A Carlsruhe car enthusiast is headed to Historic Winton this month to show off his pristine and coveted 1925 Bugatti.
Jim Thompson, 89, will compete in Regularity One, a time trial event with up to 50 cars on the track.
“It’s a very good event because the spectators get to see a lot of very interesting cars,” he said.
Jim said Winton was a friendly and social meeting.
“The pits are available for the spectators to wander through and look at the cars and all drivers are happy to talk to people,” he said.
Jim has been a car enthusiast since he was a kid.
“My first car was a 1952 Singer SM 1500 and that was very competitive with the TCMG of the time,” he said.
Over the years, Jim has collected a variety of historic and vintage cars, including a 1920 Talbot, a 1925 Bugatti, a 1930 MG M-type, a 1936 Buick century sloper coupe, a 1950 Talbot Lago saloon (which belonged to the owner of the company Anthony Lago), a 1951 MG TD, a 1970 MGB, a 1982 Mulsanne Turbo Bentley and a 1999 Bentley Brooklands R.
Jim has evented at Winton with both the Bugatti and the MG M-type.
The now retired sporting goods manufacturer’s family company is Kookaburra Sport, which makes cricket balls and hockey balls that are sold across the world.
The balls have been used in Test cricket since 1946/7, and the hockey balls have been used at the Olympics since 1982. The company is still operating as a manufacturer in Australia.
Presented by the Austin 7 Club, Historic Winton is well known as being one of Australia’s most popular and longest running historic racing events showcasing racing cars from the very beginning (more than 100 years ago) to the mid-1980s.
The two-day program is set for May 24 and 25 to once again unite like-minded folk from across the country and share their love of historic, wacky and restored vehicles.
Tickets can be booked here: www.ticketebo.com.au/historic-winton/48th-historic-winton-2025
