Brooklands Bulletin Issue 65 Sep/ Oct 2020

Brake components

Clutch & Gearbox

Cooling & Fuelling

Electrical

Engine & Mechanical

Steering & Suspension

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The Journal of Brooklands Members

Welcome

It was one of the most welcome and eagerly awaited pieces of news to hear that Brooklands Museum was to reopen. After so much uncertainty in recent times, this was a much-needed boost to morale not just for everyone who puts in so much effort at Brooklands, but for all the Members. It shows the resolve and determination of the team at Brooklands can achieve so much even in the face of incredibly adverse conditions.

The same can-do attitude has been prevalent at Brooklands since the circuit’s inception and we find out more about that through the life and exploits of Paddy Naismith. Not just a pioneering racing driver, she also flew, acted and worked as a stuntwoman.

More fine examples of Brooklands being at the forefront of technology and innovation are ably demonstrated in this issue’s stories about the Hassan-Bentley and ABC Motorcycles. The Hassan-Bentley was the nearest rival to the famous Napier-Railton, while ABC was using designs and features on its machines more than 20 years ahead of most rivals.

Another reminder of Brooklands indomitable spirit comes from Harry Sherrard’s recounting of the air raid on Brooklands 80 years ago. At that time, aircraft production made Brooklands a prime target for enemy bombing, yet it survived and continued to support the war effort. It’s a lesson from history that everyone at Brooklands has clearly learned from as we move forwards together to welcome everyone back to the Museum.

Alisdair Suttie Editor Brooklands Bulletin

Become a Member

Brooklands Members is the official support organisation for Brooklands Museum and is dedicated to raising funds for the preservation of the historic Brooklands site.

Members receive the Bulletin six times per year and enjoy free admission to the Museum, except when major events are taking place, in which case additional charges may apply. Club Level Members have access to the Clubhouse Bar on Thursday, Friday and Sunday lunchtimes.

For full details of membership benefits, contact the Members Administrator, Sarah Dover 01932 857381 ext 226; or wwwbrooklandsmembers.co.uk where you can find the latest news on Brooklands.

Front Cover photo: Fiona Pracht

We’re back!

Brooklands reopened on 30 July to welcome back Members for two exclusive days before the public arrived at the weekend. The Museum is now open from Thursday to Sunday from 10am to 5pm.

Many Members have contacted us to say how delighted they are to be able to visit the Museum again. They have been very positive about the new

signage and one-way system put in place to make sure all visitors are safe in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

All tickets must be booked in advance of visiting and Members need to pre-book and bring their membership card with them. You can book your timed arrival via the website.

The Sunbeam Café has reopened with social distancing in place and Brooklands has also introduced a fantastic Picnic Hamper if you’d rather eat outside. The hampers can be pre-booked and there’s a selection to

Apprenticeships at Brooklands

Brooklands has formed a new educational partnership with the Heritage Skills Academy (HSA) to become their second teaching site, delivering apprenticeships in heritage engineering..

The HSA’s existing site at Bicester Heritage has been running since 2016 and Brooklands Museum is the ideal choice for this expansion thanks to its extensive motoring and aviation history. The wealth of engineering expertise among Brooklands’ staff and volunteers will also be invaluable to students.

John Pitchforth, Managing Director of the HSA, said: ‘It’s exciting to be working with the team at Brooklands. The potential for our apprentices to have an immersive experience can only enhance their education and training.’

Brooklands’ Tamalie Newbery added: ‘Brooklands Museum has an educational mission, so bringing this nationally renowned apprenticeship programme to Brooklands is an important step in our support of careers in STEM subjects. The apprenticeships ensure the skills needed to look after historic vehicles are passed on to new generations.’

choose from that includes sandwiches, fruit pots, shortbread bakes, crisps and water. There is also a Mini Racers Kids Box available.

Pre-booking your visit is essential and last entry to the Museum is 2pm to ensure all visitors have sufficient time to enjoy the exhibits and displays.

Classics in Cobham

Brooklands Members are invited to Classics in Cobham on 12 September. The Brooklands Driving Group and Outreach Team will be there to promote the Museum and let the public know it is open again.

Classics in Cobham will be held at the Leg of Mutton, Downside Bridge Road in Cobham and runs from 10.30am until 3.30pm. So far, we have 32 cars booked and John Dennis has promised to bring along his 1907 Berliet Curtiss for a demonstration engine run.

To take part, please contact Angela Hume with your vehicle’s make, model, year and registration number. A contact telephone number is also required as part of Covid tracing measures. There is a £5 donation per car for the Cobham Heritage Charity. Angela is on: angela.humeuk@gmail.com

Angela Hume

Message from Sir Gerald Acher

It was almost with the excitement of a small child that my wife and I visited the Museum in the first weekend of reopening. We were thrilled with everything we saw and experienced, the new signage and uncluttered exhibits to name but two. Our visitor numbers have been strong since reopening despite the incredibly hot weather and we seem to have got everything right in our coronavirus planning according to the Trip Advisor comments we have received.

The pleasure of reopening has been tinged with the great sadness of a major restructuring and redundancies where we have had to say goodbye to 11 employees as we slim down our workforce to make us fit for a different future. Some had been with the Museum for much of their working lives and I should like to pay tribute to all they have contributed in their time with us.

Our Covid challenges are far from over because our visitor numbers are restricted with the requirements of social distancing and this impacts on our day to day numbers and events programme. Brooklands thrived in its heyday on innovation and entrepreneurship and I know this is still present today in our teams of trustees, staff and volunteers so an exciting future awaits.

I mentioned in the Bulletin previously the trustees and our chief executive, Tamalie Newbery, had no intention of allowing Covid to derail us from our ambitions. We set out a short-term strategy of fixing our finances, restructuring the business and preparing for reopening. We obtained a CBILS (Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme) loan of £1.25m and grants of £400,000, including £250k from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. We are still incurring losses and are applying for grants to cover these. Many Members have contributed to our #LoveBrooklands campaign and I

thank you for this invaluable help. While we were closed, we continued to work on building a better future for Brooklands Museum. We have been delighted to be selected as the subject of a new 10-part television series about restoration projects and care of collection. This will enable us to share the passion so many people have for Brooklands with a wider audience. Filming began in August and it will air on the Yesterday channel in due course.

We are also delighted to have agreed a new partnership with the Heritage Skills Academy. Its nationally renowned heritage vehicle apprenticeship programme will be expanding in the New Year and will create a second centre of excellence at Brooklands Museum to complement its current base at Bicester Heritage. The apprentices will help bring to life the skills and passion that is intrinsic to Brooklands and its purpose as a working museum, where our collections are restored and used whenever possible.

I’d like to thank Tamalie and her senior team who have worked tirelessly since lockdown, all our staff for their commitment and our volunteers who have been socially deprived from the place they love so much, but have set to in order to get us ready to receive visitors. Thank you everyone for your patience and support and I look forward to sharing our exciting future as we move up a gear!

Sir Gerald Acher Chairman of Brooklands Museum Trust

Brooklands TV series Thank you, Tim

Many of you will know Tom Morris, our Membership Administrator, who has done so much to make Brooklands a warm, welcoming place for Members and visitors. Tim opted for voluntary redundancy as part of the Museum’s coronavirus restructuring.

Tim had made it clear he would be retiring in the next year, but his departure is still felt as he has been the mainstay of our Membership Administration from inception. He has agreed to continue to co-ordinate our social media activity for the time being, but as a volunteer rather than a Museum employee.

Of course, Tim has been far more than Membership Administrator. He has been a key member of the Talks team and responsible for arranging our annual Classic Car show, and many other activities too numerous to list here.

Post coronavirus, there will be an opportunity to say farewell and thank you in a more appropriate way, but I would like to place on record what a huge contribution Tim has made to the BTM and Members, and from a personal viewpoint he has been a great support to me since I became Chairman. We wish Tim the very best for a long, healthy and happy retirement, and look forward to seeing him regularly in and around the Paddock. Thank you, Tim.

Neil Bailey

Brooklands Museum is the subject of a new television series commissioned by UKTV for the Yesterday channel. Each episode will feature different restoration or maintenance projects relating to the Museum’s cars, motorcycles or aircraft. The vehicle projects being worked on will be linked to their part in Brooklands’ history.

The Museum’s team of collections and maintenance volunteers will play a prominent role as they explain the work and share their enthusiasm for Brooklands and the exhibits they look after.

It is exciting that this series will help more people discover Brooklands and everything that happens at the Museum. If all goes well, there may even be a second series!

Tamalie Newbery

Message from Members’ Chairman

It is wonderful to see the Museum open again and hear from Members how much you had been looking forward to returning. Every couple of months, I sit and type my Chairman’s Message, wishing the content could be as uplifting and swashbuckling as those of my predecessor, Philip Strickland, but as is often the case in life, wishes and reality are quite different. In these challenging times it is more important than ever that we communicate and engage with our Members effectively. The key to this is not just giving you information, but explaining the reasoning behind decisions that are made, even if it doesn’t make for exciting reading.

Firstly, another big ‘thank you’ to all who have renewed your membership, which has enabled the Museum to continue in these straitened times. Over the last few weeks, a small group of us on the Committee have been cold calling a proportion of those Members who have not renewed, in order to better understand the reasons behind their decision and to explore what actions we could take to encourage a future renewal. Enthusiasm for Brooklands is a dominant feature of the calls, but it came as a shock to realise how many of you have been affected financially by coronavirus, either through redundancy or uncertainty when the furlough scheme ends. To all of you, whether you have renewed as normal, opted for the ‘pause’ in membership, or simply decided to defer any decision, let me reassure you that we genuinely do understand that everyone’s personal circumstances are different.

Although the Museum has reopened, numbers are inevitably restricted. The Members Only preview days proved to be extremely popular, and it was good to chat with many of you in the relaxed atmosphere after weeks of lockdown. Unfortunately, but inevitably, a number of loyal and long-serving staff have had to be made

Astons return Talking history

redundant and we wish them well, and look forward to a suitable opportunity to thank them at a later date.

Looking ahead, we have taken the difficult decision not to hold our Annual Dinner and Christmas Lunch this year due to uncertainty surrounding large gatherings in restricted spaces, but we are hopeful they will return in 2021. We will set the date for our Annual Dinner when there is certainty about our ability to hold the event in the Napier Room, and when we can secure a slot in Damon Hill’s busy calendar. As I explained in the last edition of the Bulletin, our AGM has been postponed until 2021, but we will publish annual accounts on our website later in the year, and will present both the 2019 and 2020 accounts for adoption at the 2021 AGM in the normal way.

Membership Administration will be handled by Sarah Dover, who has kept the wheels turning from her home throughout lockdown. Under the revised Museum staffing plan, Jeni Larwood, who you may remember her from her previous role alongside Tim in the BTM office, will return to assume overall responsibility for Membership Administration.

