In the immediate post WW2 years, hill climbing was big. All you needed was a hill, after all. In western Europe, there were plenty of these, the larger ones more accurately being mountains, and the runs could be up to 30 kilometres. In the Antipodes, the courses tended to be much shorter, demanding explosive acceleration and as little weight as possible. Adhering to the status quo, it was primarily a car sport, but motorcycles nevertheless played a part, although the danger element increased substantially given the usually rugged and unforgiving nature of the surroundings.
The Australian Hill Climb Championships (for cars), was instigated in 1938 and run at the still-extant Rob Roy climb at Smiths Gully, Victoria. The track was built from scratch on a property originally known as Clinton’s Pleasure Grounds. Only one AHCC was held prior to the war, on a
