STEEN PEDERSEN is the quiet extrovert of this weekend's National Trust Centenary of Canberra Rally.
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The lanky Dane, who bears a startling resemblance to Bruce Spence's Gyro Captain from Mad Max II when he dons his flying helmet, leather trench coat and gloves, covered more than 300 kilometres on Saturday.
This, in the eyes of some, would qualify as an exercise in masochism given his mount was a 1927 Salmson racing car.
Salmson, a French concern, started life as a manufacturer of aircraft engines during World War I. The first cars were built in 1921 and, by 1927, its products were being talked of in the same breath as Bugatti.
His machine is the 1920s equivalent of a McLaren F1, a racer that is for sale to the general public.
It was, by the standards of the day, a genuine supercar and can reach speeds of well in excess of 140km/h. It would have cost Ferrari-like prices in its day.
Mr Pedersen, who acquired the remains of the car off a Queensland farm in 1973 and rebuilt it with original spare parts, has had it up to this speed at the Eastern Creek vintage car races.
''This was very dangerous,'' he said. ''The whole front end was shaking.''
He is in awe of the early drivers who used to drive machines such as this in excess of 160km/h on the dirt roads of the day.
''One Salmson did [about 180km/h] at Brooklands,'' he said.
The car's performance is remarkable given it is powered by a 1.1 litre engine. This is the type of capacity now most commonly associated with motorbikes and Morris Minors.
The DOHC twin carburettor engine was very sophisticated for 1927 and is coupled to a lightweight body made of fabric and stretched over a wooden frame.
The car was one of the major drawcards during Saturday's drive from Jervis Bay to Canberra via Nerriga, Tarago and Bungendore. About 200 cars left HMAS Albatross just after 9am and were joined by more entrants along the way. More than 300 vehicles are believed to have taken part.