Many years ago, in another life, when I suggested to my boss there was light at the end of the tunnel, he responded promptly by saying ‘That’s probably a runaway train hurtling towards us.’ With that in mind, I will just say that hopefully the worst of coronavirus is behind us and I look forward to seeing you at the Museum as we all adapt to these new circumstances. In the meantime, stay safe and enjoy the rest of the summer.

Neil Bailey

The Sir Stirling Moss tribute in the previous edition of the Bulletin has been brought to life as a recording for the Elmbridge and Runnymede Talking Newspaper (EARTN). Author Philip Strickland was delighted that his article was requested by the audio news service, which has been running since 1974.

Anne Prevost of EARTN said: ‘The tribute to Sir Stirling Moss was so well written and fascinating, it made an obvious choice for a recording as it captured the spirit of him as a racing driver. Our listeners have been very enthusiastic about it and we’d love to include more stories from Brooklands.’

Alisdair Suttie

Two famous Aston Martin race cars that competed at Brooklands made their return during lockdown. The cars, known by their chassis numbers LM4 and LO91, were filmed on the Banking and around the Museum site for videos by HWM Aston Martin.

LM4 was built as a Works Team Car in 1930 and finished second in class and fourth overall in that year’s Brooklands Double Twelve. It competed at Brooklands a further four times in 1932.

Chassis LO91 is an International model also built in 1930. RA Yallop was the car’s first owner and he drove it at Brooklands in 1931. The car has a continuous racing history right up to the present day with appearances in Vintage Sports Car Club events.

Ali Blakemore of Ecurie Bertelli, which looks after the cars, said: ‘It was a real honour to take these cars back to where their racing careers started at Brooklands. The Banking is very atmospheric, especially when the Museum was so quiet during lockdown. A big thanks to everyone at Brooklands for all their help.’

The videos of both cars driving on the Brooklands Banking can be found on Ecurie Bertelli’s website: www.ecuriebertelli.com

Unit 6, Studley Court, Guildford Road, Chobham, Surrey GU24 8EB

Unit 6, Studley Court, Guildford Road, Chobham, Surrey GU24 8EB

Tel: 01483 722 923 • web: www.dclass.co.uk

Tel: 01483 722 923 • web: www.dclass.co.uk

email: dclassautomotive@hotmail.co.uk

email: info@dclass.co.uk

D:class automotive @dclassauto @dclassauto

Full classic interior restorations

d:class automotive specialise in full interior management and restoration of all classic cars. Our knowledge is second to none in supplying period correct carpets, leather or vinyl.

We are very well known and respected in our field of expertise for such marques as Mercedes Benz, BMW, Ferrari, Rolls Royce and Porsche.

All our work is carried out in-house by trained trimmers with vast years of experience and all works come complete with our full workmanship guarantee. d:class have carried out work for customers worldwide and we are happy to work with any possible logistics required for shipping of parts or cars and this is a true testament to the craftmanship and attention to detail that we put into our work. Our quality of work speaks for itself.

Interior repairs

We can repair single damaged areas only without having to go to the expense of replacing a whole cover. The common problem of worn bolsters can be solved within a couple of hours work, replacing the worn cloth, velour, tex or leather panel. Another common fault is split stitching, often seen on the newer model of cars. This again can be repaired as a whilst you wait service. We specialise in warranty work for many manufacturers for the likes of McLaren, Lamborghini, Jaguar, BMW, Mercedes and Ferrari to name a few.

Cloth to leather and full custom interiors

d:class can offer for all makes of car a full upgrade from cloth to leather. This will be done to OEM spec ensuring that it is finished using original patterns, perforations styles and colours. We use only high graded leather with exact grains to match factory finishes and all work is carried out in house. We do not use off the shelf kits and all our work carries a 3-year guarantee.

Alternatively, if you prefer you can overhaul your interior with a completely new and unique finish. Using the brightest leathers on the market or designing your own custom bespoke design on our state-ofthe-art CNC stitch, embroidery and perforation machine. If you can think it, we can create it.

Many unique and award-winning interiors have been produced and restored by d:class and once they have rolled out of our workshops they can be seen nationally and internationally across, not only our own social media but many social media influencers and renown publications.

Hood fitting and rear screen repairs

A full hood fitting service is available in house for a wide range of vehicle manufacturers, we specialise in classic Mercedes hoods. All our hoods come with a 1-year guarantee and are available in a wide range of colours to suit. We can supply and fit OEM where available or aftermarket hoods.

d:class

Many convertible owners experience the common issue of the deterioration, discolouration and eventual cracking of the perspex rear screens, within the workshop we can carry out a replacement service of this issue to most vehicles with the exact thickness perspex required.

We are located in Surrey, 15 minutes from junction 10 or 11 of the M25 and from the A3. Collection can be arranged of your vehicle depending on distance.

Director’s Message

We are open again! It has been so good to see so many Members and other visitors around the site in August. We wanted to ensure that when we reopened there would be lots of new things to appreciate and enjoy, as well as the chance to get reacquainted with all the familiar favourites. Everyone worked really hard, with much help from hundreds of the Museum’s volunteers, to make sure this was the case.

We’ve often heard that when people come to the Museum for the first time, they find it hard to know which areas are open to them. So, we now have a completely new interpretation and wayfinding scheme which seems to have made a huge difference to visitors’ experience. It helps everyone understand the historic nature of the site itself and the buildings around them, and makes it clear what are the key things to see.

Alongside this, we’ve added some new headline interpretation to the Motoring Village and Aircraft Park and changed some of the routes. Whilst the one-way system was necessary for Covid, many people tell us they prefer it.

It was a huge amount of work to take on, alongside all the Covid safety measures that we’ve put in place. The ‘lawn’ and bunting for the Brooklands fete in the Paddock have returned after their great success last year. We’ve also been busy with the planning to introduce the daily vehicle demonstrations so all visitors have the chance to see period cars and motorcycles running on the historic Finishing Straight.

It was all worthwhile, though, for the fantastic feedback we have had from Members and visitors, both about the changes to the Museum and how safe they feel on site despite Covid-19. The new pre-bookable picnic hampers have been extremely popular too.

Reviews on Google and TripAdvisor are also really important in encouraging people to discover Brooklands, so if you’ve visited since we reopened please consider helping by leaving a review. If you haven’t visited yet, head over to the website and book your free, timed admission. We look forward to seeing you.

Tamalie Newbery

New signage and a wayfinder scheme have improved the visitor experience while also meeting Covid safety measures.

1935 Derby 3 ½ Litre 3 Position Drop Head By Roger Fry £135,000.00

1922 Bentley 3/5.3 Litre With Vdp Style Coachwork £350,000.00

1924 Bentley 3/5 Litre Le Mans Style £550,000.00

1938 Derby Bentley 4.25 MR Overdrive Series Hooper Dhc £280,00.00

1925 Bentley 3/8 Litre Supercharged Special £780,000.00

1939 Derby Bentley Overdrive MX Series Drophead Coupe by Vanden Plas. £340,000.00

1940 Derby Bentley MX Series Vanden Plas Overdrive Pillarless Saloon £115,000.00

1935 DERBY BENTLEY 4¼-Litre Top Hat Saloon By Freestone And Webb £100,000.00

Collections and Interpretation

The last few months have flown by. As it became more hopeful of reopening, it was time to put into action the plans for making Brooklands Museum safe to welcome back everyone again and do it in a way that wasn’t going to diminish the experience or lose the feel of Brooklands. With a ticking clock counting down to welcoming Members back on the 30 July, the work began in earnest.

It began with a full-scale deep clean of all major gallery spaces, from top to bottom. Cars were shifted, floors were scrubbed, cobwebs from hard to reach lighting tracks were cleared and walls were washed. Each gallery received an intensive clean, something that has not been possible previously while we were open. The Aircraft Factory even got the high-level treatment as well. None of this would have been possible without the teamwork of the Collections department supported by our volunteers. This dedicated group have made each space sparkle, often working through extremely hot conditions.

As part of the changes to accommodate social distancing, several displays have had to be re-imagined. New one-way routes have meant a reduction in some displays to make sure we can navigate visitors safely through each gallery experience. However, this has provided us with the opportunity to show off some of our stars, including the Napier-Railton in the ERA Shed. These changes have also meant a re-envisaging of the Fastest on Earth story in the Motoring Village, raising the profile of motorcycles and women racers too.

The changes and activity have not been restricted to indoor spaces. Much work has gone into a new scheme that helps visitors find their way around the site. Making the most of our Brooklands colours, we have ensured that people can make the most of our outdoor spaces. Each building has a story plaque with an archive image to illustrate what it was used for and implant the message that it ‘really happened here’. Furthermore, new interpretation in the Inner Paddock tells the story of the track, underlining its significance as the world’s first purpose-built motor racing circuit and encouraging visitors to explore it.

Highly conscious that visitors would want to spend more time outside, we took the decision to introduce a new outdoor exhibition in the Aircraft Park. Brooklands: Innovating the World of Flight tells the story of the outdoor aircraft collection, providing purpose and meaning behind them, showing the direct evolutionary link from Viking to Concorde. While we are unable at this time to open most of the aircraft, they are still a highly valued part of the visitor experience. Since reopening, several volunteer stewards have enjoyed being in the Aircraft Park, engaging visitors and using the new interpretation to help bring the stories to life.

Much has been achieved over a short space of time to get Brooklands Museum ready to reopen and I am hugely grateful to the team of staff and volunteers for all their hard work. While the blue Covid signage and safety measures are there as a constant reminder to keep safe, it certainly has not impacted on the visitor experience. It is just wonderful to have visitors back once again enjoying the sights, sounds and stories of this amazing place.

Alex Patterson

Remember Brooklands in your Will

Since 1907 extraordinary people have been making their mark at Brooklands in the fields of Motorsport, Aviation and Engineering, leaving legacies that still resonate today.

Brooklands Museum depends solely upon income from our visitors and the generosity of our supporters and sponsors to fund the restoration and interpretation of our objects and site.

If you have been inspired by the pioneers of Brooklands, please help us ensure the enjoyment of future generations at the museum by including a gift to Brooklands Museum in your Will.

If you would like to receive further information about making a charitable gift in your Will or other ways you can help support Brooklands Museum, please contact the Chief Executive’s O ce: call 01932 857381 ext 243, email tnewbery@brooklandsmuseum.com, or visit our website www.brooklandsmuseum.com

forthcoming events

2020 Museum Events

The Events List is subject to change, so please check the website: www. brooklandsmuseum.com. Email events@ brooklandsmuseum.com or telephone the Museum on: 01932 857381 for information. Test Hill, car rides and engine runs are subject to operational conditions. Due to the Coronavirus situation, please check the website for the most up-to-date information on events.

