WUNDOWIE resident Ron Bywaters - pictured with Dick Garnett - knows more than just a thing or two about how to get a vintage tractor around Australia.
The 82-year-old is preparing a 1962 Chamberlain Champion tractor for the 60th anniversary re-enactment of the 1957 Round Australia Rally that will raise funds for cancer research.
Ron was 22 in 1957 when he signed up a six-man crew to drive a Chamberlain tractor as part of the rally.
The tractor was ruled out as a competitor but the team was allowed to be a support vehicle.
Next year’s re-enactment will follow the general direction of the original rally that ventured around the country.
The event will cover 15,000 kilometres and take 57 days - a far cry from the 1957 event that was 18,000km (11,140 miles) and completed in 19 days.
The event will start from Wundowie on July 7, 2017 and after attending the GWN7 Dowerin Machinery Field Days on August 30-31, it will head east before concluding at the National Balloon Championships in Northam on September 1-2.
Event organisers have partnered with the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia and Breast Cancer Network Australia and will be promoting their respective cancer awareness programs along the way.
The original journey was completed in a 1955 Chamberlain Champion, which was no ordinary tractor.
It was manufactured in Welshpool as a promotional tool and had specially-modified gearing, allowing it to reach 100 kilometres per hour.
Despite having to remain at the rear of the race, Tail-end Charlie (as the tractor became known), circumnavigated the nation in 19 days.
This extraordinary achievement included clocking 1000km more than the race cars as it performed rescues along the way.
The original Tail-end Charlie is now retired and is on display at Whiteman Park, in the Swan Valley.
Thanks to the dedication of owner Dick Garnett, Tail-end Charlie’s legacy lives on with the younger 1962 model that was involved in the 50th anniversary of the rally in 2007.
The event took 38 days and raised $22,000 for the Breast Cancer Association of WA and Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia.
Starting in Wundowie is significant as the local foundry manufactured pig iron that was used for casting the parts for the then Chamberlain Tractors.
More information - www.tailendchartliethe tractor.org