The ‘Peugeot Round Australia Re-Run’ finished in Sydney last Sunday (21st May), with the entire field of over 60 classic cars completing the one-month journey, that saw them drive some 12,000kms around Australia.

To have driven across the country, and participate in competitive motor sport events along the way where even greater demands were placed upon the vehicles, is testament to the reliability and durability of the Peugeot marque, some 50 years after the original Ampol Trial victory. Not to mention the determination and spirit of the teams that completed the journey.

A Gala Dinner was held to announce the Outright Winners along with the Class victors, and to celebrate the month long adventure and reflect on the fun times had by all.

Brian and Merrillyn Ward took the honours for outright victory, driving a Peugeot 404. Also in 404’s were Damien and Ronda Jenkins along with Bill Hamilton in second place, with Brian Amey finishing third.

Mr. Rob Dommerson, Managing Director of Peugeot Automobiles Australia, who sponsored the event said, “The fact that these Peugeot’s can still drive the required 12,000 kilometres while giving their owners great pleasure, goes part of the way to explaining the mystique and strength behind the Peugeot name.”

“I would like to congratulate the entire field, as well the outright and class winners of the event. I would also like to recognise the fantastic efforts of the Clerk of Course, Graham Wallis, and his team who organised the event in a very professional manner, and managed the daunting task with aplomb”.

Although they had spent four weeks on the road, for many, the journey was not quite over. With competitors from all over Australia, there was still the matter of an interstate trip home….

Background

50 years ago the first Ampol Trial was held, which like the Redex Trials before them, have become part of Australian motoring folklore. Conditions were treacherous, and in 1956 Wilf Murrell and Allen Taylor won the incredibly tough Ampol Trial in the newly released Peugeot 403, a model that carried on the brand’s tradition of rugged reliability earned by the 1953 Redex victory.

Some 50 years on, an adventurous group of classic Peugeot owners embarked on a re-run to commemorate the famous victory.

The classic Peugeot’s, some of them now over 50 years old have carried on the proud tradition, with the field comfortably traveling around the nation and competing in the motor sport events along the way.

The competitors have retraced original routes of various Ampol Trials, and have enjoyed great public support in the cities and towns that they have visited along the way.

Timekeepers check Brian Ward's performance in a motorkhana at Bathurst during the Peugeot Re-Run celebrating the anniversary of the Peugeot 403 victory in the 1956 Ampol Trial. Brian won the re-run in his modified Peugeot 404.