Arthur Hayward was the guru of off-road racing in Tasmania.

Arthur first became interested in off-road racing in 1970 when he built his first sand buggy, a Volkswagen Beetle he called a Sand-Hopper, soon afterwards building a radical V6-powered Ford Capri buggy in his first serious racing machine.

In November 1971, Arthur gathered together a group of people with similar interests and formed the Tasmanian Off Road Racing Car Club, developing a broad set of rules and safety regulations, with the original membership made up mainly of families who wanted to go trekking together.

In 1972 he led a group on the first ever crossing of the Simpson Desert in non-four-wheel-drive vehicles, with the ABC making a documentary about the trek, called “Camels with Wheels.” 

In 1973 Arthur competed in his first off-road race in Victoria, returning home full of enthusiasm, later that year staging Tasmania’s first-ever off-road race at Peron Dunes, near St Helens - a race that still continues on an annual basis as Australia’s longest running off-road event.

As off-road racing was new, not only in Tasmania, but all over Australia, Arthur recognised the need for regulations and safety rules, and served for two years on the national off-road committee of the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS).

Following the success inaugural Tasmanian Sand Enduro in 1973, Arthur was approached by a group of enthusiasts in Portland (Victoria) to help stage an event for them - thus the Victorian Sand Championships was born.

The same year he secured land near George Town for a dirt track, dubbed “The Inland Circuit” and the sport began to flourish in Tasmania.

In 1975, he continued to encourage the spread of the sport, and formed a branch of the club on the North-West Coast, which eventually broke away to form the North-West Off Road Car Club.

A brilliant engineer as well, Arthur designed and manufactured the famous Holden Overlander 4WD and his Overlander Race Team was a familiar sight around many off-road venues in the 1970s.

In the late 1970s he continued to instigate more events and changes to off-road racing, which until 1979, was restricted to two-seater vehicles, but CAMS eventually allowed single-seat racers after Arthur’s intense lobbying.

In 1980 he was awarded life membership of the TORCC, clubman of the year in 1983, and CAMS Award of Merit in 1983.

Arthur Hayward has also been president of the club for a number of years, committee member, clerk of course, event director, competitor, and CAMS representative, as well as competing in every major off-road event on sand or dirt in Australia.

Written by Martin Agatyn