Historic 1898 Louis Renault visits Quilly Park

Quilly Park were honored to receive a visit from Rodney Anderson in an automobile constructed by Louis Renault in 1898.

Rodney Anderson, Richard Anderson’s Uncle, reflects on his nephew’s journey with automobiles;

Richard’s first drive was along country roads in WA while sitting on my lap steering a Vauxhall on our way to Southern Brook near Northam.

His second drive was on the front lawn of Teepeening in Guildford also in WA where having managed to start his Uncle’s diminutive Austin A 30 Richard headed for the nearest tree.

Since then Richard has driven a number of old cars including the Rolls-Royce 40-50 HP model that was owned by Keith Murdoch (later Sir Keith), father of Rupert Murdoch. He has also participated in the RAC London to Brighton Veteran Car Run in an 1895 Peugeot vis a vis that was in the Daimler Benz Museum for more than 30 years and driven along the boulevards of Paris in a 1900 de Dion Bouton.

Richard has indelible memories of his drive from Le Mans to Paris Charles de Gaulle to catch a flight home and from Italy to Monte Carlo to catch a train.

A recent visit saw Richard and I driving around Quilly Park in one of the most significant automobiles extant, the actual automobile constructed by Louis Renault in 1898.

One of the gallery photos is of a plaque in Montmartre that commemorates the climb up Rue Lepic by Louis Renault in December 1898 in that very automobile.

Coincidentally Richard was born on the day that I drove in my first Veteran Car Rally in a Scripps-Booth. That Scripps-Booth is being re-commissioned before returning to Melbourne and kept at Quilly Park.

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Suzanne Newman

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