Gelignite Jack Murray An Aussie Larriken Legend

At the mere mention of the name ‘Gelignite’ Jack Murray, any Australian from the Baby Boomer era or older can’t help but to crack a smile. Murray was best known as the rally driver who in 1954 won the REDEX Round Australia Reliability Trial without the loss of a single point; but Jack’s sporting interests and achievements were eclectic and far-ranging. In his own words, at different times throughout his life he was ‘engaged in various sports with various successes’: cycling; VFL schoolboy football; stock car racing; hill climbing motor races; circuit car racing; car endurance events; Australian and NSW Grand Prix racing; international and Australian rally driving; wrestling; boxing; crocodile, kangaroo, and buffalo hunting; ocean boat racing and waterskiing—to name most, but not all. Oh yes—Jack even raced a bathtub once, plug in. Jack Murray died in 1983. Encounters with those who met him, knew him and loved him now grow fewer and fewer, as the years pass and the Reliability Trials of the 1950s drift into Australian history and folklore. Jack’s personal and nonpublic life, showing the man behind the derring-do, has never been fully explored or written about.

Son of the legendary Australian larrikin ‘Gelignite’ Jack Murray, famous REDEX Reliability Trial driver and sportsman of the 1950s, Phil has inherited his father’s genes when it comes to adventure. Phil’s adventures and achievements have included: white-water rafting the Grand Canyon; trekking on three continents (Himalayas, Africa and Australia); as well as travelling extensively throughout Europe, Africa, South America and Asia. One of his adventures which provided inspiration for his writing involved following in ‘the footsteps of heroes’— walking the iconic Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea

Foreword 6 Preface 9 CHAPTER 1 - The REDEX Trials 15 CHAPTER 2 - Behind the Wheel 57 CHAPTER 3 - The War 73 CHAPTER 4 - Cutting Mad Capers 87 CHAPTER 5 - Decade of Wins 101 CHAPTER 6 - The Garage 146 CHAPTER 7 - The Swinging 60s 163 CHAPTER 8 - The Long Drives 189 CHAPTER 9 - Adventurer, Hunter, Diver and Fireman 201 CHAPTER 10 - Family 224 CHAPTER 11 - Growing up with ‘Gelignite’ 252 CHAPTER 12 - Dorothy 267 CHAPTER 13 - Wrestling and Water-skiing 292 CHAPTER 14 - This Is Your Life 326 CHAPTER 15 - Epilogue 350 Acknowledgements 367 About the Author 372 Sources 374