Warren Brown on Wide Open Road ABC tv

[Richard Coutts-Smith]

Found this program equally annoying and interesting.
The Birtles story was terrific, should be part of Aussie legend, but I had never heard of him

The lazy repeat film use in diiferent historical periods, or just wrong footage.
The narrator's script was the worst part, the repeated use of "Revhead'', "Petrolhead" and even a "Knucklehead", (Thought that was Yank slang) all read in a very Occa accent, makes me think the primary market is not Australia.

I do hope some of the other greats like Phil Irving get a mention.

Enough interesting material to get me back next week, but there may be some cringing involved.

Warren Brown "Revhead and Author" appears to be heading of on another adventure...
Rich.

[warren brown]

Hi everyone, thanks for your interest! Actually, my input came about after the whole show had been finished. If you have a look, everyone else interviewed is beautifully backlit in marvellous surroundings - and I'm actually in a whopping close-up because I was interviewed on the producer's front veranda! What happened was, they had had serious problems with the first episode, finding people - other than curators or historians - who could talk about very early motoring in Australia, particularly about Frank Birtles and make him interesting and relevant to a contemporary audience. I've been writing his biography for Hachette Publishing over the past eight months and even though various people were throwing my name at them, they were reticent to make any contact. "He's that guy from Top Gear... etc etc". Eventually I received a phone call from the producer who was very apologetic for not having contacted me earlier, but would I be prepared to talk about Birtles? ...my name kept coming up from various museums and libraries they'd been to ... and so he came over with the finished episode on his laptop. Then when he saw the Bean 14 in the shed ready to go - he nearly had heart seizure! He was framing it up for camera angles and poring all over it... So one morning, I took the Bean over to North Head National Park and we filmed it and then conducted the interview at his house. The car hasa brand new SU on the engine which had recently been rebuilt by a racing engine-works - the brief was to increase horsepower somewhat, but not at the expense of reliability. On the day it kept fouling up at the plugs - it turned out they'd - wait for it - honed down the carby needle - fine when the thing was hot, but stop-start filming at dawn in winter wasn't a go. I had to pull the plugs out on the way to the producer's house and brush them clean them en route - hence my manky, black fingernails during the interview.
The episode I saw beforehand was virtually as it is now - I wasn't necessarily convinced of the recreations - Birtles was three-stone wringing wet and built like a jockey - and they had a front-row-forward for the Wallabies playing him - and there were photographic innacuracies I pointed out, Model A Fords in a Model T section, no pictures of Birtles Brush car etc, but there wasn't really anything they could do by then - it was all 'in the can' as they say. My section was pasted in. However, I think it's great - so many people where I work really enjoyed it , "never heard of Birtles...amazing".
Paul the producer is a terrific bloke who wants to tell a story - and I think he's told it very well. It's about getting the feel for it...and I think you'll like the other episodes...

[Keith Webb]

Thanks for the insight, Warren. I was wondering why they framed you so tightly - it was out of step with the rest of the interviews.
The recreations did look like they were cobbled together in a bit of a hurry, but for the general audience do help with the storytelling.
Your Bean is a fabulous looking vehicle.

[Howard]

As I said earlier, I thought the show was entertaining and a story worthy of being told. Some of the mistakes you have pointed out struck me too, as I hinted on above. It is a shame when the facts are brushed over though because there is every chance that, in 50 years time, when someone is researching this type of thing, they might just use this documentary for a reference.
Anyhow, Warren, Your passion and enthusiasm was very obvious in the interview. Are you involved in future episodes?

[Richard Farrant]

Originally Posted by warren brown

...... no pictures of Birtles Brush car etc, but there wasn't really anything they could do by then - it was all 'in the can' as they say. ..

For those interested in the Birtles story and Warren's mention of the Brush, attached is a photo of the actual 1910 Brush Runabout that Birtles drove from Perth to Sydney. I came across it at a local rally in England about two years ago and knowing Warren was interested, sent him this photo. Apparantly the car was found on a sheep station owned by the Birtles family in the Eighties. Present owner bought it in France in 2008.

[Richard Farrant]

Just watched Episode 2 ...... and there is some military vehicle content. Some film of Len Beadell forging his way through the outback to make the Gunbarrel highway and other tracks, for the rocket testing in the 50's. They were using some Army Commer Q4 4x4 trucks and one is shown well alight, seems it was the ration truck. It still lays out in the bush, burnt out and looking like it happened yesterday, has a fence around it with a plaque !!!

[Keith Webb]

Len Beadell was quite a character, one of a number of interesting outback people from that era. There was also Reg Sprigg, founder of Arkaroola who did a lot of survey work in the desert, who didn't rate a mention possibly because the researchers couldn't find any film footage (although there is some).

Some great archival footage including a number of old TV commercials I remember from the 60s.

Is it just me, or does anyone else find the gratuitous use of celebrities a little off-putting? One or two maybe, but I felt there were too many. At least it made the interviews with 'real' people stand out. I thought Jack Nasser was excellent, particularly his admiration and appreciation for the early Holden he owned, given he became the boss of Ford.

[Richard Farrant]

Originally Posted by Keith Webb

Len Beadell was quite a character, one of a number of interesting outback people from that era.

Hi Keith,
I was given a recording of one of Len's afterdinner speeches regarding his work, especially liked the part about about the airstrip he built near Marlinga.

The programme was very good, especially like the Jack Brabham part, last saw him about 11 years ago racing at Goodwood .......... and crashing out.

