Sunday History Photo / ACT

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In 1925 this car was the first to travel around Australia. Its owner, Neville Westwood, was a 22-year old who purchased the car second-hand with 48,000 km on the clock. He left Perth on 4th August 1925 with one companion.
While travelling through the Northern Territory, the two men had to do many on-road repairs, included filling punctured tyres with grass and cowhide. His companion left the journey in Albury and Westwood continued to Melbourne then Adelaide before returning to Perth on the 30th December 1925 escorted by a welcoming convoy of motorists.
The 5CV was sold by Neville's brother in 1926 then repurchased by Neville shortly after as he recognised its significance to Australian motoring history. The Citroen remained with Neville until his death in 1969, after which it was passed to his son Ron. The 5CV was restored in 1975 and Ron hoped to retrace his father's journey in 2000 for the 75th anniversary but this never eventuated.
The National Museum of Australia acquired the Citroen from Ron in 2005. The museum's conservation experts completely dismantled the vehicle to start on conservation treatment. The chassis was treated and repainted but the body finish retains the form of its 1970 restoration. The running gear has also been treated and reconditioned to functional condition.
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The National Museum of Australia invited NRMA to compare the old car with current Holden and Citroen models. The two current models completed the full NRMA test performance testing while the old Citroen under took some milder testing using the team's satellite data acquisition equipment. The Citroen was limited to some laps around the circuit as it suffered clutch problems,
When not on display, the car is stored in a government facility in plastic oxygen bubbles (car cocoon) to keep it in pristine condition.
This was a great experience for the NRMA Motoring Specialists as the car is very unlikely to ever be driven again, especially on a race track under test conditions.