A century-old South Australian road adventure is being brought back to life, with two meticulously prepared 1925 Studebaker cars now retracing an extraordinary 7,000-kilometre journey from Adelaide to Darwin and back.
The re-enactment marks 100 years since the first Australian commercial transcontinental motor tour set off in May 1926, when Captain Edward Bagot of Bagot’s Northern Territory Motor Tours and South Australian businessman Clarence Judd joined ten other paying passengers on a daring outback expedition across rough bush tracks from Adelaide to Darwin and back.
Now, 100 years to the day since that original journey began, a group of ten has set off to follow closely in their tracks, celebrating the grit, curiosity and pioneering spirit of the travellers who took on one of Australia’s great early motoring challenges.
The 2026 re-enactment is being led by Brenton Taylor and Brenton Whittenbury, a direct descendant of Clarence Judd. The Judd family continues to own and operate Grundy’s Shoes, the historic Rundle Street business that formed a fitting starting point for the modern-day journey.
The convoy departed from outside Grundy’s Shoe Store at 188 Rundle Street on Monday, May 18, before continuing north through Gawler, Clare, Spalding, Jamestown, Orroroo, Carrieton and Hawker. From there, the historic cars are continuing into the state’s far north as the journey pushes deeper into the outback.
On Wednesday, May 20, the travelling party is scheduled to arrive in Beltana for a community barbecue and screening of the original 1926 tour film, giving locals the chance to see the remarkable archival footage that captured the journey a century ago.
The route will continue with several community film nights and stops along the way, including the Oodnadatta Pink Roadhouse around May 24 and 25, the Alice Springs National Women’s Museum and Old Alice Springs Gaol on May 31 from 12pm to 4pm, and Darwin’s 1934 Qantas Hangar and other venues between June 8 and 10.
Along the way, the re-enactment is also raising funds for the Royal Flying Doctor Service, with the travelling party covering the costs of the journey alongside support from Grundy’s Shoes. At the time of the release, $2,582 had been raised towards a $26,000 target, with all funds going directly to the RFDS.
The original 1926 journey has also been preserved through rare historic material, including a silent film and photographs held by the State Library of South Australia and National Archives. For the modern travelling party, the re-enactment is not just about recreating the route, but about bringing one of Australia’s great motoring stories back into public view, one dusty stretch of road at a time.
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