PETE STEEDMAN ON WHEELS

CARS , SICKLES  AND  CAUSES   

An email from  Darwin  journalist, author  and  Friday Club veteran , Richard  Creswick , alerted  Little Darwin  to  the  fact   that  in  a  recent  edition  of  the   Unique  Cars   magazine   Rob  Blackbourn   wrote  enviously  about  a  fiery  red  convertible  once  owned  by  Melbourne  activist , editor ,  onetime   politician ,  publisher ,  Pete  Steedman .   

Creswick , a car  enthusiast  with a large  collection of  model vehicles  in  his den , suggested  Steedman ,  parts of  whose   life  story have appeared in this blog ,   be contacted for  a  follow  up , which we    did . 

Pete  was  surprised to  learn  about the   article .  He  waxed lyrical about  the Galaxie  , other  cars  and motorbikes he  had owned over the  years , plus  his  old  numberplate  collection.

Our  call  drove  him to a search of  his  extensive files , mentioned in this blog in the past, to resurrect photographs   of   wheels  from  his   past, all of which  he  seemed  sorry  to  have  parted  with .  To  have kept them all would have   required  a  large warehouse , a  kind  of  motoring  museum. 

Young Lochinvar  Steedman  is  seen  here with his first wife , Julie , a model , who  later ran  the  cosmetics  counter  at  Harrod's  in  London . The motorbike in the background is a 1965 Norton Atlas Pll, made for the US market,  thought to be the only one of it kind in  Austtalia  at  the time .

The   1942  Chevrolet  convertible  he owned  was  similar to  one General Douglas  MacArthur used during   WWll  when  he  was  in  Australia . Pete can give you a lot of gen  about how these cars were  made  in  South  Australia .

Steedman  almost  weeps when  he talks  about this  rare  sickle  , the l949 Vincent  Rapide , which he  once  rode , now  worth  almost as much as  Jackson  Pollock's  Blue Poles  painting in  the  National  Gallery , Canberra.   

 

Steedman  got behind the  wheel of  the above powerful and luxurious   Bentley Continental, one of  only 131  ever made  , probably in better nick than  the  rest  in the world ,  with  an  extraordinary  history .  

Along the way  there were other standout  means of  transport , including one  in which he used to drive about  in  Melbourne with a sign  saying  dump  Malcolm  Fraser . Then  there  was a  l955  Porsche  Speedster , a  Merc  in  recent  times .  

Nearly forgot the  1965  Maserati Mistral  he had in  London , lean Pete photographed  above  with  the  car at  Notting Hill, in  the  Jamaican   area .

 At the time , he was running the controversial Oz magazine office,  while   the crew were  fighting obscenity charges  in the  Old  Bailey -  a  great struggle played out on many fronts, even  involving the  actor who  became  Rumpole of  the  Old  Bailey . 

He also was  managing editor of an underground newspaper , Ink,  involved with  other  publications,  including  the  British Rolling  Stone . 

While in London, Steedman had interesting   dealings with  Richard  Branson  of  Virgin  who   wanted  Pete  to editor  a  publication  for  him . 

At  one stage  Steedman, Julie   and   friend -  cartoonist  ,  architect  and   advertising  man , Peter   Burleigh - had  a  wild  adventure  when  they drove   as  far  as  Afghanistan  in   a   converted  van  .

Returning to  Australia in l972 , Steedman  became editor of the ALP  Victorian newspaper ,  went  on  to  be elected  to the House of Representatives  as  the ALP Member for  Casey , named  politician of  the  year  by  the  Canberra Times . 

Currently recovering  from  a  hospital   grease and  oil change, Pete  is  continuing to sort  out  his  files  destined  for  the  state  library.