January 16, 1979, is a date forever etched in the history of truck racing in Australia.
It was on this day the Waltzing Matilda Jet Truck created a new land World Speed Record for a truck over a flying mile, reaching a maximum velocity of 276.9km/h.
The 45th anniversary of this record-breaking moment was celebrated by more than 100 fans at the home of the world record in Wycheproof in north-western Victoria, and a commemorative, full colour pictorial book has been released that details the story of how this beast of a vehicle came to exist.
The Waltzing Matilda Jet Truck Story, authored by Larry Ormsby (OAM), Scott O’Hare, Stephen O’Hare and Alan Pearce, is loaded with hundreds of photos from the day, along with facts, figures and profiles of the key proponents in of a story about a team with an amazing dream, who were able to overcome numerous obstacles to make it a reality.
It’s a story that started in November 1978 when the road transport industry was about getting business done, with lower running costs, higher profit margins and a “can-do” attitude shared by owners and drivers who shared a love of what they did for a living.
It was also the year Transpec Limited, (which now operates under the management of BPW) a major distributor and service provider of world-class brands of semi-trailer ancillary equipment and parts, launched the first computer-aided trailer refrigeration system in Australia branded as the Thermo King, SB-1 Super Boss.
The then Transpec national advertising and promotions manager Alan Pearce explains why that launch is so important to the birth of the Waltzing Matilda Truck legend:
“To gain maximum brand awareness of the new Super Boss refrigeration unit (named after the fastest diesel truck on Earth) we decided to fly both the 7.5 tonne customised 1000 horsepower 1974 Kenworth Conventional ‘W’ Series truck, and the driver, Tyron Malone, down under.
“Back then it was a bold and expensive undertaking. So, to fully capitalise, on both the expenditure and the promotion, we ran Australia’s first national truck drag racing series to see if there was an Aussie who could successfully take on the Yank from a standing start over the quarter mile straight.”
That three-month truck drag-racing series culminated in Melbourne at Bob Jane’s Calder Park Raceway where over 40,000 die-hard truck enthusiasts rallied together, hoping to see Malone get beaten.
But before the final race day took place, a left-of-field contender entered the scene.
“About eight weeks out from winding up the promotional event I received a call from Stephen O’Hare, the son of Terry O’Hare who built those crazy-weird vehicles for the Aussie cult classic movie, Mad Max,” Pearce recalls.
“Terry had also started the Re-Car Group and was designing and building buses, coaches, armoured cars and fire trucks at his body-building enterprise, Centurion Transport Engineering.
“Stephen said they wanted to challenge Malone in a stand-alone race because the O’Hare family was so patriotic, that an Australian losing to an American was not an option.
“So, I headed off to Centurion somewhat skeptical about the latecomers. But boy, did I change my mind when I saw what was planned to literally blow the doors off the Super Boss.”
What Alan saw that day was Terry, along with a select and dedicated crew of supporters, in the midst of converting a Ford Louisville LN 7000 Series Truck, plus a chassis, to house a World War 2, RAAF Canberra Bomber jet engine. To leave not no doubt about the country this jet truck originated from, they had called it … Waltzing Matilda.
Many dramas followed during the lead-up to Matilda arriving for the face-off against Malone.
Incidents included unforeseen learning curves during pre-race training sessions, to a complete meltdown of the jet engine when a loose rivet was sucked onto the turbine blades when on full power. As a result of the rivet mishap, the jet engine was declared a complete right off with less than 80 hours before race day to find and install a replacement jet engine.
“Terry O’Hare’s attitude of ‘there is no such word as can’t’ turned the impossible into the probable,” Pearce said.
And so, on Sunday, November 28th, with the ‘Big O’ Ormsby behind the wheel, Waltzing Matilda rolled out on onto the Calder Raceway start line next to where Malone’s Super Boss was revving up to get the winning getaway the moment the tree lights ran down to the green.
Due to several unanticipated developments, Malone’s Super Boss won on the day.
But that disappointment didn’t dampen the O’Hare team’s devotion to what had become an Aussie icon to a growing number of Waltzing Matilda Jet Truck enthusiasts.
Terry and his crew remained committed to eventually beating Malone at his own game and organised a timed run in a bid to set a new speed record.
The record and speed attempt took place on the Birchip – Wycheproof Road in 1979 on a 6.5km stretch, that although it was straight, was only 8m wide.
Driver, Larry Ormsby knew it would be a challenging run.
“I had only driven Matilda seven times at terminal speeds of around 177 km/h during the Super Boss drag racing event, and as such, if my attempt was to be successful, I needed to add an extra 96.5 km/h.
“The actual result was a flying mile average time of 276.9 km/h.”
That was not an insignificant number and Larry realised if he was to become the world’s fastest truck driver, he needed to gain further momentum through a longer run-up to the starting line.
“My suggested extended approach line involved navigating through a sharp left bend,” Larry said.
“But Terry argued that the jet truck might have some stability issues. My flippant reply… that trucks have been going around corners for years… resulted in Terry shaking his head saying that I was mad.
“Those words echoed in my head as Matilda began to move from side to side during the hairy second run needed to conform to the international authority’s world speed record requirements.”
Waltzing Matilda set a new world record over the flying mile that day clocking up an incredible 276.9 km/h beating the Super Boss effort by a staggering 72.42 km/h.
To find out more about the Waltzing Matilda story, and see plenty of pictures from the day, go to www.waltzingmatildajettruck.com