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Nevil Shute's XK140

Nevil Shute's XK140

In 1956 Nevil Shute had been living in Australia for about six years. At this point he was a rather wealthy author having written several best sellers at least two of which had been made into successful movies. He purchased the XK 140 from a dealer in Melbourne, Victoria.

He then entered it in several club races in the Melbourne area. In 1957 he wrote what is probably his best know book, On the Beach. This novel included a wild races sequence which was subsequently incorporated into the movie version of the book. The Nevil Shute Norway (the author’s full name) Society started holding biannual gathering in 1999.

In 2001 the meeting was held in Frankston, a suburb of Melbourne. I flew to Melbourne to attend the gathering, my first attendance at these affairs. One of the featured speakers was the then–and I assume present–owner of Shute’s XK 140; he brought the car to the meeting and gave a talk about it. He gave a little of the history, displayed several pictures of the car being raced, including a couple with Mrs. Francis Norway driving.

After his talk he allowed attendees to sit in the car and have their pictures taken. If I remember correctly, the car had not been restored but simply had been very well maintained; it was in very nice condition.

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