Thank you for your support.

October

11 Autumn Motorsport Day. 10am-5pm. Competition cars from all eras will be put the test on the Mercedes-Benz World track and Brooklands Test Hill. Expect to see every type of racing car, including Formula 1, touring cars and Group B rally machinery alongside plenty of classic race cars. Check website for details.

18 London Bus Museum Transportfest. 10am-5pm. Superb displays of buses from through the decades, plus rare taxies, and military and emergency services vehicles. Check website for details.

November

1 Autumn Motoring Breakfast. 7.30am9.45am. A chance to see wide variety of vintage and classic cars and motorcycles. Check website for details.

15 Military Vehicles Day. 10am-4pm. Everything from military motorcycles to troop carriers and trucks, plus re-enactment groups in period costume. Check website for details.

October

16-19 Llanderchindda Farm is open. Angela Hume will be in contact with Members who have booked, probably in September, to see if they still want to join this visit.

21 Castle Combe Track Day for Cars. 9am-5pm. Revised date from 21 April. If you have already booked, you will be notified of your options. Put your car through its paces on one of the UK’s most exciting circuits. Check website for details.

26/28 Sewerage Cathedral coach visit. Angela Hume will be in touch with members who have booked in September or earlier if there is definite news.

December

Members’ Events

September

29 Shelsley Walsh Hill Climb. Road tour to this famous motorsport venue that includes runs up the hill. All vehicles must be road legal and drivers will need a full driving licence. Check website for details.

Brooklands Members Talks: update

For the avoidance of any doubt or confusion, the 2020 programme of Members Talks has been cancelled. Please ignore any reference to published dates that may have appeared in earlier publications or online.

As and when public gathering restrictions are relaxed, we may be in a position the re-start the programme, but on a limited basis. You

15 ‘Wartime Kent’ Coach visit to Chartwell, family home of Winston Churchill. Guided tour of selected rooms plus a trip to Biggin Hill Memorial Museum and St Georges RAF Chapel of Remembrance. Please contact Angela Hume if you are interested on: angelahume@brooklandsmembers.co.uk

will be informed of any changes via the monthly newsletter, social media platforms and the Brooklands Bulletin.

However, there is some exciting news Members. We have over recent weeks carried out some live streaming of a number of Talks and interviews using Zoom webinar technology with great success and we hope to be in a position to live stream via YouTube shortly.

Since the Covid-19 lockdown in March, the Talks team has moved presentations online through BM.tv and recorded 20 Zoom-based conversations so far with such notaries as Simon Taylor, Steve Parrish, David Tremayne, Richard Noble, Allan Winn and Maurice Hamilton. We have also been involved with seven book launches including, among others, titles about the Wellington Bomber, Niki Lauda and Jochen Rindt.

They can all be viewed now on our BM.tv channel which you will find at: vimeopro.com/brooklandsmembers/bmtalksonline The scheduled talk in September with Peter Grimsdale, author of High Performance: When Britain Ruled the Roads, can also now be found on this channel.

We are aware that this form of technology is not to everyone’s taste, but during these challenging times it does provide us with a platform to keep the Talks alive and Members entertained and informed. As we come out the current restrictions with the likelihood of smaller audiences in a venue, we will be able to stream to hundreds, not just 20 people in a room!

Steve Clarke and The Talks Team

Dispatch rider identified

Edwards. Tony was one of the dispatch riders. He was a natural for this job as he had regularly raced motorcycles prior to the war. He survived and went on to race in the Isle of Man TT. I cannot find any record of him having any success but it is enough to say that he must have been a very courageous man to have taken part in what was and still is the most dangerous motorcycle race in the world.

The reason I know this is that Tony’s widow gave me a box of bits and pieces among which I found a collection of negatives taken at Brooklands shortly after the outbreak of war, this picture being one of them. Also, I was given his pre-war racing licence and pudding basin crash helmet. These together with the negatives I donated to the Museum. Unfortunately, his wife had recently disposed of his leathers.

Dear Sir,

Regarding the article ‘Brooklands and the Battle of Britain’ in the July-August edition of the Bulletin, I am able to provide you with the identity of one of the soldiers on page 32. The one standing smartly to attention at the centre front of the picture is Tony

Though, to the best of my knowledge, Tony never raced at Brooklands, the licence must be a rare example of a pre-war motorcycle racing licence and his helmet was used ‘in anger’ if not at Brooklands.

Regards, Martin Chandler

Hurrah for the Hurricane Model racing behaviour

Dear Sir,

Dear Sir,

During the severe part of the lockdown, Zoom and FaceTime meetings became very popular among family and friends. Many of these meetings incorporated a quiz of one kind or another. As part of one of our family’s Zoom meetings with a quiz, I came up with the idea of having a model car race meeting, the winners of which would earn points for the overall quiz total.

The race circuit was my wooden living room floor. I devised a ‘race card’ which was sent out to all participants prior to the Zoom meeting. The first race consisted of clockwork model racing or land speed record breaking cars, and the second race was of a mixture of wind up and pull back clockwork cars.

In the first race group, the LSR cars tended to be quite slow at accelerating away, compared to the Mercedes and Auto Union racing cars. In the second group, the Bugatti was always the fastest. I did not give out these facts before the quiz!

So if you have enough clockwork model cars that can endure the rough and tumble of such a race (a few cushions helped to avoid any damage to the cars) then try incorporating such an activity into family and friends quizzes.

Cardboard models of ‘Ebby’ and the score board courtesy of Brooklands Members Annual Dinner Menus are from modelmaker Michael Sands. Incidentally, does anyone have any spare or unwanted model menu cards from 2010-2015?

Best regards,

David Coney

Regarding the reference to the Hawker Hurricane in the Battle of Britain feature in the recent issue of the Bulletin, it should be pointed out that although the Spitfire was faster and, in some ways, more manoeuvrable, the Hurricane could still outturn it. Also, it was a better gun platform and produced better results due to its extra size, weight and improved gun positions because of the different wing construction. This could explain why, out of the top 10 RAF aces in the Battle of Britain, most were Hurricane pilots and they accounted for more victories. Of the top four aces, only one flew a Spitfire. I have heard enemy bomber crews state they were more wary of the Hurricane, and one can perhaps see why.

It has never received the same attention, nor its just dues, but then maybe the less pretty sister never does? Never mind Miss Hurricane, we all know that beauty is only (stressed) skin deep!

Kind regards, Don

Trist

DRIVING THE DREAM

Allan Winn is used to driving the Napier-Railton, so he could not pass up the opportunity for a dream drive in its closest rival, the Barnato-Hassan Special. Here are his impressions of this Bentley-powered racing car.

Words: Allan Winn

Photos: Fiona Pracht/Akomos, Brooklands Museum Collection

The Barnato-Hassan Special must rank as one of the greatest Brooklands racing cars. An Outer Circuit laprecord holder, regular race winner and place-holder, and with a successful post-Brooklands racing career. It is also a car with a somewhat convoluted history, which has only recently emerged from a prolonged and massive restoration which has taken it back to the specification of its pomp in the late 1930s.

The Barnato-Hassan was conceived by Woolf Barnato in 1934 as a car for Mountain Circuit races and he initially envisaged it being fitted with twin wheels front and rear for extra grip. Wally Hassan,

who was commissioned by Barnato to build the car, dissuaded him of the twin front wheel idea. By the time the car was completed, the notion of using it on the Mountain Circuit had been dropped and it was never fitted with the twin rears either. The basis of the car was the original 6½-litre engine from Barnato’s Bentley ‘Old Number One’, which in 8-litre form had been fatally crashed by Clive Dunfee in 1932, with Bentley axles and a new Hassan-designed chassis with underslung rear suspension. It was fitted with four-wheel Lockheed hydraulic brakes, an Armstrong-Siddeley pre-selector gearbox, and a single-seat body with a faired-in oval radiator grille. The completed cost was said to be £1000.

First race

The Barnato-Hassan’s first race was the 1934 British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC) 500 miles that was run in the rain. Although driver Dudley Froy lapped at over 130mph, he retired when the engine broke a connecting rod, which was a failure to dog the car repeatedly throughout its career. When it re-emerged for the 1935 season, it had been fitted with a brand-new 8-litre engine and conventional gearbox, and the front brakes removed. Now driven by London solicitor Oliver Bertram, it was said to have lapped the Outer Circuit at more than 140mph in practice for the Easter meeting, where it won its first short handicap race and was unplaced in

The freshly reconstructed BarnatoHassan Special on the banking of Millbrook’s Bowl that gives some idea of what it was like to drive this 8-litre race car at Brooklands.

another. After the last race at the August Bank Holiday meeting, Bertram took it out for an attempt on the lap record, then held by John Cobb in the Napier-Railton. Aided by disc covers on the Barnato’s rear wheels to improve streamlining, he took the record at 142.7mph. Success eluded the car for the rest of the 1935 season, with its fuel tank splitting in the BRDC 500 and on 7 October Cobb re-took the Outer Circuit lap record in the Napier-Railton at the ultimate 143.44mph which still stands.

For 1936, Hassan substantially reengineered the car, moving the driver’s seat to the centre above the transmission,

with offset steering and a new ultra-slim body by the Gray Brothers, but although it now had a significantly reduced frontal area it seemed no quicker. The car suffered retirements from tyre failures and two broken connecting rods in the season. It returned to winning ways in the Second Long Handicap at the Brooklands Automobile Racing Club (BARC) October meeting and placed in two other races, but Barnato and Hassan still thought it could do more. So, for 1938 it was modified with twin magnetos instead of one coil and one magneto on the engine, a bigger oil tank and new 20-inch wheels with balloon

tyres, in which form it weighed 1.45-tons. It was definitely quicker, regularly setting lap speeds of more than 141mph in races, setting its best-ever lap of 143.11mph during the Dunlop Jubilee Race on 17 September. As this was set during a race, it was not recognised as a record, but it remains the second-fastest lap ever recorded and the fastest by an 8-litre car on the Brooklands Outer Circuit. However, the Barnato-Hassan was never to win another Brooklands race and this was its last season at the track.

Post-war life

Post-war, Barnato sold the car to garage proprietor Ian Metcalfe, who employed renowned Bentley engineer Fred Hoffman to substantially rebuild it. He moved the steering back to the right, refitted the front-wheel brakes and had a huge new two-seat body with cycle wings fitted. In this rather inelegant form, it acquired the nickname of ‘The Whale’.

Metcalfe and Lance Macklin entered it as a Bentley 8-litre in the 1948 24-hour race at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium, where it retired after multiple clutch problems, and then Metcalfe rolled it during the 12-hour race at Montlhéry a few weeks later. Metcalfe then sold the Barnato-Hassan to Gerry Crozier, who had some success with it. In 1951, he

Mimicking the famous shot of its rival, the Napier-Railton, as it passes over the bump on the Members’ Banking, the Barnato-Hassan is seen here with the rear wheel disc covers used during its drive to 142.7mph in 1935.

