Bubsie and the Boys

In the winter of 1925, a pair of 21-year-old men drove out of Perth in a small second-hand Citroen nicknamed "Bubsie" headed for Darwin. At the time, no motor vehicle had ever drive to Darwin from Perth and their borrowed Citroen had less horsepower than a modern-day lawn mower. There were no serviced roads north of Meekatharra and few petrol stations. With most of the routes north unmapped cattle station tracks, the boys-Nevill Westwood and Greg Davies-would need to rely on the generosity of cattle station managers for food and fuel. Getting to Darwin was adventure enough, but their journey took an unexpected turn when a car dealer encouraged them to keep driving to the east coast instead of returning to Perth via steam ship. It was a journey that would make Australian motoring history-the first car to drive around Australia-and the original vehicle is now housed at the National Museum as a vehicle of national significance.