THE WAY WE WERE

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Category: Reviews and Editorials

This week we’re talking to Norm Needham, one of the pioneer recreational four-wheel drivers of the country, and also the founder of Traction 4, one of Sydney’s premier mechanical repair/aftermarket equipment suppliers.

PAT: Well Norm, you were around when the 4WD boom really started in Oz; when do you reckon that was mate?

NORM: I reckon the 4WD ‘boom’ for want of a better word started in earnest about 1972. The Toyota LandCruiser Club was established in 1969, and up until ’72 was still quite small. In ’73 it needed a new meeting hall.

PAT: You were President of the Club quite a few times, weren’t you?

NORM: Yeah. One year I remember well is 1986. Had a milestone birthday then.  But I think I was Pres before and after that too on a couple of occasions. I also held the position of trip Convenor in the early ‘80s. Sandy (Norm’s wife) was with me as secretary for at least one year. Around the same time (early ‘80s) the State 4WD Clubs Association was born, then the national body (which Sandy was instrumental in establishing). What’s that they say about behind every successful man? I was President and Secretary of the Association in its early years, and spent considerable time lobbying for the proper recognition of four-wheel driving as a legitimate recreation.

PAT: What about Traction 4, Norm? When did that get underway?

NORM: I was working on my own in my shed for a couple of years before Traction 4 was established in May 1985. There are only a couple of employees of mine still there but in the ten years plus since I sold it I’ve gradually lost contact and don’t know how the business is faring today. But I’m proud of the fact that a couple of my employees have gone on to establish themselves in the 4WD industry in their own right: Duncan Scott of Macquarie 4WD, and Jason Dymock of Total Care 4WD.

PAT: You also wrote articles for Overlander Magazine, didn’t you?

NORM: Yes, it was funny how all that came about. I was out driving on the beach and dunes north of Hawks Nest early in 1976. I can’t remember who I was with, but we spotted a new Suzuki and a Daihatsu apparently having trouble driving in the dunes and went over to see if we could be of assistance. Two blokes asked if we knew how to drive 4WDs and I answered “Yeah, I guess so.”

Came the request: “OK, can you drive these around for us so we could take some photos?” They introduced themselves as Michael Richardson and Ric Williams, and said they were starting a magazine about 4WDs and outdoor stuff called ‘Overlander’. They also asked if I had any interesting travel stories, to which I replied that I had just come back from a wet season trip to Cape York where we had made rafts to float our Cruisers across the Jardine – there was no ferry then!

“Can you write us a story?” Michael asked. Thus I got a story in the first issue and my long association with Overlander began. Ric of course went his own way to founded Bushdriver not long after Overlander’s inception, and I conducted and wrote a lot of the early Overlander road tests, did some photography (and got quite a few early cover shots), did a few tech articles and wrote a tech column (can’t remember the name) not far from the magazine’s beginning. I also answered tech queries from readers and Sandy wrote a bush cooking column – Chow Time – for some time. I can’t remember when it all faded, but I did nothing for many years, apart from a short stint when Ian Glover and Ged Bulmer were editors. Matt Raudonikis brought me back into the fold when he became editor. I got back into the tech articles for a while, but do little now except help out on 4WDOTY and other big comparos on the rare occasion they need another driver.

PAT: In a lifetime of four-wheel driving Norm, what are some personal highlights?

NORM: Well, the floating trip to Cape York is of course the one that stands out – it was my first big trip. Doing the Canning when there was no outside assistance like fuel drops; circumnavigating Lake Eyre (crossing the Warburton Groove) and almost running out of fuel; following the original Overland Telegraph line from Fowlers Bay to Israelite Bay along the Roe Plain and the top of the Baxter Cliffs; driving the bed of the Cooper Creek from Innamincka to Lake Eyre; all the crosscountry desert trips before that sort of thing was heard of (like driving up the Hay River); a Toyota promotional trip with Glover in 1990 where we went from Melbourne to Broome and crossed ten deserts in just under three weeks. And only a few years ago, riding 3000km on Cape York on motorcycles. Another highlight just sprang to mind – following Madigans Line across the Simpson in the early ‘80s when there was no such thing as a GPS, using a theodolite to astro-navigate exactly as Madigan did, following his exact route, even down to duplicating his navigational error! There are a hundred thousand other trips that every now and then I am reminded of and I hope there are a hundred thousand more!

PAT: Whew, that’s impressive Norm! What about the changes you must have seen?

NORM: Yes, there have been plenty, particularly with vehicles. As someone said, in the ‘70s and even ‘80s 4WD vehicles were basically tractors with a few more seats. They were a farming tool. Today they are truly recreational vehicles, and are generally much more capable in rough terrain than the vehicles in which we used to select low range second gear and plant the foot. Then there’s the travelling. Here, everything has changed, but the adventure we had is still available. It’s just different. Perhaps the four-wheel driver while still behind the eight ball in public popularity stakes, is a little more accepted today. There is still though the continuing threat and insidious acceleration of track/road closures with which the recreational four-wheel driver needs to contend.  But on the other hand, ever greater numbers of 4WD users (when they are threatened and get off their collective apathetic arse) seem to have some sway at times. I’d say the biggest change is the comfort and safety in which groups and families can travel. Apart from vehicle comfort and capability advances, we have gone from carrying dried food, drinking warm water, sleeping in a bedroll, being totally out of contact for weeks on end (other than for the non-user friendly HF radio) and relying on a compass, some dead reckoning and paper maps, to gourmet food and drinks carried in a car fridge, with extremely comfortable campers and camper trailers, satellite phones and GPS. It’s terrific.

Cape York 1970's Float

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