Gear lever, handbrake and hand throttle are all placed outside of the cockpit on the right-hand side to help create more space for the driver inside the snug confines of the Barnato-Hassan Special.

beat a field of Jaguar XK120s in a race at Silverstone and later beat Roy Salvadori, also Jaguar-mounted, in a BARC race at Goodwood.

Eventually, the car was bought by Keith Schellenberg, who in the early 1970s returned it to single-seater form once more, with a body loosely based on the pre-war one. Still bearing the Metcalfeera road registration number MPE 10, it often appeared in Vintage Sports Car Club and Bentley Drivers Club races. In more recent times, it was bought by Georg Limberg, who commissioned a complete reconstruction that was completed early in 2019 by David Ayre.

Driving the Barnato-Hassan

For somebody whose principal experience of driving Brooklands racing cars has been with the greatest of them all, the twotonne, 24-litre, 535bhp Napier-Railton, the opportunity to drive its most consistent challenger for the outright Outer Circuit Lap Record, the Barnato-Hassan, was one to be leapt at. To have that opportunity realised on a high-speed banked circuit like the magnificent two-mile circular Bowl at Millbrook in Bedfordshire and to compare the two cars back-to-back on that circuit on the same day was the stuff of dreams for me and the only lady ever to have driven the Napier-Railton, Museum Trustee Georgina Wood. So, what is the BarnatoHassan actually like to drive?

The first impression is how tiny the cockpit is and how contorted the access is into the car. You slide in through the open side and fold your legs in after you. The backrest of the seat is vertical and the steering wheel is really close to you, so you sit bolt upright with your elbows out in the breeze and with your legs pretty much straight out in front of you.

The steering column is angled to the right to get the steering box outside the

line of the engine, but the driver sits on top of the transmission in the centre of the car. The rather surprising result is that all of the Barnato’s foot pedals are sited to the left of the steering column, but arranged in classic Bentley order, with the throttle pedal between the clutch and brake. Although the angling of the steering column is visually obvious, it is not noticeable once you’re driving the car.

The narrowness of the Barnato cockpit is such that most of the controls other than the pedals, starter button positioned almost under your left buttock, fuel-pressure pump and ignition switches are outside. This means the gear lever, handbrake and hand-throttle are outside on the right, while ignition advance and retard are in the wind on the left. The Victorian-domestic-style ignition switches are tucked up under the cowling on the right and are best approached through the spokes of the steering wheel. The wooden-handled fuel pump is on the other side, close to the driver’s left hand.

Preparations for starting are relatively simple. You have to pump up fuel pressure (a little propeller-powered pump in the radiator cowl should maintain pressure once the car is moving fast enough), retard the ignition and engage second gear if you’re bump-starting. The engine fires pretty much instantly when you release the progressive clutch, but you have to remember to advance the ignition as soon as it has started. With no dynamo to recharge it, the electric starter is reserved for when there isn’t a handy pit crew around for a push-start.

The Barnato’s Bentley ‘six’ is smooth, mechanically quiet and very responsive, with seemingly very little flywheel inertia and a lovely bark to the exhaust. In all of its manners other than power output, the engine feels much lighter than its 8-litres.

The Barnato-Hassan pictured in 1936 at the Brooklands 500 driven by Oliver Bertram, where the car retired with engine trouble. The presence of a tow rope suggests this picture was taken after the engine expired.

The dual Victorian-style ignition switches are clearly seen tucked under the cowl on the right-hand side. For 1938, the Barnato-Hassan moved to a twin magneto set-up in the search for more power.

With its current relatively low overall gearing, it really leaps off the line. The car is on 6.75/7.00 x 21 Blockley tyres and its 3.0:1 final drive ratio gives it a mere 35mph/1,000rpm in top gear.

With its light flywheel, you can change up through the close-ratio four-speed Bentley D-Type gearbox almost as quickly as you can move the lever. The only difficulty on first acquaintance with the gearbox is in synchronising down-changes because of the light flywheel and snappy throttle response. Even that becomes quite natural after a few attempts, though I didn’t master heel-and-toe changes on this fairly brief drive.

Out on the open track, the car has an impressively smooth ride thanks to its long wheelbase, and the combination of modest gearing, small frontal area and comparatively light weight of less than 1500kg gives it phenomenal top-gear performance. As the speed rises, you are quickly reminded, however, that this is a classic narrow pre-war single-seater: your head and face are well protected by the aero-screen, yet you can feel the wind tearing at your arms and clothing. The steering is beautifully smooth and accurate thanks to that Bentley steering box and manageably light once it’s rolling. The four big drum brakes give the driver great confidence that it will stop really well, which it does, straight and true.

Overall, the Barnato-Hassan is thrilling and satisfying to drive on a modern, smooth circuit, though it must have been a demanding car in long races on the Brooklands bumps. In notes he wrote which were quoted by Bill Boddy in

Motorsport in 1983, Oliver Bertram found the Barnato-Hassan Special a contrast to his previous mount, the V12 Delage Land Speed Record car with its smooth twelvecylinder engine and precise handling. Initially, the Barnato-Hassan felt ponderous, almost primitive, docile admittedly at a crawl with the exhaust note a rumble, but becoming alive at speed, and although giving a sense of working well within its potential, being hard on the arms due to the front-end weight and big wheels. But it ‘really sat down on the bumpy concrete surprisingly well’ and never gave Bertram a bad moment. The Barnato was, in turn, a contrast to the Napier-Railton, which Bertram shared with John Cobb in winning the 1937 BRDC 500. He said that while it

was ‘not particularly exciting’ to drive, the Railton was the most comfortable racing car he had driven.

The slimline single-seat body created by the Gray Brothers is evident in this picture taken in the Thomson and Taylor workshop.

The sheer size of the 8-litre Barnato-Hassan can be gauged in this photo as it moves past the MG of Klemantaski.

Allan Winn enjoying his time with the Barnato-Hassan and its quick gearchange action, though he didn’t have time to master heel-and-toe changes.

SATURDAY 26TH SEPTEMBER ASCOT RACECOURSE BERKSHIRE

THE AUTUMN SALE

A MAJOR AUCTION OF 160 FINE AND VARIED CLASSICS

1953 AUSTIN-HEALEY 100

A very significant part of Austin-Healey history, ‘DNH 828’ is one of the very first RHD Austin-Healey 100s, uprated to 100M spec. with correct performance parts supplied by the factory well before the 100M was launched. This, the first privateer Healey 100 to compete at Goodwood has a wonderful, authenticated motorsport history and is superbly presented after a 1,700 hour, five-year restoration by the renowned marque specialist, Rawles Motorsport. Estimate: £220,000-£260,000.

SILVERSTONE. JUNE 1954

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www.historics.co.uk

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GOODWOOD. JULY 2020

BROOKLANDS UNDER ATTACK

Eighty years ago, Brooklands came under attack. We find out what happened in these air raids and how Brooklands survived.

Words: Harry Sherrard Photos: Brooklands Museum Collection

Only five German bombs made direct hits on Brooklands in the first raid on 24 July, 1940 but the later raid on 4 September proved more devastating with the loss of 88 lives at Brooklands.

Brooklands’ role in the Battle of Britain, and why it was an important target for the Luftwaffe, was explained in the July-August 2020 edition of the Bulletin. Pre-war reconnaissance of Brooklands had been carried out by the Luftwaffe and, six months prior to the outbreak of World War 2, they drew a map and compiled an intelligence sheet on the site, allocating the airfield target number GB 1028 and the Vickers factory the target number GB 747.

The first raid specifically targeting Brooklands took place on 24 July, 1940. A single Dornier twin-engined bomber dropped 18 bombs, five of which struck the track and others narrowly missed the Vickers factory. The Bofors gun mounted on the Members’ Hill opened fire but did not succeed in hitting the bomber. Damage was limited, but it was a foretaste of things to come.

The key to the successful defence of a vulnerable site like Brooklands was early warning of an incoming raid. Known in 1940 as Radio Detection Finding (RDF) as the word radar came later, the system of bouncing radio signals off aircraft and interpreting the reflected signal formed a core part of the British air defence system.

Along the southern and eastern coasts of Britain, a series of transmitter masts and smaller receiver masts was constructed to monitor the English Channel and the North Sea for incoming hostile aircraft. RDF information about hostile raids was observed by the operators on the screens of the receivers. After interpretation, this information was passed to fighter squadrons to enable them to intercept the raid.

Crucially, however, RDF only looked out over the English Channel and North Sea. Once German aircraft had crossed the coastline, RDF had no role to play. It then fell to the Observer Corps, relying on binoculars and the ‘Mark 1 human eyeball’ to gather critical information about raids, which was then fed into the RAF’s command and control system. By late summer 1940, the

experienced Luftwaffe bomber crews had developed tactics to outwit the Observer Corps and their plan to attack the Vickers factory at Brooklands on the 4 September was complex, daring and ruthless.

The aircraft to be used was the Messerschmitt Bf110. Referred to in Nazi propaganda as a ‘Zerstörer’, a destroyer, a term borrowed from naval parlance, the Bf110 was a high performance, twinengined, two-seat and multi-purpose aircraft. Although primarily a fighter, bomb racks could be fitted to convert the Messerschmitt into an effective high speed, low altitude light bomber. In other words, perfect for a surprise attack on a site like Brooklands.

At 6.30am on 4 September, Luftwaffe unit ErprobungsGruppe 210, which specialised in high speed precision attacks using Bf110s in light bomber specification, took off from their base in France and flew to a forward airbase near Calais for refuelling and a briefing. A surviving EprGr 210 pilot’s log book states ‘Vickers, Brooklands’ as their target that day.

EprGr 210 comprised of a force of 14 Bf110s and was joined by several other Bf110-equipped units. Shortly after midday, a total of about 100 Bf110s took off from the Calais area and headed for the Sussex coast. RDF picked them up, three squadrons of RAF fighters were scrambled and engaged the raiders. Several were shot down and one aircraft from EprGr 210 crashed in the channel

This German map clearly identifies target 747, which was the Vickers factory. The Luftwaffe had been carrying out reconnaissance of Brooklands six months ahead of the outbreak of war.

while taking evasive action. The remaining 13 pressed on towards their target.

The other Bf110 units had successfully served as a diversion, drawing in the defending fighters and protecting EprGr 210, which was now inland and behind the RDF screen. So, it fell to the Observer Corps to track them. It was a warm, cloudless day with some haze, making observation and identification of high-flying aircraft difficult. Capitalising on this, the diversionary Bf110 units flew a series of feints and their track

was effectively lost. The exact route of these escorting Bf110s is unknown, but it seems that one group overflew Brooklands at altitude, turned back and prepared to protect EprGr 210 from any fighter attack. What is clear is the 13 attackers reached Brooklands at low altitude entirely undetected.

