WHERE IT ALL BEGAN

THE FUN-AT- all-costs charity outback trek-type event was established by Australian electronics retailer and explorer Dick Smith (he established Dick Smith Electronics and later Dick Smith Foods, now both defunct). The first event was in 1985.

“I had several friends who did not like donating to charity because they didn’t want to be called a dogooder,’’ Smith explained at the time. “I wanted some way of getting money out of them (for charities such as Variety) without them being seen as do-gooders.’’ After a high-profile media send-off from the Sydney Opera House, the first event’s fleet of more than 50 cars with 180 participants trekked from Bourke in outback NSW to Burketown in Qld’s Gulf region. It set the B-to-B foundation (the first letter of the start and finish towns) for the Variety annual event and was a ‘who’s who’ of Aussie celebrities and business moguls of the 1980s, such as tennis star John Newcombe, TV motoring journo the late Peter Wherrett, and advertising mogul John Singleton with his thenwife, former (1972) Miss World, Belinda Green. Such ‘sporting’ endeavours as cheating and bribing were encouraged. For instance, pole position each day was sold to the highest bidder with all the proceeds going to charity.

The Bash required all participating cars to be at least 20 years old; in 1985 that meant plenty of 1950s and ’60s Holdens, Falcons, Valiants, Morrises and Beetles. That ‘old car’ requirement is a theme of many charity treks today… with the flip-side being many of today’s longparticipating cars, such as Holden and Falcon V8s, are now worth big money!