This delivery van was soon outclassed in 1908 when he became the first man to drive from Yass to Sydney.

It was a feat he achieved in a car he designed and built himself around a Winston gearbox.

By the 20th century, Yass was well established as a significant stopover point for motorists.

In 1914, the NSW section of the highway was declared a main road.

Until it was named the Hume Highway in 1928, it was known as the 'Great South Road'.

Setting up a garage that could offer all kinds of repairs - as well as acting as an agent for Ford, Studebaker and Singer motor vehicles - showed both enterprise and a sharp business sense.

The prosperous Yass district would soon take advantage of this wonderful invention.

Williamson's garage had a prominent place on Cooma Street.

In the 1920s, pioneering adventurer Francis Birtles was photographed in his car in front of Williamson's garage surrounded by curious and admiring onlookers.

In 1929, J. Carey was advertising that he had purchased two of the latest model Buick seven-passenger cars for hire day or night, orders to be left at W. Way's motor garage.

In 1930, Alderman Leonard from Yass made a 10-day business round trip to the north-west in his Buick.

Soon, the gravelled Yass main street would have to contend with vehicles of all sorts.

Should cars be parked nose to curb or rear to curb?

Should suspended awnings replace those verandah posts that too often seemed to be in the way?

And what about the dust, the noise, the dangerous speed!

The Australian Hotel was just one of the busy hotels in Yass catering for the smart young car-owning set.

The Yass Courier reported in April 1924 the consternation caused when the Licensing Board tried to close three Yass hotels and one in Murrumbateman.

"The hotels were well conducted and greatly needed" as a stopping place for travellers.

The car was also becoming a very practical addition to family life.

By the 1930s, petrol or service stations were very much a part of life, even to the Art Deco style building we now call Tootsie's, which was originally built as a service station.

In 1954, the municipal council approved the 12th service station for Yass on the corner of Laidlaw and Orion streets at a cost of £4500.