Bay to Birdwood rally part 2

I forgot to mention that this year it was the centenary of the first drivers license issued in South Australia. Records from 1907 provide the name/address/make & horsepower of all registered cars approx 300 in South Australia. By 1913 there were approx 1000 cars. This year the rally organisers put down seaweed at the starting point of the rally. This was done many years ago when the roads were not sealed, to keep down the dust.



France and Germany were two of the earliest countries to enforce mandatory driver licensing.



On Aug 1, 1910, only professional chauffeurs in state of New York had to have licenses. In July 1913 all drivers in state of New Jersey had to have a license.



When my grandfather bought his first car in 1923 (a new Dodge), they jacked up the rear end and made him go thru the gears for 30 minutes before they let him out on the road. He had never driven a car before.



Does anyone have any other interesting statistics or stories of yester year? Regards, Barry