Latest news with #Bubsie
West Australian
02-06-2025
- Automotive
- West Australian
Halfway through its incredible journey a 100-year-old replica of Bubsie arrives in the South West
Halfway through its incredible journey around the country, a 100-year-old car rolled into the South West last week, stopping off in Harvey to share a historic tale with the community. A 1923 Citroen 5CV designed to be a replica of Bubsie — the first car to circumnavigate Australia — arrived in Harvey last week drawing school students out of class to admire the roadworthy relic. The journey replicates the story of Neil Westwood and his colleague Greg Davies who set off from Bickley in Perth heading north to Darwin in 1925. Their journey marked the first time a car ever travelled from Western Australia to the Northern Territory, and after their five month journey, the first to circle the entire Australian continent. The replica car's restoration lead, Warren May, said the journey of Bubsie was a true West Australian story. Mr May first laid eyes on the classic car in 2023, which was in what he described as a 'pretty sad state'. However, over the next four months, he and a team of others would bring the car back to life, recreating the original Bubsie — which is on show at the National Museum — down to the original paint colour. 'We brought the car back to South Australia and stripped it right down, every nut and bolt,' he said. 'There's 800 man hours that have gone into bringing it back to life.' With a maximum speed of about 30km/h this Bubsie isn't travelling Australia on its own steam, though it is taking the same route, stopping at towns across the region on it's journey. The car arrived in Manjimup earlier last week, before landing in Harvey on Thursday and spending the weekend in Bunbury, though Mr May said as it gets closer to where the original journey began, its connection to the region is becoming more apparent. 'There's a lot of relatives down this way, in Busselton the other day, a guy came up to meet us and said 'I'm the grandson of the guy who did the journey,' which was amazing,' he said. 'It's been a fantastic trip, and we're looking forward to continuing.'
West Australian
20-05-2025
- Automotive
- West Australian
Historic road trip 100 years in the making is coming through the South West as Bubsie rolls through town
A historic road trip 100 years in the making is coming through the South West this month. A replica of the first ever car to circumnavigate Australia is making its way through the region on the historic anniversary of the epic road trip. The replica of the original car — a 5-horsepower 1923 Citroen 5CV nicknamed Bubsie — will be passing through several towns on its journey across the State stopping in at Manjimup, Busselton, Bunbury and Harvey before travelling north to Mandurah and beyond. Manjimup event co-ordinator Ross Craig said it was an amazing achievement for the original drivers in 1925, before any of the country roads had bitumen. 'I can't imagine coming up with the idea to be the very first to drive around anywhere, let alone Australia,' he said. Mr Craig said the car coming through town was a replica of the original Bubsie, which remains in a climate-controlled bubble within the National Museum of Australia. 'There's going to be a display set up and one of the guys that is actually travelling with it will give a detailed sort of description of the original trek,' he said. 'We're going to put out a free sausage sizzle between 12pm and 2pm and there's going to be a coffee van there with coffee and treats for people. 'It's just a little way of saying these guys just did something awesome, and let's recognise their incredible feat.' Bubsie will be on display at the Manjimup Farmers Market from 12-4pm on May 25, at the Busselton foreshore from 9am to 12pm on May 27, on Uduc Road in Harvey from 10am to 3pm on May 29 before finally visiting Bunbury on May 30 and 31. Bubsie's journey can be followed on Right Around Australia's website.
ABC News
18-05-2025
- Automotive
- ABC News
Replica of Bubsie, the first car to circumnavigate Australia, to retrace 1925 journey
A century ago, a 5-horsepower car fondly known as Bubsie became the first motor vehicle to circumnavigate Australia. The 1923 Citroën 5CV was pushed to the limit, bush-bashing its way across the country. And while the original car is in the National Museum of Australia in Canberra, a new group of adventurers is preparing to retrace Bubsie's tracks with a completely restored 1923 Citroën 5CV. Motoring enthusiast Warren May said he first heard of the project, Right Around Australia, by faith-based group The Incredible Journey in May 2023, and decided to get involved. It had been a challenge for the group to find a car of the same model and year as Bubsie until they came across car aficionado Paul Smyth in New South Wales who was willing to part with his 102-year-old Citroën 5CV. The car's seats and bonnet had already been worked on before Mr May became involved in the project but it still required extensive repairs. He recruited his friend Colin Gibbs to work on it with him, however, they both quickly realised the body work would be too much for them, so they enlisted another car enthusiast, Graham Tyler. Mr Tyler did all the body work and cut out all the rust. The entire restoration took more than 1,000 hours and involved taking almost every nut and bolt off the body work for repairs, sandblasting and repainting. Mr May said the motor was fortunately in good condition, and the restored car was now fully drivable. The replica was completed a year ago and has been displayed in cities across the country since the beginning of 2025. From June, the 1923 Citroën 5CV will be hitting the road to retrace the 17,500km route of 1925. Starting at Bickley in Western Australia, the replica will undertake a good chunk of the journey on the back of a trailer but will hit the road to take on some of the key routes. In 1925, Bubsie's 22-year-old driver, Nevill Westwood, was a member of the Seventh Day Adventist missionary and had a history of doing long odysseys across the outback. According to the National Museum of Australia, the 1920s was a time where many explorers, such as Francis Birtles, were pushing the boundaries of motoring technologies with extensive expeditions. In the winter of 1925, Mr Westwood and his friend Greg Davies set off from Perth with a mission to take literature to outback stations in Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Bubsie was loaded with swags, clothes, an extra fuel tank, water, oil, spare tyres and other supplies. While reliable road infrastructure spans the country today, event organiser Kevin Amos said there were not many roads for the pair to follow in 1925. "It was pretty slippery and slidey across the Northern Territory when it rained, but once they reached Mount Isa there were formal roads down to Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne [and] Adelaide." Tyre punctures and the need for help along the way were common, including the car being carried by pulley across the Fitzroy River with the help of the local community. Mr May said Bubsie was a "very basic car" that was not always easy for the explorers to drive. "Nevill Westwood was 6-foot-3-high and he took a mate, Greg, with him that was nearly as tall," he said. Once the pair arrived in Darwin, a feat in itself, Mr May said they resolved to finish the circle. "[Mr Westwood] decided: 'Well, we've come halfway around, why not go the other half?'" he said. Mr May said when in Sydney, the drivers received word another crew was attempting the full lap of Australia behind them. "The story goes that he decided to hightail it back to Perth," he said. The path back to Perth was hot and lonesome, with Mr Davies quitting the journey at Albury to return to his nursing studies. The entire trip took six months to complete, finishing December 30, 1925. The story was preserved in photographs and a few letters that were passed on to the National Museum of Australia by Mr Westwood's descendants. Curator Dr Laura Cook said the photos offered an almost day-by-day account of the expedition. According to Mr Amos, Mr Westwood came across a broken-down car while crossing the Nullarbor. "There were two ladies and a man in the car. They had run out of water. They were severely dehydrated," he said. Ms Cook said she could not confirm the story but had no doubt it was the kind of mateship travellers had with each other at this time. "It does chime with what we know of him," she said. "There's kind of an unwritten code amongst these record-breakers and intrepid motorists that you would always stop to help somebody if you saw them at the side of the road, even if they were engaged in the same record-breaking attempt as you." Once Mr Westwood had made it home, he put Bubsie into storage while he continued travelling on church business. While Mr Westwood's brother sold Bubsie in 1926, as soon as he returned from overseas, he bought the car back. The car remains fully preserved in both form and function at the National Museum of Australia.
