# 1956 Argus Trophy

The 1956 Argus Trophy was a Formula Libre motor race held at the Albert Park Circuit in Victoria, Australia on 18 March 1956. The race was contested over 48 laps, a total distance of 150 miles. It was staged by the Light Car Club of Australia as the feature event on the second Sunday of the two-day "Moomba Meeting", which was held with the co-operation of the Moomba Festival organisers.
The race was won by Reg Hunt driving a Maserati 250F.

## Results

| Position | Driver | No. | Car | Entrant | Laps |
| 1 | Reg Hunt | 2 | Maserati 250F | R. H. Hunt & Co. Pty. Ltd. | 48 |
| 2 | Lex Davison | 4 | Ferrari Type 500 | Ecurie Australie | 48 |
| 3 | Kevin Neal | 3 | Maserati A6GCM | R. H. Hunt & Co. Pty. Ltd. | 47 |
| 4 | Tom Hawkes | 7 | Cooper Type 23 Repco Holden | T. V. Hawkes | 45 |
| 5 | Bib Stillwell | 44 | Jaguar D-Type | B. S. Stillwell | 45 |
| 6 | Arthur Griffiths | 5 | HWM Jaguar | | 45 |
| 7 | Ken Wylie | 26 | Cooper Mark V Norton | K. Wylie | 39 |
| 8 | E. Milthorpe | 16 | Ford V8 Special | E. C. Milthorpe | 39 |
| 9 | Alex Strachan | 80 | Lotus Mark VI Coventry Climax | A. W. Strachan | 38 |
| 10 | H. Thompson | 28 | HRG | H. Thompson | 37 |
| 11 | Jock Cummins | 19 | Bugatti Type 37A Holden | J. K. Cummins | 37 |
| 12 | Harry McLaughlin | 14 | Ford V8 Special | | 29 |
| 13 | Julian Barrett | 10 | BWA s/c | J. S. Barrett | 28 |
| 14 | Bruce Walton & Ted Gray | 12 | Tornado | L. J. Abrahams & L. W. Gray | 25 |
| 15 | Reg Smith | 8 | Cooper Type 40 Bristol | R. Smith | 24 |
| 16 | Bill Craig | 11 | Alta Holden | W. J. Craig | 21 |
| 17 | K. McConville | 17 | Austin Special | K. H. McConville | 21 |
| 18 | Bill Wilcox | 9 | Alta s/c | | 18 |
| 19 | G. Nankervis | 24 | NR MG s/c | G. Nankervis | 13 |
| 20 | E. Perkins | 25 | Volkswagen Special s/c | E. B. Perkins | 5 |
| 21 | Noel Wade | 23 | Austin A40 Special s/c | N. Wade | 2 |
| 22 | E. Clay | 21 | HRG | E. A. Clay | 0 |
* Starters: 22
* Winner's race time: 1:28:32
* Fastest lap: Reg Hunt, Maserati 250F, 1:59, 94.5 mph
* Attendance: 70,000

## Notes & references

* 1 2 3 4 Official Programme, 18 March 1956, Second Day, The Argus Moomba Motor Races, Albert Park Circuit
* 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 JR Horman, Albert Park, Australian Motor Sports, April 1956, pages 136 to 143
* ↑ John B Blanden, Historic Racing Cars in Australia, 1979, page 146
* ↑ Maserati versus Ferrari at Moomba, Australian Motor Manual, April 1956, pages 58 & 59
* ↑ John B Blanden, Historic Racing Cars in Australia, 1979, page 221
* ↑ Car 3 is listed in the Official Programme with RH Hunt & Co Pty Ltd as the entrant and no nominated driver. Car 6 is listed in the Official Programme with RH Hunt & Co Pty Ltd as the entrant and KP Neal as the nominated driver. The "Albert Park Lap Times" chart for the Argus Trophy as published in Australian Motor Sports, April 1956, page 140, indicates that Neal drove car 3 and that car 6 did not contest that race.
* ↑ John B Blanden, Historic Racing Cars in Australia, 1979, page 98
* ↑ Car 14 is listed in the Official Programme as a Ford with W Wilcox as the Entrant & Driver. The meeting report in Australian Motor Sport makes reference to McLaughlin driving the ex-Wilcox Ford V8.
* ↑ John B Blanden, Historic Racing Cars in Australia, 1979, page 103
* ↑ Car 9 is listed in the Official Programme as an Alta s/c with JH Scorer as the Entrant & Driver. The meeting report in Australian Motor Sport makes reference to the car being bought by Bill Wilcox and being driven by him in the Argus Trophy.