”.
But you needed luck to get your hands on one as demand was outstripping supply!
IN 1948, HOLDEN manufactured the FX 48-215, the first car “made in Australia, for Australia”.
Two years later, an advertisement in a 1950 edition of The Road Ahead promised Holden was well worth the wait.
It featured reviews from owners across the country praising the car’s performance.
One proud owner from South Australia wrote: “I feel urged to express my appreciation of the excellent design and superb performance of this much debated Australian car. My fears with regard to the strength of body and its load capacity have been dispelled.”
Another man from Echuca in Victoria said: “With that extra nippiness it possesses over other cars, and its wonderful manoeuvrability, it turned city traffic, the average countryman’s nightmare into a pleasant dream… ”.
But you needed luck to get your hands on one as demand was outstripping supply!