This blogsite is a collection of writings and recollections of my experiences with car rallying primarily during the 1970s, and primarily in Victoria. Rallying was my life for much of this time as I competed initially as a navigator and subsequently as a driver, whilst also directing and course checking a multitude of events from novice trials to the International Alpine Rally. I also sat beside many interesting drivers and characters, including two national champions. In 1980 I ceased competing but still course checked a few events, primarily for Ross Runnalls, as well as being a member of the National Rally Committee for a few years.
Why LFBF? The “little faded blue figure” tag was invented by my good friend Noel Kelly in 1974 in a Blower article which is reproduced here. The Blower was the magazine of the CCRMIT (the Car Club of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology). Club members and Victorian rallying generally might recall this name, under which I wrote various articles in a Blower column called “LFBF’s Mumblings”.
Why a blog now? I have been inspired by the Australian Rally History facebook group to record and share my memories of what is considered by many to have been the golden years of rallying. As many of us move into our older years, and I’m one of the “younger generation”, it seems many of us still want to relive our earlier exploits. It was a fun time when rallying was not quite so serious and expensive as it has become in recent decades. Perhaps also, as we get older, we want to just record some of these memories for posterity and allow today’s generation of younger rally enthusiasts to get some idea of what it was like way back then! Certainly the response to my blog of the 1979 Repco Round Australia Trial suggests that many people have a keen interest in rally history. On the other hand, many may see such a blog as just self-absorbed indulgence – guilty as charged!
It is difficult to know how to categorise my various articles, but for now there is just a simple menu. And a caveat! Almost all of this is done from memory because, sadly, I have very little in the way of hard documentation, much of which has been lost through various moves or plain thoughtless disposal. Consequently, there will certainly be errors, so feel free to leave a comment if you can make a correction or add something to a story. Also, if you have any relevant photos or documents (route instructions, results), I’d love to see them. Sadly, after numerous moves I managed to lose just about all my files.
Ian Richards