At the Vickers factory, the lunch break was ending and some workers were queuing to clock back into work, while others continued to sit outside, enjoying the late summer sun. Approaching Brooklands from the south west, the attackers split into two smaller formations. Diving from the Byfleet direction out of the sun, the first group dropped their bombs

on the aerodrome and the Vickers factory. The second wave attacked from the east and also successfully bombed the factory. Disastrously, one bomb fell through the factory roof and exploded close to the time clock, killing many queueing workers.

Much too late, the klaxon alarm was sounded and the Bofors gun crews swung into action, but did not fire a shot, as by the time they were ready to open fire the Bf110s were gone. In all, the attack took about three minutes.

Now fully alerted, RAF Fighter Command scrambled Hurricanes from RAF Kenley which engaged the Bf110s as they flew south. A total of 15 Luftwaffe aircraft were destroyed before and after the attack on Brooklands and 17 German crew lost their lives in the raid. All German losses on the return leg were from the escort units. The 13 EprGr 210 aircraft which had attacked Brooklands all landed safely back at their bases in France.

These concrete supports formed a tower on Members’ Hill for a 40mm Bofors gun that was used to defend Brooklands and the aircraft factories from air raids.

The Luftwaffe’s plan to raid Brooklands worked when it was able to get past the Radio Detection Finding masts positioned all along the south coast designed to give an early warning of attack.

Although the destruction caused by the air raids looked severe, it was mostly to buildings rather than machinery. This meant aircraft production at Brooklands soon resumed.

A crater left by a German bomb dropped on the Brooklands site in an effort to disable aircraft production.

At Vickers, 88 people died, and more than 400 were injured, many seriously. The damage to the Vickers factory buildings included much of the area around the machine shop, the wing shop and the Repair Hangar. Extensive amounts of roof glazing were also destroyed. Although the scene appeared to be one of devastation, destroying the fabric of buildings is one thing, and inflicting serious damage on machinery within a factory is another. Nearly all of Vickers’ critical machinery was undamaged, so when the clearing up operation had been completed, production of Wellington bombers restarted.

Anti-aircraft artillery

Anti-Aircraft Command was a branch of the British Army, but which worked in close cooperation with Fighter Command in protecting airfields and other vital infrastructure such as Brooklands. During the Battle of Britain, there were about 1200 heavy guns and around 600 light guns deployed regionally around Britain. This was far below

On 6 September, the Hawker factory was attacked by Bf110s and Junkers Ju88s. Some buildings were badly damaged and an unexploded bomb was destroyed by a controlled explosion, but Hurricane production was only briefly halted.

Although disruption to aircraft building caused by these raids was relatively minor, the Ministry of Aircraft Production ordered that manufacturing facilities should be dispersed. A programme of requisition of suitable factories was rapidly organised. Vickers and Hawker departments were transferred to warehouses, garages, film studios and engineering works over a wide area. Vickers established a small satellite factory and

the number needed to be able to put up an effective curtain of anti-aircraft fire and many important potential targets were ineffectually defended. Moreover, the guns were of antiquated design with poor accuracy against the fast-moving Luftwaffe aircraft.

Gun crews were something of a military poor relation and their hurried deployment to defend vulnerable sites

aerodrome within Windsor Great Park. Camouflaged hangars were constructed within the Brooklands site, which was further protected by barrage balloons.

On 4 September, Brooklands Museum is holding a commemorative service to remember those killed during the air raid 80 years earlier. The service is being led by the Bishop of Guildford and family members of those who were there on the day will attend. The service will include recollections from those present during the raid. Afterwards, guests will have the chance to see the new interpretation commemorating the air raid, which has been made possible by BAE Systems.

in 1940 meant that installations were often primitive and living conditions uncomfortable. Thomas Barrett was a gunner with the 98th Anti-Aircraft Regiment charged with the defence of Brooklands. He recalled: ‘We were out in a field at Addlestone. The gun sites had no concrete or sandbags, they were just out in the open. We dug holes for air raid shelters and our toilet was a trench.’

As well as the surrounding area, gun emplacements were installed within Brooklands itself, including a Bofors 40mm gun which was mounted on a concrete tower on Members Hill, overlooking the airfield. The remains of this tower can still be seen today.

In addition to the regular army, in the summer of 1940 Vickers employees formed a Home Guard unit to defend their employer’s factory. With Vickers’ connections to the armament industry, the unit was one of the best equipped in the country, with six Bren guns and twin Brownings installed on the roof of the Vickers office block. Even the regular army was envious of such firepower, but the 4 September raid happened so quickly the unit failed to engage the Luftwaffe raiders.

The distinctive outline of Brooklands made it easy for Luftwaffe pilots to identify. After the raids, aircraft facilities were dispersed to limit the risk from bombing.

Hurricane production quickly restarted after the 1940 air raids on Brooklands. Here, the fuselages have their lightweight fabric coverings sewn on by hand.

A FULL LIFE

Paddy Naismith was one of the lesser known ‘Speed Queens’ of Brooklands. We chart an amazingly full life during which she was an actress, race and rally driver, pilot and air hostess.

BULLETIN

Words: Roger Radnedge Photos: Brooklands Museum Collection/NPG

Paddy photographed in 1934 and showing why she was in demand as an actress as well as an accomplished race and rally driver.

Eirane Redmond ‘Paddy’ Naismith was born in 1908 in London, the daughter of James Naismith who was originally from Ireland but had moved to London some time between 1902 and 1904 and was a travelling car tyre salesman. Paddy’s mother was Mary Francis Redmond Naismith, who was a renowned clairvoyant, though she called herself a psychological expert. Paddy had three sisters Sheila, Grace and Juliet and a brother Desmond.

In her teens, she began stage acting and this resulted in Paddy joining a touring company performing musical comedies. In April 1928, the Welsh Person Elder Company was busy adapting the popular works of WW Jacobs into a series of films. They started with The Bravo and were looking for a new talent to perform the role of Lucy. After auditioning 50 young women, it was announced their ‘new discovery’ was the 19-year old Paddy Naismith, who was 24 by this time. Mr Jacobs said he was very impressed with her performance in a usually difficult role. The difficulty he pointed out was: ‘It is not easy to put my stories on the (silent) screen because they are nearly all dialogue.’

Paddy must have been paid well because in July 1928 she took part in the Junior Car Club’s Bournemouth Concours D’ Elegance with her own Ballot, but without notable success. Undeterred, in September she entered the Southampton International Motor Rally and this time

she won a Special Award with the D Hall Caine Cup, igniting her interest in motor sport. In December, she starred opposite Edger Vosper in a film called The Lost Cord, described as a short drama. It must have been as they appear to have been the only performers.

As a rising starlet, Paddy made rapid progress up the social scene, aided by the friendship she struck up with Mr Derwent Hall Caine MP, who also acted. Hall Caine was also a friend of the Prime Minister, Ramsay MacDonald. Paddy was introduced to MacDonald and his daughter Ishbel and

Paddy, second from right, is seen here with Sheila and Ramsay MacDonald to the left and Derwent Hall Caine. It demonstrates how well connected Paddy was in political circles.

Dame Barbara Cartland organised an all-women race to prove they were as quick as men. The event turned out to be staged, which caused Paddy, third from right, considerable professional embarrassment.

the women became friends. Hall Caine and Paddy enjoyed a very close relationship and she often acted as his secretary. It would seem that he proposed to her and he must have been pretty confident of her acceptance for he started to buy a house that was to become their marital home.

The Scotsman newspaper picked up on this and on the 18 June, 1929 described her as his fiancée. Tatler repeated the suggestion, but in a later edition admitted its error and apologised for nothing came of it, probably because he was reputed have a string of mistresses and at least three illegitimate

children. However, Paddy and Hall Caine remained close ‘friends’, and were often seen together as regular members of the Prime Minister’s golfing party.

Racing and politics

In July 1929, Paddy took part in the Brighton Motor Rally in her Ballot. She came first in the Concours d’ Elegance competition, second in Class 3 (£401£800), and won in the ‘Any car over £400 which is owned and driven by a lady category’. Along with Hall Caine and the MacDonalds, she watched the Schneider Trophy Race on 7 September from the yacht Ianara owned by LieutenantCommander Montague Grahame-White, who was also a keen rally competitor.

Two years earlier, the Women’s Automobile Sports Association (WASA) was formed and Paddy became a member. However, it was not until the 4 October, 1929 that WASA held its first big event. This was a night running of the Middlesex Car Club’s Exeter Trial route. It was 300 miles long and included three observed sections comprising two hill climbs and a starting and stopping test. Thirty-eight cars took part, 17 of which were all-female crews. The drivers included Paddy in her Ballot which came complete with a cocktail bar and she was accompanied by one of her sisters.

On the 23 January, 1930 Paddy created a stir in Fleet Street by demonstrating a fire escape system. It consisted of a canvas seat attached to a 90ft length of steel cable which was slowly but constantly fed out of a mechanism, gently lowering the escapee to the ground. At the same time through her MacDonald connection, she started work as a part time chauffeuse for government ministers. In May, she drove the Vice-Chamberlain and the Comptroller of the Royal Household to Buckingham Palace, and in return the Chamberlain presented her with a silver horseshoe for good luck as she would be taking part in WASA’s London to Land’s End Trial over that weekend. The London participants departed from Slough and Paddy told the press: ‘This going to be a great event. We are going to show the men what we can do.’

Later that year, she competed in the Brighton and Hove Motor Club’s John O’Groats to Brighton Rally on 28 June to 1 July. Paddy had changed her motoring allegiance from Ballot to Standard and used a Sportsman Saloon. The next day she entered the car in the Concours d’Elegance and gained a prize in Class 6 for cars under £500. In the same year she performed in the film A Tale of Two Cities playing a character called Lucy Manette. Then, on the

Paddy on the campaign trail with members of the Women’s Automobile Sports Association in 1931.

The Standard Avon coupe that Paddy used to good effect in road rallies. This was just after she had won the Ladies Cup in the Ulster Motor Rally in 1931.

27 September, she and one of her sisters entered the London to Lands End Rally driving Paddy’s Standard Tourist Coupe.

Becoming a stunt woman

As 1931 started, Paddy appeared in a film called The London Melody and, attracted by her fame and abilities as a demonstrator, the makers of Nuswift fire extinguishers hired her during January 1931. She put on a series of very dramatic demonstrations using both her own car and an Austin, which involved putting out engine fires in both cars. During the 10-week tour, she apparently did this about 25 times. In February, her film roles changed and she became a stunt woman in the Warner Brothers’ film Long Live the King. Her particular stunt involved falling out of a moving car, running after it, then cart wheeling over the back of the car into the driver’s seat.

