Founders

Hugh King

Hugh is one of six inaugural members / directors of the AMHF, its first Chair, and was instrumental in its establishment. A large number of the books and magazine resources of the Foundation came from Hugh’s personal collection, having been a collector of motoring and aviation literature since 1954.

Hugh is a founder and life member of the HSRCA, was a member of the Austin-Healey Owners Club and the Ferrari Register, current member of the ARDC, the Thoroughbred Sports Car Club, and the Royal Automobile Club of Australia. Occasional runner in club and historic events 1974-2005.

University of Sydney, lawyer since 1968 and partner in a national law firm, now retired. Life Member of the Law Society of NSW and Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. An active director and chair until 2005 of public and private companies, and of industry associations in tourism, the national aviation sector and the health profession.

Brian Caldersmith

Brian is one of six inaugural members / directors of the AMHF, its first Deputy Chair, and was instrumental in its establishment.

Brian started as an under-age flag marshal at Parramatta Park in the early 1950s. Experienced Mount Druitt and Warwick Farm (mechanic to Ron Flockhart in 1962), founding member of the club that started Amaroo Park, founding member of Club Lotus Australia, life member of HSRCA and ARDC, raced for 30 years on most circuits in Australia, and has two books published on historic motor sport.

Production Engineering at Institute of Technology. 25 years in the appliance industry, Product Development Manager for Whirlpool, Manager of the largest Industrial Design Centre in Australia, introduced CAD on personal computers to Australia in 1980. Owned and operated a motoring bookshop, now a motoring artist.

Dr Andrew Moore

Dr Andrew Moore is an historian and author interested in the history of Australian motor sport. He has written six books including Aintree Down Under. Warwick Farm and the Golden Age of Australian Motor Sport (2017).  His most recent publication is The Bruce Collier Story published by the Renault Car Club in 2020. He was a flag marshal at Warwick Farm from 1968-1973 and, by his own admission, was an extremely unsuccessful rally driver in the 1970s!

Andrew has written entries on motoring luminaries such as Mary Packard, Jack Murray, Ray Revell, Ken Tubman and, most recently, Evan Green for the Australian Dictionary of Biography. He taught Australian history in various universities for 30 years and is an Adjunct Associate Professor at Western Sydney University. Since retiring from teaching, he has swapped writing for academic history journals to writing for The Oily Rag, The Hub and Australian Muscle Car. Andrew is a member of the Automotive Historians of Australia, the Historic Sports and Racing Car Association and the Renault Car Club of Australia. He drives a Renault RS265 Megane and a 1967 R1135 R8 Gordini. Andrew is one of six inaugural members / directors of the AMHF, and was instrumental in its establishment.

John O’Farrell

John picked up his first car magazine (Wheels, April 1968) when he was 12, but has always been interested in cars. After working in administration roles, including the New South Wales management of the Passenger Motor Vehicle Manufacturing Plan, he has also worked as a consultant to the dealer pricing guide, The Red Book, plus many years contributing to automotive media, such as Wheels, Unique Cars, and 4×4 Australia magazines. For several years John wrote a trivia quiz column for Unique Cars magazine. He worked with the car import community for some years, as a consultant related to the import process and regulations.

As the accompanying image attests, John has spent many years travelling the world. Driving in the United Kingdom, Europe, and the USA and studying their distinctive car culture. Cars and driving are his passion, together with reading about all things automotive. John says “I believe I know probably less than half of all there is to know, and my focus is on the car and the culture, but I’m very interested in learning more”.

On a personal level, he has a show car, which has been in his family since new, and he enjoys the car show community. Some of the books and magazine resources of the Foundation came from John’s personal collection. John is one of six inaugural members / directors of the AMHF, and was instrumental in its establishment.

The late Terry Thompson OAM

The AMHF was saddened to hear of the passing of Terry Thompson in December 2025 and extends its sympathy to Terry’s family and friends, and all those who had the privilege of working with Terry across the classic and historic car movements. Terry was one of six inaugural members / directors of the AMHF, and instrumental in its establishment.

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Member of Sydney Tech Car Club 1967, the committee of NSW Automotive Museum Association 1979, the committee of CVVTMC in 1984. President CVVTMC (now CMC) from 1991 to 2007, then Secretary and most recently as President until his passing in December 2025. Terry increased membership from 54 to 200 clubs with collector vehicles of all types.

Elected President of Australian Historic Motoring Federation (AHMF, National Body) from 1992 to 2001 covering 560 clubs with close to 98,000 members. Appointed an Expert Examiner for motor vehicles under the Moveable Cultural Heritage Act in 1999.

In 2001 and 2002, he negotiated with NSW RTA to introduce conditional registration (HVS) to replace unregistered vehicle permits to move for all NSW collector vehicle clubs. In 2015/16, Terry was a member of the negotiation team to introduce the Classic Vehicle Scheme so modified vehicles could access conditional registration like HVS. He was a member of Australian Racing Drivers Club (Board member since 2007), ARDC Classic Inc (Registrar and Public Officer), Historic Touring Car Association (Life member), Cronulla RSL Motoring Enthusiasts Group (Patron).

First competition: Forty Bends Hillclimb, Lithgow 1968, competed in Group Na Historic Touring Cars 1996 to 2006, Winner App J Association Club Championship (Na) 2000 and 2001, Winner Na section of AHTCA Cup (National Championships) 2002. Competitor in Alfa Romeo Club 6 Hour Relay at Eastern Creek 1998, 1999 and 2001, 3^rd place in Marque 1999. Awarded Order of Australia Medal (OAM) in 2003 for services to Historic Motoring and Motorsport. Chairman / Administrator of ACMC NSW Ltd CVS rego system from 2016 to 2025.