No doubt we’ve all seen some hoon speeding down the road somewhere, heard the screech of tyres or even caught a whiff of the smell of burning rubber.
Perhaps you’ve been waiting at a set of traffic lights and watched two cars revving their engines, just waiting to prove who is fastest the moment the light turns red.
The desire for speed, the rush of adrenaline, the thrill and excitement all come together to make pushing that pedal down seem very appealing to some, especially those younger members of the community.
Often, it’s just speeding along any road but sometimes there’s those that feel the need to test either their driving skills or their car against someone else, and from that we have the entire motor racing industry.
But then there are those drivers that only own a road registered car, assuming it is registered, and instead of racing on the track, they take it to the street.
The fact that they desire to recklessly drive, or ride a motorcycle, well above the speed limits has also become a type of industry in itself.
Just consider the amount of products and automotive accessories and modifications that are available to make cars go faster, even when they are already capable of exceeding the speed limits across the nation.
There have also been countless movies and TV shows that have virtually glorified illegal street racing such as “American Graffiti” and “Grease”, and even an old Aussie film. “The FJ holden”, which itself was partly filmed at a location, is renowned for its illegal racing. In fact, there was an episode of the Munster’s highlighting the thrill of a street drag race.
Music has also capitalised on the idea of songs where the lyrics, tempo beat all seem clearly intent on promoting hitting that accelerator. From the Rolling Stone’s “Route 66” to ACDC’s “Highway to hell” and one of the most blatant examples is the early 70’s classic “Radar Love” by Dutch band Golden Earring. Far too many to list here.
However illegal street racing is not limited to just a couple of young guys racing off from some set of traffic lights. It has become quite organised and at times attracted hundreds of spectators.
Arguably the biggest of these illegal street racing meets was known as “Brickies”, which was so entrenched into the Australian motor culture even “Wheels” magazine did a major story on it back in December 1979 and became the location mentioned earlier for the film ”The FJ Holden”.
To quote the “Wheels” article, after it describes even a Mr Whippy van being present to serve the 300+ spectators… “This, friends, is Brickies – a 15-year-old street racer’s institution where the big noise, big balls, brute power freaks hang loose, where blacktop-chewing, axle twisting super torque is the only rule in the game. It’s the only place in town where a 5.7-litre (350 cubic inch) V8 engine is called “small block” or “mouse motor” and the guys who aren’t kidding run “rats” – 396s, 427s and 454s.”
Further the article clearly states the police were fully aware of the “Brickies” races but as it was on a private road were limited in what action they could take.
“Yes, Brickies is an institution – and it’s also illegal – but if you think we’re going to blow the whole thing off the planet with this story we should state here that the cops have been well aware of its existence since it began. But because Bennelong is a private road their style has been seriously cramped in stamping it out. Besides, though you could never get them to admit it, the fuzz would undoubtedly rather see street racing happening on a deserted Home bush backstreet than on open-all-night-for-exhaust-fumes Parramatta Road with its patchwork of parked cars, “Roadworks in Progress” and semi-trailers belching at midnight.”
But although “Brickies” may have been the most famous of Australia’s illegal street racing scene, it was by no stretch the only place for it to occur. In fact, the Fairfield LGA was home to our own illegal street races. Perhaps not as big as “Brickies” but the drag races held on Sunday nights on Davis rd, Wetherell park did not have the luxury of being a private road so the police were free to act against anyone caught in the act.
David rd itself was near perfect. A long, virtually dead straight dead end industrial street, with no sideroads from which any traffic was likely to come as they were very short and also dead-end streets themselves and only lead to a few other industrial sites, all normally closed at night.
Being a dead end street itself, there was only one entry point onto David rd. so someone strategically placed there could easily spot any approaching police, if in a marked car and often even if not.
Word passed from person to person for years and over time local drag racing sites like Davis rd or “Brickies” built their reputations with those who took pride in their cars and felt they had something to prove or just those who may have just wanted something to do. So bored youth were a common sight.
One popular meeting place for cars to gather and then head off to Davis rd for a few hours of illegal” fun” competing against each other was MacDonald’s at Auburn, and in fact almost any “Macca’s” at times or similar locations where people might gather and end up in the carpark looking at each other’s cars.
The police of cause regularly patrolled as not only were these races illegal, obviously they were extremely dangerous and if you ask any cop, they will tell you the last thing they want to do is get called to another high speed accident to see the body of some young person who made a stupid mistake that cost them their life.
But despite the inherent risks, the need for speed, the roar of engines, the smell of burning fuel and rubber feed the sheer excitement of it all which called many people, mostly young adults, to these seedy, dark, lonely stretches of road. Almost always illuminated with only the minimal lighting except the headlights of the cars present.
There were no podiums for the winners to stand on, no trophies, at least none in the traditional recognised sense of the word, but still they would come until finally a very simple device brought the Davis rd drags to an end.
The speed hump, and with their installation came the end of era, and almost certainly saved a few lives.
