Drivers relied on two wheels for rescue
In 1905, cars were still a relative novelty in Perth. And for most people, a luxury.
But for a small group of motoring enthusiasts, they were the future.
So on January 28 that year, the group decided to create the Royal Automobile Club of WA - know today as the RAC - to support Perth's expanding motoring community.
There were no garages or petrol pumps in those days and it was up to car owners to maintain their cars and do their own repairs.
The club was officially opened at a ceremony at Government House in July 1905 - 110 years ago.
The founding group of 25 included Fremantle entrepreneur Richard Strelitz, engineer Claude Williams Deane, who had sold the first petrol- driven car in Perth three years earlier, and British car importer Harry Dyer.
By the mid-1920s the club had grown to about 1000 members. It hit 10,000 in 1931.
Today, there are about 800,000 members.
RAC president Esme Bowen said the group's connection to its members had remained unchanged since the RAC began.
"One thing that has never changed is the commitment to our values, history and heritage and ensuring they are protected, because they are unique to WA and are the foundations that have built the RAC," she said.
In 1926, H.V. Mason and R.L. Stockbridge were recruited to be the RAC's first patrolmen. Paid £4 a week, the men were provided with uniforms, Matchless motorcycles with sidecars and enough equipment to make running repairs to most makes of vehicles.
The use of motorcycles continued through to the late 1940s, when the RAC fleet began to be replaced by Austin A40 panel vans.
The changeover continued using smaller Morris Minor cars and was completed by 1951.
By 2010, the fleet had moved to diesel-fuelled vehicles, either the Mitsubishi Triton or Mercedes-Benz Vito.