In April 1931, she and Derwent Hall Caine again joined the MacDonald’s on their golfing holiday at Spey Bay in Scotland. The following month, a minor disaster occurred when she lost her pet dog Binkie, a wirehaired terrier. She told the Lincolnshire Echo

she was about to set out on a 2000-mile tour of England to look for it. It was said Binkie was something of a hero because he had saved a man from drowning by attracting the attention of people in a nearby field. This was after he had made an attempt to rescue the man himself.

In June, Paddy entered another WASA event. This midnight run started at Virginia Water in Surrey and ended in Westward Ho, Devon. It was about now she made one of her more notorious comments, namely ‘Men don’t know how to keep their motor cars clean and lovely.’ The next rally in mid-August was an altogether larger affair as it was the first Ulster Rally, which was a very demanding event that Paddy used a Standard Avon for. The entrants had to drive day and night over 500 miles and arrive in Bangor, Northern Ireland at 3.30pm. Paddy drove all the way herself, though she was accompanied by her brother. She declared: ‘It’s going to be great fun. I shall go from Dover and the prospect of driving rigorously to a schedule alone all night does not dismay me in the least. A more difficult rally has never been held before as we must keep to a 24mph time

schedule for the whole way without being more than 30 seconds out at any check point if we are we not to lose marks and any chance of an award. Yet the women drivers welcome the stringency. It will give us a chance to compete side by side with men and setting by the heels the bogey of women’s faulty driving.’

Paddy ended up winning the Ladies’ Cup and the next day took part in the Concours d’Elegance, where she came first in the Class 2 for cars under 10hp and second overall. Her car was painted yellow with the chassis, wings and upholstery in green. She wore a matching frock of yellow broderie, a yellow raincoat with applications of green. Her long boots were of silver to match the tyres of her car.

The next rally was on 18 September, 1931. The 300-mile Peaks and Lakes Trial to the Lake District looked like it would be far less challenging, but as it turned out it was just as demanding but in a different way. It was the weather that provided the challenge and 30 women entered, but in the end the weather whittled it down to only 11 starters. The demanding Park Rash hill climb was only completed by Paddy and

At Brooklands in 1937, Paddy in the centre takes a stroll with some of her fellow female competitors.

three others. Her brother Desmond said that during the climb they were ‘bumped and bored, swung from side to side and did everything but aerobatics.’ Amazingly, throughout the trial she had lost no marks and was one of only two drivers to gain a Gold Medal. Then, on the 17 October, Brooklands ran an event to coincide with that year’s Motor Show where Paddy participated alongside many other notable lady drivers of the day.

October saw the run up to the General Election and Paddy reprised her role as transport organiser for Ramsay MacDonald’s National Party. It was claimed she assembled and controlled 42 aeroplanes, 612 cars and 12 speed boats, all at the disposal of the party’s candidates. She often used her contacts in WASA to do this. Paddy was by then deep into politics and had become the president of the South Tottenham women’s branch of the Labour Party, making her one of the youngest members to hold such office.

Probably because she was a well-known driver, she became involved in a stunt organised by novelist Barbara Cartland. It was said that during one of Cartland’s house parties, a male guest made a remark along the lines that for all their recent publicity women drivers lacked the skill of their male counterparts. Cartland decided to set up a demonstration that proved otherwise. She called it a ‘practical solution’ to the question ‘do women drive motor-cars with as much skill as men?’

Cartland persuaded a group of 10 society ladies to take part in the event to show off their driving skills. It would take place at Brooklands during the closed season and be filmed by Movietone News, and the film can be watched on YouTube. During the event, the women proved themselves fearless. Princess Imeretinsky misjudged the corner near the Fork and ended up doing a 180-degree skid. However, both she and her passenger Lady de Clifford were thrilled by the incident and on arrival at the finishing post the princess shouted: ‘Did you see that delicious skid we had? We turned round twice.’ Her passenger is reported to have added the spin was ‘too, too marvellous my dear!’

Paddy crossed the line first. However, this was a handicap race, which seemed to be worked out on social standing rather than motoring ability. So, the princess was declared the winner, second came the Hon. Mrs Joan Chetwynd and third was Paddy. All seemed well until the December edition of The Motor was printed and exposed the whole thing as a staged event. This caused great embarrassment among the serious

female racing drivers and did Paddy’s credibility no good.

Rallying

On 1-5 March, 1932 she and two of her sisters took part in the first RAC Rally to Torquay, driving a Standard Avon saloon. During the event, they suffered a bad accident when speeding along the Camberley Road they hit an icy patch that caused their car to ‘charge the hedge and turn over, trapping her and her two sisters inside. Earl Howe came to their rescue, they were bruised and shaken but otherwise fine.’ However, both front wings and an axle were very bent. Even so, in this much damaged car now minus a wing and with two wobbly wheels, they managed to stagger into Torquay.

Despite the accident, they still entered the Concours d’Elegance and overnight they obtained two new wings and their mechanics put in a lot of work. The next

day, they won the Coachwork Competition for Occasional four-seaters and two-door sports saloons in the 1100cc category. Although the car was small, it was fitted with a wash basin and small dining table.

In July 1932, Paddy became one of the founding members of The Stage and Film Aero Club and she served on its committee. Its home airfield would be Heston and the club’s first event was a Garden Party on Sunday 24 July. Paddy made her first solo flight shortly after on the 7 August, 1932.

Back at Brooklands on the 10 September, Paddy won a three-lap Ladies Handicap driving a supercharged Salmson at 86.30mph. Elsie Wisdom had lapped at 113.97mph in a LeylandThomas, but her race handicap was so great it put her out of contention.

Read Part 2 of Paddy Naismith’s story in the next issue of the Bulletin.

Getting ready for the start of the 1933 RAC Rally. Paddy contested this event with her sisters Jill and Sheila.’ to: Getting ready for the start of the 1933 RAC Rally. Paddy contested the event with sisters Jill and Sheila.

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DUST TO DUST

For a brief period, Brooklands hosted important trials to find ways for cars to reduce the amount of dust produced by their tyres.

Words: Tim Morris Photos: Brooklands Museum Collection

Dust was a major problem for the new-fangled motor car in the early 1900s. As well as the vehicle’s occupants, it affected non-motoring members of the public who complained about the amount of dust that coated clean washing and passers-by alike. Most roads outside of towns and cities were unmade and not intended for motor cars, and the car was seen by the general public as no more than ‘an ingenious device for public slaughter’. In 1903, Punch magazine asked in a short poem:

‘Who flies before the oily gust Wafted his way through whirling dust, And hopes the beastly thing will bust?

Answer: The pedestrian.’

So it was that the RAC held Dust Trials, one of which took place on the new Motor Course at Brooklands on 2 July, 1907 and another the following year on the 20 July. The 1907 Dust Trials were only the fourth event to be held at the newly opened Motor Course, a place that could provide the required dusty surface in controlled conditions. It would prove an early

introduction to Brooklands being used by motor manufacturers to test their vehicles and products.

The aim of the trials was to produce a motor car that produced practically no dust as it passed by in order to remove this particular aspect of the public’s opposition to motoring. In order to conduct the test, a 200 x 10-foot wide dust track surfaced with fine limestone dust and loose leaves was constructed at the top of the Finishing Straight. Cars would travel along at least 100-feet of this track at a steady speed

of 20mph and then 30mph, the speed regulated by string with pieces of ribbon tied to it at intervals and run on an endless loop. Cars would travel adjacent to a piece of ribbon and not pass it thus keeping the speed constant and any car seen travelling lower than the moving cord would be disqualified.

As befitting Brooklands, the RAC made the trials into a competition with three classes relating largely to the tyres used. Class 1 was for standard cars fitted with ordinary pneumatic tyres; Class 2 for those entered privately but with tyres regularly used on the road; Class 3 was for experimental vehicles fitted with a device or alteration to reduce the amount of dust. A description of the device had to be provided prior to the trial and the results of any tests already made included in the entry.

Forty-six cars took part in the trials and the most interesting were undoubtedly those in Class 3 that had been specially modified. They included such strange things as solid rubber tyres working on hollow rubber rings and pneumatic disc wheels that had an interior filled with

compressed air as well as an assortment of dust guards, undershields and fenders.

The 1907 Dust Trials were won by Frederick Coleman in a White Steamer, with Edmund Gascoigne runner-up in a Wilson-Pilcher petrol car. Dermot Mooney won Class 2 in a Stanley Steamer. In the experimental Class 3, special awards of merit were given to a Vivinus fitted with an undershield and a Dennis with disc wheels and undershield tapering upwards to the end of the frame.

Frederick Abernethy Coleman was an American who joined White Steam Cars in 1903 and became a member of the Society of Motor Manufacturers in 1906 but resigned three years later. He lived in Hampstead with his wife Lois, also a US citizen.

Edmund Gascoigne was born in Maidstone and joined the Anglo-French Motor Carriage Company in 1896. He was a motor engineer and employer who lived with his fashion designer wife Susannah and their two daughters in Paddington. Ten years later he worked for Armstrong Whitworth. Interestingly, the car he was driving was built by Wilson-Pilcher which started making automobiles in London in 1901. Walter Wilson set up the company after his business partner Percy Pilcher died in a gliding accident in 1899. At the time, they were on the verge of manned powered flight and had an aircraft and engine almost ready to fly some nine years before AV Roe was experimenting with powered flight at Brooklands. The automobile company was taken over by Armstrong Whitworth in 1904 and production moved to Newcastle, which may be why he was driving such a car in the trials.

Another unusual model of car was the Vivinus, which was awarded a special merit

having been fitted with an undershield and boots behind each wheel. They were originally made by Ateliers Vivinus SA in Brussels from 1899. Alexis Vivinus, as many other manufacturers did, originally made and sold bicycles but from 1895 began to make his own cars, eventually leading to the larger shaft-driven four-cylinder models seen at Brooklands in 1908. Despite the award at Brooklands, four years later the company went into liquidation and Vivinus himself moved to Minerva.

The Dust Trials were held the following year at Brooklands on 20 July, 1908, but a certain type of vehicle was banned from taking part in that year’s event as they ‘showed such good results for dustlessness’ the previous year. Surprisingly, these were the steam cars, but they were still allowed to compete hors concours and be included with the other petrol-powered cars as ‘they had already proved their capacity not to produce dust and so should still be in the public eye’. The Engineer magazine bemoaned the fact that one car was not used to run the course with different makes of tyre saying that ‘it would be interesting to see the different merits of round and square treads and the exact relation of the size of tyres to the amount of dust raised.’ The 1908 trial was the last time such an event would be run at Brooklands.

The Brooklands banking can be clearly seen in the background, while the car in front has disc wheels and extended wings to contain dust.

