In December 1968 four surfers from the City Beach Surf Riders club (CBSR) set off on an overland road trip to the Eastern States in a FJ Holden sedan purchased for $30.
The lads Phil Henderson, Bruce ‘Lumpy’ King, Brian ‘Browneyes’ Mawby-Brown (R.I.P) and Kevin ‘Mumbles’ Rumble planned to surf their way to Noosa in Queensland.
Before they left, the FJ was fitted with a reconditioned motor and the bodywork painted a bright tangerine colour and adorned with logos promoting their sponsor Perth Night Club Whisky a Go Go.
1968 Media coverage of the boys preparing for interstate surf trip from The Sunday Times newspaper. L-R Bruce King, Phil Henderson & Kevin Rumbles1968 Media coverage of the boys preparing for interstate surf trip from The Sunday Times newspaper.
These are Kevin ‘Mumbles’ Rumble’s recollections of the ’68 Whisky a Go Go Surfari East: –
On the day of departure, there was a photo shoot with the FJ Holden on the Floreat groyne before we were fare welled by surf mates and girlfriends as we set off from the City Beach Tea Rooms.
1968 Bruce ‘Lumpy’ King with sponsored FJ Holden on the Floreat groyne prior to departure. Photo credit Bruce King.
As befitting four young blokes travelling in an orange coloured FJ Holden we got up to a fair bit of mischief. Coincidently we left Perth on the same day as competitors in the inaugural London to Sydney Marathon Car Rally. Spectators cheered us boys and our sponsored FJ through Perth and WA country towns assuming we were part of the rally. All went well until the FJ broke down for the first time in Merredin WA. I was head mechanic and managed to fix the FJ overnight, so the next day we continued our trip across the Nullarbor.
1968 Whisky-a Go-Go FJ Holden and boards on the Nullarbor. Still frame ex CBSR video.
The car had broken down so many times we had become quite proficient as a team at pulling the car apart and putting it back together again. One notable time somewhere out near Whyalla in South Australia the car stripped a timing gear, we pulled into the nearest petrol station to be told they had the parts but couldn’t fix it for a couple of days. “That’s all right we’ll fix it” we said. So we proceeded to pull it apart as if we each had our own job, where Phil and Lumpy would open up the front, pulling out the grill, radiator and everything in the way for Browneyes and me to do our mechanical thing. The casual way this was done got the locals convinced that we had no idea and the car would never go again. Once repairs had been finished the car was re-assembled and all the spare tyres and surfboards packed on top without trying to start it. The locals couldn’t help themselves, so a bet was conceived that it wouldn’t go….they thought we were dumb and didn’t know how to line up the timing dotes! We accepted it on the proviso that the car would be push started and it would go first time. It did start and we drove straight around to the main entrance of the gas station put our hands out, got the money and got the hell out of there!
1968 Phil sitting in the car and Mumbles with his head under the bonnet fixing the FJ. Still frame ex CBSR video
We surfed good waves in South Australia and Victoria. While at Phillip Island (Vic) we re-painted the orange car with a paint brush, a less conspicuous light blue colour. As no masking tape was available the tyres and accessories were painted too! The repaint come unstuck when a fresh afternoon breeze came up and coated the car in grass seeds, dirt and insects….it was very Harry Butler!
1968 Phil and Browneyes with FJ and boards on SA/Vic border. Still frame ex CBSR video.
After several more repairs on the trip from Phillip Island to Sydney the FJ was nursed onto Ulladulla in NSW where it expired for the final time. We travelled onto Manly in Sydney and surfed up and down the east coast before making our own way back to Perth.
Thanks for your recollections Mumbles.
Click on this link to view CBSR video footage of the Whisky a Go Go Surfari East. Run time 4:30 min. Music by Vance Burrow Yallingup.
Coming soon more 1960s fun time videos from the City Beach Surfriders Club in WA.
In December 1968 four surfers from the City Beach Surf Riders club (CBSR) set off on an overland road trip to the Eastern States in a FJ Holden sedan purchased for $30.
The lads Phil Henderson, Bruce ‘Lumpy’ King, Brian ‘Browneyes’ Mawby-Brown (R.I.P) and Kevin ‘Mumbles’ Rumble planned to surf their way to Noosa in Queensland.
Before they left, the FJ was fitted with a reconditioned motor and the bodywork painted a bright tangerine colour and adorned with logos promoting their sponsor Perth Night Club Whisky a Go Go.
L-R Bruce King, Phil Henderson & Kevin Rumbles
These are Kevin ‘Mumbles’ Rumble’s recollections of the ’68 Whisky a Go Go Surfari East: –
On the day of departure, there was a photo shoot with the FJ Holden on the Floreat groyne before we were fare welled by surf mates and girlfriends as we set off from the City Beach Tea Rooms.
As befitting four young blokes travelling in an orange coloured FJ Holden we got up to a fair bit of mischief. Coincidently we left Perth on the same day as competitors in the inaugural London to Sydney Marathon Car Rally. Spectators cheered us boys and our sponsored FJ through Perth and WA country towns assuming we were part of the rally. All went well until the FJ broke down for the first time in Merredin WA. I was head mechanic and managed to fix the FJ overnight, so the next day we continued our trip across the Nullarbor.
The car had broken down so many times we had become quite proficient as a team at pulling the car apart and putting it back together again. One notable time somewhere out near Whyalla in South Australia the car stripped a timing gear, we pulled into the nearest petrol station to be told they had the parts but couldn’t fix it for a couple of days. “That’s all right we’ll fix it” we said. So we proceeded to pull it apart as if we each had our own job, where Phil and Lumpy would open up the front, pulling out the grill, radiator and everything in the way for Browneyes and me to do our mechanical thing. The casual way this was done got the locals convinced that we had no idea and the car would never go again. Once repairs had been finished the car was re-assembled and all the spare tyres and surfboards packed on top without trying to start it. The locals couldn’t help themselves, so a bet was conceived that it wouldn’t go….they thought we were dumb and didn’t know how to line up the timing dotes! We accepted it on the proviso that the car would be push started and it would go first time. It did start and we drove straight around to the main entrance of the gas station put our hands out, got the money and got the hell out of there!
1968 Phil sitting in the car and Mumbles with his head under the bonnet fixing the FJ. Still frame ex CBSR video
We surfed good waves in South Australia and Victoria. While at Phillip Island (Vic) we re-painted the orange car with a paint brush, a less conspicuous light blue colour. As no masking tape was available the tyres and accessories were painted too! The repaint come unstuck when a fresh afternoon breeze came up and coated the car in grass seeds, dirt and insects….it was very Harry Butler!
After several more repairs on the trip from Phillip Island to Sydney the FJ was nursed onto Ulladulla in NSW where it expired for the final time. We travelled onto Manly in Sydney and surfed up and down the east coast before making our own way back to Perth.
Thanks for your recollections Mumbles.
Click on this link to view CBSR video footage of the Whisky a Go Go Surfari East. Run time 4:30 min. Music by Vance Burrow Yallingup.
Coming soon more 1960s fun time videos from the City Beach Surfriders Club in WA.
——————————————————-
Share this:
Like this: