Story from Roger Beattie, President of FIAT Car Club of Victoria, Australia
There are moments when I am chairing a club meeting that I wish I was Dr. Sawell. That might not mean a lot to most people reading this so let me explain. On 2 March 1925 a group of Fiat owners in Perth got together and formed the Fiat Club of WA. Dr. Sawell was the first president and the man who chaired Fiat Clubs meetings so I am sure was familiar with the request I often make for anyone with an interesting story to stand up and tell it. I am yet to have Dr. Sawell’s good fortune as at the November 1925 meeting Mr George F. Pitchford stood to regale the meeting with stories from his recently completed trip to Adelaide in a Fiat 501.
It turns out that Mr Pitchford had traveled on the return leg of a trip conducted by Mr Arthur Hiscock who had arrived in Perth from Adelaide with his wife and brother in law in the first trip across the Nullarbor by a FIAT. While it might seem strange to us today it is worth remembering that it was not regular to drive long distances, cars could be readily transported on regular coastal steamers and it was only recently that the products of Sylvanus Bowser had arrived in Australian cities negating the need to carry tins of petrol even in urban areas let alone the vast expanses of southern Australia.
It was in this light that George jumped in with Arthur and the family and headed back to Adelaide with a view to reporting back on road and accommodation conditions. As the managing director of a reasonable sized department store in Perth I suspect George was used to getting his way and had decided against taking the larger but perhaps less suited 519 he had purchased in January that year.
It was against that background that George strode to the front of the November 1925 Fiat Club of WA meeting at the rooms above the Arthur Anderson dealership in Hay St. and told the story of an adventure that the whole club could share. In his view the 501 was well suited to the trip and recently the number of motorists effecting such a crossing had dispelled much of the trepidation otherwise felt at the mention of driving “Over East”.
His abilities to paint the idea as sensible must have been powerful and markedly better than mine because he had instant buy-in from the club and barely thirteen months later a group headed off for a great club adventure which included invited members of the public, a representative from Fiat in Turin who was here in Australia to assess the market conditions and a number of 501s, a then brand new 503 and a 505F service truck.
British Imperial Oil (now Shell) was convinced of the merit of the undertaking and provided a photographer and scribe to accompany the group along with coordinating fuel drops (some by camel) of sufficient size to suit the groups needs. I suspect they used the trip to gather information for their growing library of touring maps that were becoming popular in the era as cars and motoring became more democratic.
With these thoughts and images surrounding me I sit here in 2025 Melbourne conjuring up the means to recreate the great adventure next year. There are plenty of willing souls with cars and interest so we move inexorably toward our 25 October 2026 departure from Perth while trying to find the best alternatives for fuel, accommodation, entertainment and meals along the way.
Thanks to everyone who expresses interest as it reminds of the feeling of warmth Dr. Sawell felt when George Pitchford said, “Yes, I have a bit of a story.” on that November evening a hundred years ago.
Roger Beattie