The tapering undershield and ducts can be clearly seen behind the front wheels of this entrant in the Dust Trials run at Brooklands.

Solid disc wheels were used by some competitors in the Dust Trials to reduce the amount of dirt blown around by spoked wheels.

ABC IN THREE

Jack Emerson on the 399cc ABC he rode in the 1920 Victory Handicap race at Brooklands

Idescribed Jack Emerson’s epic tortoise and hare race in the Victory Handicap on 10 April, 1920. The winning machine became the basis for ABC’s first post-war offering to the public. An example of this motorcycle can be found in the Clubhouse at Brooklands.

During 2015, the engine was being rebuilt and while it was on the bench several people remarked that it looked

Words: Martin Gegg Photos: Brooklands Museum Collection

like an early aero engine. They are not far wrong as Bradshaw was collaborating with Sopwith designing and making aircraft engines during WW1. This engine owes much to its aero cousins in the form of lightweight components and relative simplicity. For the members of the Motorcycle Team who maintain the bike, it continues to reveal some of the eccentric brilliance of Bradshaw.

This motorcycle, together with the little ABC Skootamota and the Zenith Gradua, represents the heritage of ABC which along with Bradshaw played a significant part in the engineering legacy of Brooklands.

The story of ABC starts in 1912 when Ronald Louis Charteris, a pioneer aviator founded the All British Engine Company. This company was born out of a collaboration with Walter Lawson Adams, a Southampton-based manufacturer of marine engines. A 21-year old Granville Bradshaw joined the company as a designer, co-incidentally their last name initials then spelt ABC, and they designed and built aircraft engines which were tested on a vehicle named the Wind Bus that can be seen in some early photographs of the site.

The new company was based within

the Brooklands Circuit and was neighbours with aircraft manufacturers and race tuners. Very soon, Bradshaw was asked to design some improved parts for Les Bailey’s Douglas motorcycle. Bradshaw helped him take two 350cc records and win the 150mile Junior TT in 1912.

By 1913, ABC had manufactured a 500cc motorcycle engine and collaborated with the Collier Brothers of Matchless and Frederick Barnes at Zenith who were asked to design frames. This was to spark a long friendship and collaboration between Brooklands neighbours Barnes and Bradshaw, later resulting in the 1922 Zenith Gradua which sits in the Clubhouse and is powered by a Bradshaw-designed oil-cooled engine.

ABC began building bikes in relatively large numbers and in 1914 the company separated its aviation business, with the motorcycle division being renamed ABC Road Motors (1914). This was a pivotal moment for many manufacturers as they moved to support the War Office after August 1914. ABC had already begun the move from Brooklands to a new location in Hersham before the Royal Flying Corps had forced the relocation of all Brooklands-

Earlier this year we described how Jack Emmerson won the first race back at Brooklands after World War One on an ABC. Martin Gegg looks at the history of ABC through three of the motorcycles in the Museum Collection.

The 1921 ABC Sopwith has an integral four-speed gearbox, which was very unusual for the period.

ABC’s first motor vehicle was the 1919 Skootamota pioneered by Gilbert Campling. Granville Bradshaw was initially opposed to it, but later claimed he invented the scooter when it found sales success.

based companies during the first week of August. They were able to continue making motorcycles until 1916 while Bradshaw concentrated on designing aero engines and auxiliary motors for pumps and generators. Bradshaw’s insatiable appetite for innovation did not stop him working on improvements to the motorcycle and in 1916 he had developed a 2½ hp model with a leaf-sprung front

suspension powered by a 250cc ABC Firefly generator engine.

A consignment of 3hp machines was also manufactured for the Egyptian Government. However, the ship was sunk before reaching its destination, with the loss of all motorcycles.

The first motor vehicle built by ABC in Hersham after WW1 was the 1919

Skootamota. The driving force behind this was Gilbert Campling. It used half of a miniature flat-twin engine designed by Bradshaw and built in numbers for the Air Ministry. Bradshaw is quoted as being opposed to the project, but happily claimed to have invented ‘the scooter’ when it became a success. Production moved a few months later to other premises, with around 3200 Skootamotas having been sold by 1922. The Museum’s example is one of the updated models with overhead valves.

Ten days after armistice in 1918, Bradshaw registered the design of a completely new motorcycle. Legend has it that Bradshaw designed and built the prototype in 11 days following a wager with Tom Sopwith. The example at Brooklands is from the original production run by Sopwith in 1920. The 398cc overhead valve flat-twin includes an integral four-speed gearbox, which is another innovation that would not be seen in common use until at least 20 years later. The machine also features a duplex loop frame with leaf springs front and rear, electric lighting and functional drum brakes, and it was hailed at the time as one of the most advanced motorcycles. However, the rapid development had a price, when technical faults in the

The Skootamota’s 125cc single-cylinder engine is effectively half of a flat-twin designed by Bradshaw and mounted directly over the rear wheel.

The Zenith Gradua was the result of a collaboration between Bradshaw and Frederick Barnes, whose firms were neighbours at Brooklands.

Into the future

Brooklands was a melting pot of engineering innovation. Competition in the marketplace, in the air and on the racetrack stimulated innovation and engineering excellence. Individuals and companies working in close proximity were easily able to collaborate officially and unofficially to drive forward the joint understanding of their industries. This thirst for excellence continues today as we reach out beyond the sky into space, and on the racetrack as we look beyond fossil fuels to the challenges

machine came to haunt them. None were insurmountable, but Bradshaw had already moved on to other projects. This included designing a range of innovative oil-cooled engines, one of which can be seen in the Brooklands Zenith Gradua.

ABC entered a somewhat chaotic period. Despite its innovative design, high production costs made the motorcycle unsustainable. Following a restructuring of the company, the aircraft part of the business came under newly formed Hawker Engineering, a company set up following the demise of Sopwith Aviation.

Meanwhile, the Skootamota, oil-cooled engines and 398cc model generated a profit under licencing agreements, the latter being made in France by Gnome et Rhône. ABC then moved into production of cars as well as motorcycles while continuing with the manufacture of aircraft. This carried on until Vickers acquired all the share capital in 1955. Manufacturing at the Hersham site under the ABC Motors brand was continued by Vickers right up to 1970 when the manufacturing was moved to its Crayford plant.

The site which originally encompassed Hersham Lodge, a 19th century mansion, remained as an industrial site until August 2016 when the buildings were demolished to make way for a supermarket.

of the future. Such clusters of innovation and engineering excellence can still be found in Surrey such as satellite companies around Guildford University’s Surrey Space Centre, The McLaren Group and a host of specialist engineering companies such as T&G Engineering in West Byfleet all building on the legacy of Brooklands. The Museum continues to build on this legacy by inspiring people to shape their future through inventiveness expertise and a sense of adventure.

A flat-twin engine designed by Bradshaw and producing 3½hp propels the Zenith Gradua. It uses oil cooling, which was advanced for the period.

ABC Motors continued production at its Hersham site until 1970 and the buildings were then demolished in 2016 to make way for a supermarket development.

The McLaren Technology Centre continues the search for new ideas and innovation that began at Brooklands.

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Behind

members’ matters

by Tim Morris

Virtual life

During lockdown, the Members’ team and the Museum have increased the amount of social media content available to you as a Member. We have presented a good number of shows using mainly Facebook, which have included Supercar Sunday and the Double Twelve. We also linked up with the Motorcycle Team to present two days’ worth of content on the BM.tv YouTube channel consisting of four sessions, each between two or three hours long.

This was a new way to present an event, in this case the Motorcycle Show, as social media tends towards brief messages, but judging by the statistics it does seem to have been very popular.

The other events have used shorter posts, ranging from archive footage to spot the difference competitions. We have also been making good use of our own archive talks events, which have been recorded and broadcast previously, and have linked them to events with suitable themes.

Members’ Classic Car Show

The Members’ own Classic Car and Bike Show Jumble at the end of July was a great success. For this event, we invited Members to post pictures of their classic vehicles and they would then be judged in the same categories as the normal physical show in previous years.

We were delighted with the number of entries and it was a difficult job picking winners and runners-up in all of the categories. One class was for Japanese vehicles and we had planned to make those the Paddock focus of this year’s show. We couldn’t do that in 2020, but the online version produced an interesting

winner in Andy Warne’s 1992 Autozam AZ1 - a vehicle so unusual that we had to look it up. It turns out to be a Mazdaproduced Kei class sports car with a 657cc Suzuki engine and gullwing doors

Further mentions must go to Su Schofield who showed us her most unusual Mini Clubman Hearse to top the Modified Class. Quentin Stacey won the Pre-war Class with his 1935 Riley Falcon 12/4 which is largely unrestored and is in superb original condition.

Mel Spear scooped the ‘Boomers’ Class with his blue 1964 Porsche 356 with an unusual angle. Topping the Moderns Class

was William Haseldine and his 1982 Citroen Dyane 6 which looks as if it is moving despite being stock still. William said: ‘No 50kg bag of potatoes or basket of eggs were harmed in the taking of the photo!’

Chris Powell with his 1956 Royal Enfield 700 Super Meteor which was, indeed, super won the Motorcycles Class, while Kevin Webb topped everyone with his 1965 Morris Mini Minor and his name has been inscribed on to the Car of the Show trophy in the Members Bar.

Winners and runners-up

Car of the Show

Kevin Webb - 1965 Morris Mini Minor

Japanese

1 Andy Warne - 1992 Autozam AZ1

2 Tarquin Stockwell - Nissan Elgrand Highway Star 4WD

Modified

1 Su Schofield - Mini Clubman Hearse

2 Jack Hathaway - MG Midget 1500

Motorcycles

1 Chris Powell - 1956 Royal Enfield 700

Super Meteor

2 Andy Faima - 1954 Matchless G9

Moderns

1 William Haseldine - 1982 Citroen Dyane 6

2 Jeff Craske - 1989 Reliant Scimitar SS1

Boomers

1 Mel Spear - 1964 Porsche 356

2 Alan Bradley - 1972 MGB Roadster

Pre-war

1 Quentin Spacey - 1935 Riley Falcon 12/4

2 Nick Somerville - 1934 Alvis Silver Eagle

Kevin Webb’s immaculate 1965 Morris Minor charmed everyone to win Car of the Show and have his name added to the trophy

Andy Warne’s unusual Autozam AZ1 is a tiny Japanese Kei car built by Mazda, complete with lift-up gullwing door.

An unusual angle helped this photo of Mel Spear’s perfectly presented 1964 Porsche 356 win the Boomers Class.

My favourite… car

The Aston Martin ‘Razorblade’ is one of the best known cars in the Brooklands Museum collection. Gareth Tarr explains why it’s also his favourite.

