Rodders returned to Narrandera in force at the weekend for their 37th Rod and Custom Run.
But the interest in rodding started many years before that. Australian Street Rodding can be traced back to 1956 when the first Street Rod Club was formed in Victoria. It was the forerunner to many others including the Earlies Rod Run Club coming to Narrandera in Easter 1973.
After a hiatus due to COVID-19 the rodders are looking forward to returning to Narrandera in 2021 for their event.
Street rodding as a sport in general began to blossom as early as 1960 particularly in Victoria, NSW and SA as early as 1960.
It was around this time that a South Australian by the name of Trevor Edmonds appeared on the scene. Trevor had a vision of seeing the sport in all States united under the one banner; however, it was not until 1966 that he was to see the start of his dream come true.
In February 1966 an inaugural meeting took place in Albury and from this meeting the Australian Hot Rod Federation was formed.
Trevor Edmonds was elected to the position of National Secretary with John Flemming, M Allsopp representing NSW; Bob Dykes, Victoria; Denny Edmonds, SA; Kevin Mayo and J English VHRA; Phil Hart and Trevor Edmonds SAHRA. Trevor held the position between 1966 and 1971 and set the basic foundations for the development of the sport.
The early days of the AHRF were hectic and frustrating with the organisers attempting to cater for both Show/Street and Drag Racing facets of the sport, with the Show/Street side generally being recognised as the “Cinderella Sister” part of the AHRF.
Each State had two representatives – one for Drag Racing and the other for the Show/Street facet. They all met together, once annually, when each representative discussed every issue pertaining to each aspect of the two divisions.
It became increasingly obvious the drag racing fraternity were starting to overtake and (unintentionally) disregard the Rodding facet completely.
The inevitable happened – drag racers went their own way and formed their own association and the rodders were left on their own. At this junction in 1971 – 1972 it appeared as if the Street Rodders would fail, and it was not until they realised what they really had that they developed the courage to get out of the rut and give it a go.
The ASRF streamlined the organisation; retained the representatives in each State and called them State Directors. The first Honorary National Director, Bob Dykes, was elected and the services of a full-time National Secretary were retained.
In an effort to improve the image of the sport, the term Hot Rod was changed to Street Rod, subsequently changing the name Australian Hot Rod Federation to the Australian Street Rod Federation thus starting to pull the Rodding movement together.
By now each State had a major Title Rod Show, each of which was enjoying good success, with increased entrants at each event.
However, Modified Vehicle Legislation was a tremendous headache. It was a time when anything other than stock modifications was banned, regardless of what they were, how they were done, or by whom.
Despite these setbacks the sport continued to flourish; more clubs began to emerge. The Street Rodders were now thinking of rodders’ interests and had a governing body that were prepared to act on their behalf.
The affiliated States had started to formulate their own Technical Advisory Committees (TAC). These committees were primarily fostered to set up a good, strong liaison with relevant traffic authorities of their State, and also to assist rodders in the correct method of building Street Rods.
It was necessary to incorporate in State TAC standards those Australian Design Rules the local State Authorities required, and to negotiate with these bodies for the exemption of those rules that Rodders found impossible to include in the building of Street Rods.
In 1971 the first interstate rod runs were organised and from these events the seeds for the “1st Street Rod Nationals” were sown.
In 1973 the ASRF put together the first ever truly national event in Narrandera and the results were fantastic, not necessarily because of the number of vehicles involved, as there were only some 250 Street Rods and Customs, but because the enthusiasm, goodwill and fellowship that was established was something that will never be forgotten.
The ASRF, through its members, gained the respect of the Narrandera residents and government authorities and were welcomed back in 1975 and 1977. The sport continued to grow rapidly and it was due to this that the ASRF was forced to seek a larger venue for the Street Rod Nationals.
Since these early days, the Nationals have been held every two years in diverse metropolitan and provincial regions of NSW, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia.
With the success of the Australian Street Rod Nationals as the primary rod run funded by the ASRF it became obvious that it would always have to be held in one of the more populous States. As a result it was decided that the States not selected to host the Street Rod Nationals would be given support by the ASRF to promote a smaller but nationally recognised event in the off Nationals year. They were to be called the Regional Nationals and have been held in Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania.
In addition to these major runs local runs are organised in each State by the State Councils, local clubs, individual members and each State has a State Title Show.
The ASRF Incorporated is officially recognised as the governing body of all facets of street rodding in Australia.
The National Control Council and the relevant Divisional Councils and their members work hard to meet the responsibility of government legislation and to ensure that Street Rods and Customs remain accepted and admired vehicles, meeting all safety requirements and bringing together all Rodding enthusiasts throughout Australia.
Their goal is to make Street Rodding Australia’s most enjoyable automotive sport.
This article appeared in the Narrandera Argus, 21 April 2022.
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