[Keith Webb]

Although Len had a fame I think he was entirely appropriate to be in the show... I was taking issue more with actors and politicians - felt this was just a bit contrived.

It's a shame not everything can be covered - I mentioned Reg Sprigg - in the first episode there was a heap of footage from Back of Beyond but I don't recall any direct reference to it, or to Tom Kruse.

I really enjoyed the Brabham story - I didn't realise he was a fighter pilot either. It would have been great to include Tony Gaze who had a major connection with Goodwood and was also one of our WW2 Aces with 12.5 victories including Arado 234 jets to his credit, but I suppose that would have got in the way of the storytelling.

The story about the HD Holden with the cheese cutter design was very interesting - I hadn't realised the styling was done in the US. It was also locally known as the 'pedestrian chopper' for obvious reasons.

Originally Posted by Richard Farrant

Hi Keith,
I was given a recording of one of Len's afterdinner speeches regarding his work, especially liked the part about about the airstrip he built near Marlinga.

The programme was very good, especially like the Jack Brabham part, last saw him about 11 years ago racing at Goodwood .......... and crashing out.

[Richard Coutts-Smith]

Methinks that this program is tackling too big a subject too do any of it justice.
As a child who grew up through much of what was covered in Ep.2. and much of the narrated comments was not how I remembered it. I certainly was not in a "Holden TRIBE" or a "Ford TRIBE". There were considerably more brands respected and favoured than just these two, as can be seen in the REDEX part.
This program continues to fascinate and annoy me in about equal parts.
Jack Brabham: Legend
Len Beadell: Legend
Paul Keating??????

I assume everyone saw the Blitz "In the Background" in the Brabham story?
Rich.

[Keith Webb]

I missed it - must have been a tired moment!

I do remember at school there was always the Holden/Ford rivalry (which extends today to Chev/Ford CMPs to some extent), although as Rich says there were many other brands. When I got to car buying age there were plentiful supplies of British cars such as Morris Minors and Hillmans. I had 15 Minors at various stages, mostly bought for a few dollars for parts as well as Singer, Hillman and of course CMPs. It was a long while before I owned a Japanese car.

Completely agree re the comment about Keating, also Steve Bracks - these are not the sort of names I'd think of when talking about cars of the 60s or 70s.

A three part program like this naturally has to cover a lot of ground and above all be a piece of entertainment for the audience.

Originally Posted by Richard Coutts-Smith

Methinks that this program is tackling too big a subject too do any of it justice.
As a child who grew up through much of what was covered in Ep.2. and much of the narrated comments was not how I remembered it. I certainly was not in a "Holden TRIBE" or a "Ford TRIBE". There were considerably more brands respected and favoured than just these two, as can be seen in the REDEX part.
This program continues to fascinate and annoy me in about equal parts.
Jack Brabham: Legend
Len Beadell: Legend
Paul Keating??????

I assume everyone saw the Blitz "In the Background" in the Brabham story?
Rich.

[Bob Moseley (RIP)]

Hi Keefy - I agree with you that this series has no place for celebrities. They have no concept or knowledge of this subject but programmers feel the need that they are important for the show. I get sick and tired of seeing anchor presenters purporting to be experts on a wide variety of subjects. They are a self promoting clique who rely on each other for work. I find the same with writing articles, publications are locked into their own writers, good or bad, and it is very difficult for an outsider to crack into the scene.

Warren, your next series should be about the collectors and restorers found on this site with a special emphasis on the yearly Corowa event.

Bob

[Mike Kelly]

I loved the segment with the lady in her Austin A40 tourer in the REDEX trial... only after she had finished the race was she given any cudos by the Austin dealership... typical. I knew this 18 year old Apprentice in 1978, he went through at least three Austin A40's in quick time. He would use them til they broke, and leave them on the roadside, then go and buy another one for $50. He always bought DEVONS , the early type.

Jack Brabham was a mechanic in the RAAF , not a pilot. He began with his own engineering business after the war, hence his intimate knowledge of machinery in general. He was a good fitter and turner as well, a 'hands on' person.

[Howard]

Originally Posted by Richard Coutts-Smith

I assume everyone saw the Blitz "In the Background" in the Brabham story? Rich.

This one, Rich? Looks like the F15 is coming a close 2nd!

Actually, I have been enjoying the sound track to the show!

[Richard Coutts-Smith]

Thanks Howard, looks like he's cutting the corner too.
New pair of glasses for Keith??
Rich.

[Keith Webb]

No I must have blinked or been distracted by the cat bringing in a dead rabbit instead. Well spotted.

[Howard]

Now that the show has been done & dusted, what are your thoughts, everyone?
Personally I have not checked the credits in detail, but I am sure that a lot of the funding must have come from GMH

[Jan Thompson]

For those who may be intersted and who are able to access The History Channel on Foxtel Warren is hosting a new show called Lost And Found. It starts on Wednesday 30th November at 7.30pm

[Richard Coutts-Smith]

Howard,
a few very intertesting titbits as mentioned above, by the third episode I was rapidly losing interest. Peter Brock "The Prince of the Principality of Hoon" was as far as I got.
In a word, dissapointed.
Rich.

[Marc van Aalderen]

Hi,

I talked to my Ozzie friend at the shooting club about this show and promised to email him the link so he can watch it too. Unfortunately the link does not work anymore. Does anybody know of a way to see it on the web? Thank you.

Cheers,