The 1320 Drag Club was formed back in 1967 by John (Wheels) Dwyer, Mick Ryan and a number of local car guys to promote Drag Racing in Western Australia. Racing began at Caversham with the WA Sporting Car Club, then Fairbridge Farm on an old WW2 gravel airstrip. Club members would sweep the loose gravel away for the quarter mile but after that you were on your own!
There are a few stories going around of how and when it was started that has seemed to have been brushed off over time, but at the end of the day, below is who kick started the club. This is a snip from the Australian Hot Rod magazine from 1967.
The original 1320 founding /committee members were:
John Dwyer - President
Mick Ryan - Vice President
The late Paul Meinck - Treasurer
The late Peter Holland - Secretary
Two publicity officers and the late Don Stehn who was a heavily involved member.
The 1320 Drag Club was formed on the back lawn of John Dwyer's parents house in Floreat. The first meeting was held in the lounge room at John's house, the meeting grew too large so they held them in the late Don Stehn's parents garage in Floreat. The club expanded further and the meetings were held in Geoff Pilgram's old mechanical workshop across from North City Holden in Scarborough Beach Road.
Dad used to borrow an old truck from Attwood Motors where he used to work (now Phoenix Holden) truck division in the city and travel down to Fairbridge Farm airstrip on a Saturday and set up safety railing (star pickets, rope and drums) with some of the members. They would then run the Sunday Drags.
Racing was also held in Dowering, Bunbury and Busselton. A number of name changes happened along the way including Ravenswood Drag Club, Western Australian Drag Racing Association (but the name was discovered to be too similar to another club) and then Westside Drag Racing Association. In 1969 the move to Ravenswood Raceway began with members of the 1320 club contributing labour to help build Ravenswood, which would become the home of Drag Racing in WA for the next 30 years.
In December 0f 2000 the new home of Drag Racing, Perth Motorplex was opened. Thank you to Mick Ryan and Shane O'Sullivan for this information. Photos from FB: 1320 Drag Club Perth WA