Photos: Brooklands Museum Collection/Gareth Tarr

As youngsters when we visited my mother’s family in Yorkshire, my brother and I always preferred to return over the Pennines via Meltham so we could go past the David Brown tractor factory. I love Bond films, Thunderball being the second film I ever saw, and I also have an eye for things that are a bit quirky. So, when asked to name my favourite car in the Brooklands Museum, it had to be the 1923 Aston Martin ‘Razorblade’.

Razorblade was designed for one specific purpose: to break the Light Car (1500cc) hour record and Brooklands was the place to achieve this. At the time, the record was 101.39mph, set by JA Joyce in an AC in December 1922. Razorblade is powered by a 1486cc four-cylinder 16-valve engine from one of the Aston Martins that had run in the 1922 French Grand Prix at

Strasburg, but what makes it so distinctive is the narrow body and chassis. The front track is 4ft wide with a simple axle and no brakes. Its chassis narrows towards the rear so the rear track is only 3ft and there is no differential. The car has a short narrow radiator with horizontal shutters that can be adjusted from within the cockpit to alter the airflow and the narrow frontal view is said to have inspired the BRDC badge.

The bodywork was manufactured by the de Havilland Aeroplane company and has a maximum width of only 18.5 inches. A canopy had been designed that would cover the driver, hence the original nickname of ‘Oyster’, but this was discarded as it was feared that fumes might infiltrate the cockpit and overcome the driver during a one hour run. Instead, there was a fairing behind the driver’s head.

Razorblade made its debut at Brooklands

at the 1923 Midsummer meeting driven by Major FB Halford in the 90mph Short Handicap. Although it proved capable of running at over 100mph, stability was not Razorblade’s strength and attempts at the one-hour record were to prove fruitless. It tended to blow a front offside tyre and twice broke a torque tube.

Not all was lost as Razorblade achieved a standing start kilometre record of 66.54mph and a standing start mile record of 74.12mph. The car was also to have some racing success at Brooklands. Between 1923 and 1925, Razorblade achieved two first places, five seconds finishes and one third driven by several well-known drivers including Frank Halford, George Eyston, Bertie Kensington-Moir, Sammy Davis, Humphrey Cook, and Captain JC Douglas.

Over the years, Razorblade was modified with a change of body at one stage, although it is now back in original specification. It competed regularly in the 1930s and ’50s winning the prestigious Aston Martin Owners’ Club St John Horsfall Trophy on one occasion. It spent 25 years in the Harrah Collection in the USA before returning to the UK in 1986. Since then, it has been active two or three times a year in sprints and hillclimbs such as the VSCC, Brooklands and Goodwood meetings. Today, Razorblade is on regular display at Brooklands Museum courtesy of owner James Cheyne.

Tell us about your favourite Brooklands exhibit or object by getting in touch with the Editor at: brooklandsbulletineditor@gmail.com

Motorcycle Team’s Castle Combe-back

June was a hot, dry month. The first week of July was too, but on Wednesday 8 July it rained, and it rained and then it rained a bit more. This was the day the Brooklands Motorcycle Team arrived at Castle Combe for its motorcycle track day delayed from March. The original date was a victim of the lockdown and it looked as if we would have to wait until next year to enjoy the vagaries of the Castle Combe weather. However, early in the release of lockdown, John Bottomley picked up the news that Castle Combe was restarting track days with limited numbers, conforming to both ACU (Auto Cycle Union) and Government Covid guidelines.

John was quickly able to recruit the 12 riders necessary to make a group entry. He was very grateful to be able make use of the good relations with the circuit management established over the years by the Brooklands Members. The track day was on again.

A distinct section of the paddock was established with a large Brooklands Museum sign and a pull-up banner promoting the Motorcycle Team Volunteers. Although the event was for riders and helpers only with no spectators allowed, other riders and visitors came to show an interest. One independent rider recognised a friend among our team and asked if he could join in ‘our’ sessions.

Regular members of the Brooklands team were joined by some of our usual ‘outside’ supporting riders. Between them, they fielded 13 race bikes as some riders had brought two bikes. All the bikes were privately owned and none of the Museum bikes were used.

The two morning sessions were very wet and the riding was suitably cautious, but after lunch the rain stopped and the track dried out quite a lot, so the afternoon session was much more enjoyable. After so many weeks and months of Covid misery and restrictions, it was a delight to meet up with friends from far and wide to enjoy what we all decided was the nearest to a normal day out that we could remember for a long time.

As a mark of their appreciation for the day, the riders joined in a collective donation to the Museum and a cheque for £110 was duly handed over. A DVD of the day is in production and it’s hoped it will feature on Brooklands Members TV in the next few weeks, so keep your eyes on BM.tv. The rain may have been miserable, but you will love the noise on the film as much as we did at the track. For the Motorcycle Team it was not just a comeback, it was a Castle Combe-back. The track and its helpers enjoyed our presence as we provided a unique spectacle far different to the less characterful modern machines.

Michael Sands

The Brooklands corner of the paddock provided much-needed protection from the weather in the morning.

The Wade Triumph leads another of the Brooklands Motorcycle Team around a very wet Castle Combe track.

The Brooklands corner of the paddock provided much-needed protection from the torrential wet weather in the morning.

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Coatalen unravelled

Grand Prix racing in the second half of the Twentieth Century was dominated by British teams led by the likes of Lotus’ Colin Chapman and Ron Dennis of McLaren. In the first half of the century, another British combination challenged at the top level of motor sport and the story of Sunbeam and Louis Coatalen is the subject of a new biography by Oliver Heal. The author is married to Annik, granddaughter of Louis Coatalen, and his father Anthony was a keen Sunbeam historian who wrote the definitive book on the marque’s racing history, so Heal is uniquely placed to write the biography of the great Sunbeam designer and team manager.

Louis Hervé Coatalen was born in 1879 in Concarneau and moved to England in 1902. He joined Humber, where he designed several successful cars, before moving to Hillman and finally Sunbeam in 1909. He explained that he moved to England as the motor industry was less advanced than in France and therefore the opportunities greater.

Coatalen made his Brooklands debut in 1910 running the strange looking Nautilus. There followed a series of specials called Toodles, the nickname of his second wife Olive Bath who was the daughter of one of the Sunbeam directors. The company ran an increasingly successful racing programme, culminating in Kenelm Lee Guinness winning the 1914 TT. The Sunbeam cars of 1914 owed much to the successful Peugeots of the previous year. The story of how Coatalen got his hands on one of the 1913 French racing cars is shrouded in mystery but the incident showed how unscrupulous Louis could be in achieving his objectives. He was to pull a similar stunt nine years later when he coaxed engineer Vincenzo Bertarione from Fiat to design the 1923 Grand Prix cars. Some might think this a specialist biography but the topic matter is much wider, covering the motor racing scene either side of WWI,

Veteran fun

History teaches us that there is little new and Steve Lanham’s Veteran Motor Cars amply demonstrates this. At a time when electric vehicles are very much to the fore, Lanham’s brief but insightful overview of the development of early motor cars charts the rise of petrol, steam and, yes, electric cars, why internal combustion engines gained a lead and how diverse the embryonic automotive industry was.

While not as comprehensive as David Scott-Moncrieff’s out of print Veteran and Edwardian Motor Cars, Lanham’s 66-page book is an ideal introduction to the topic for anyone interested in the period when Brooklands was being built. It ably covers the major names and some lesser players that influenced the way the car evolved into a more recognisable form by the time Brooklands opened its gates to competition.

particularly Sunbeam. Throughout, there are ‘Personal Life’ sections covering Cotalen’s marriages and family. The narrative is supported by photographs that are mostly from the family archives and previously unpublished. Those photographs go some way to justifying the £40 price, which is reasonable for a book of this size and quality.

Publishing: ISBN 978-1-91269-069-5

Lanham’s obvious enthusiasm and knowledge for the period shines through and is also evident in the chapters devoted to accessories for early motorists, competition and promotion, and also the Emancipation Run that became the London to Brighton Run.

Every chapter has plenty of images to accompany the text, making it an easy book to digest. Keen students of the period may find Veteran Motor Cars a little light on content, but Lanham makes no claim to it being a comprehensive tome. Instead, it’s an engaging and enjoyable dip into the dawn of the motor car.

Alisdair Suttie

Louis Coatalen – Engineering Impresario of Humber, Sunbeam, Talbot and Darracq by Oliver Heal is priced £40. Published by Unicorn

Veteran Motor Cars by Steve Lanham is priced £8.99. Published by Shire Books: ISBN 978-1-78442-420-6

Gareth Tarr

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The Ford Room at Brooklands is easy to overlook as you head towards the Members’ Bar. Yet this is a compact room that houses a big wooden slice of history in the shape of the boardroom table. It once graced the London headquarters of the Ford Motor Company Ltd, the British offshoot of the US giant.

Among the long list of famous and important names of those who would have sat around this table is Sir Malcolm Campbell. By the time the table was installed in the 88 Regent Street office in 1934, Campbell was already a director of Lincoln Cars, the luxury brand of Ford which was being imported to the UK in both running chassis and fully bodied forms.

Another illustrious name to sit at this table was none other than Henry Ford himself, who set up the British division with Campbell, JT

Parking arrangements

Davies, Roland Kitson, Lord Illingworth and Sir Percival Perry among others. He negotiated the deal with Sir Perry to set up the new company and its factory to the east in Dagenham. Perry proved to be a tough businessman and also adept at keeping the company’s tax bill as low as possible.

Campbell’s influence would have helped when organising the all-Ford Gala Day at Brooklands in 1939. Part festival and motorshow, this event attracted an estimated 30,000 visitors and blocked all routes to the track.

Please note that for all events marked ‘Parking in The Heights’, designated vehicles only can enter via the Campbell Gate, off Brookland’s Road. All other Members including Club level and visitors please park in The Heights or main public car park unless otherwise specified.

Parking arrnagements for other weekend events are:

All of these discussions would have been conducted at some point around the table that now sits in the Ford Room.

Club level Members: entry via Campbell Gate and parking outside the Paddock. Period and classic vehicles only inside the Paddock by invitation. Please abide by staff directions.

All other Members and visitors: entry via main public entrance off Brooklands Drive.

This issue of the Brooklands Bulletin (incorporating The Spirit) is published on behalf of Brooklands Members, supporters of Brooklands Museum Trust Ltd, by Hine Marketing, Hill Farm Studios, Wainlodes Lane, Bishops Norton, Gloucestershire GL2 9LN. The statements and opinions expressed in the Bulletin are not necessarily those of the Brooklands Members’ Committee or Brooklands Museum Trust Ltd.

While every effort has been made by the Publishers to include correct information, they are unable to accept responsibility for errors or omissions. The Publishers, Brooklands Members and Brooklands Museum Trust Limited cannot accept responsibility in the event of misinformation or lack of source relating to images supplied by a third party by electronic or other means.

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