AC Owners Club Forum
AC Owners Club Forum => Vintage, PVT & 2 Litre Forum => Topic started by: jonto on February 16, 2016, 12:35:50
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Does anyone have any information on this car-
Three were built for RAC Lightcar TT for 1500cc cars 1914, this race in the end was not run due to the outbreak of war. The car was described as being distinctly crab tracked, very wide at the front and narrow at the back. Suggesting there was much difference from standard catalog specs.
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There seems very little written about these cars. Here’s two more photos of one of the cars, on trade plates, at Brooklands. The photos are from Sammy Davis’ diaries – ‘My lifetime in Motorsport’ – S C H ‘Sammy’ Davis (Heilbron). I think the engine was an Anzani (note the ‘low’ exhaust), and not a converted Fivet, the make being used in the production cars (and they weren't 1500cc anyway) – it may have been AC’s first use of Anzani engines. Note the primitive tyres, yet these are pneumatic as valves can be seen on the sideways shot.
(http://www.seabirding.co.uk/images/1ACSmall.jpg)
(http://www.seabirding.co.uk/images/2ACSmall.jpg)
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"Thus, directly through trials, I at last attained to my first road racing , car, An AC, one of three which S.C. Westall, A. Noble and
myself were to handle, though coming events, had we known it, were to cut short our hopes. Certaily that car looked odd, though never
for a moment would we admit it.The front wheels were well out on a wide front axle, the rear wheels close in on a much narrower axle;
the machine, in other words, was crab tracked. In front was a high radiator, quite unlike that of the conventional AC., which other details of the chassis closely followed; but there was a streamline tail in which sat the the fuel tank, the handle of a big air pump stuck out from the instrument board invitingly.
We watched the beginnings of these cars every minute that could be spared, we fretted when the Calthorpes of more normal design were on the road long before our machines were recognizable, and then one day the first car stood in the works, run in , so they said, and ready for test. Anyhow, it made a most satisfactory noise, so Westall and I, narrowly missing the door doorposts to show the necessary dash, went off to the track. Alas, our much desired car seemed deader than the proverbial mutton, slower than the ordinary sports models. One or two tentative experiments revealed a considerable weakness in the brakes and a black moment, a burst at full throttle completely eliminated a big end bearing. Terribly chastened we took the car back, to be assured that all would yet be well, though the atmosphere was critical. Then a man we had never heard of shot another man in a country......" (S.C.H. Davies. Motor Racing. 1931).
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The tyres would be high pressure beaded edge, running at about 60psi, the pressure holding the tyre beads in the rolled over rim edges. They were normal equipment until superseded by the straight sided tyres and rims around 1923. Solid tyres went out of favor in the 1890's except for commercial use.
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The French built Fivet engine had a fixed head and integral exhaust gallery, the exhaust pipe bolting to a flange at the rear of the block, so I guess that rules out an overbored Fivet engine in the 1914 TT car.
The four cylinder side valve Anzani engine was not around in 1914, Gustave Maclure the designer putting pen to paper after the armistice when the aero engine contracts were cancelled. There might be a description of the 1914 TT car in the contemporary press.
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The plot thickens....I'm now curious which engine was used, and to which manufacturer AC turned?
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I think the Fivet engine in the 10hp cars was 1096cc, I understood that the 12hp cars of 1327cc were also using the Fivet engine, presumeably bored and/or stroked. I don't know enough about the Fivet engine, but perhaps they were able to bore it out that little bit more? As the racing was always a means to advertise, I would have thought it unlikely that they would have used a different manufacturer than that used in the standard cars.
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I also suspect it was a Fivet of some description having just looked at the little 1952 book "history of AC cars" which covers this car in Chapter 5 and comments on it running the 4 big ends.Chapters 2&3 discuss the Fivet engine and it having to be sourced out of the UK as no suitable engines were available in the UK and the switch from cone clutch to Disc and later (1919?) on to using Anzani engines.
Chapter 6 covers the 100miles within the hour run at Brooklands in a 1.5litre in 1922.
Regarding the exit of the exhaust,is there not two pipes coming out of the bonnet near side? I would not put it past them having and exhaust exit front & rear to improve performance. The bonnet of the 1914 car is much longer than the fivet shot above so perhaps this could be accommodated.
A 1924 swift I had came with 3 Swift engines all from 1924/5 and each had a different exhaust exit (on front cast in,one rear cast in and one down as a bolt on manifold)
Graham
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It was common practice on early engines to take the exhaust from the rear of the engine, then by the mid 20's manufacturers tended to move the take off to the front after having set a few floor boards on fire :-)
Racing engines however tend to have horizontal takeoffs one to each cylinder and a straight pipe down the side of the car at cylinder head level.
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Intriguing - could the '100 miles in an hour' 1.5 litre engine have been a development of the engine in this 1914 racer ? Weller and A.C. had been making engines since the earliest days so why not build engines for the racers ? I agree that the low exit height of the primary exhaust pipes from the bonnet does lead to a first impression of a side valve motor, but if you look at the sump it protrudes way below the chassis so maybe the exhaust height is misleading. Could the 1914 racers have been using the first version of Weller's d.o.h.c. 1.5 litre four cylinder. Total speculation on my part with no evidence.....
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Yes I agree I think the engine was a Weller design, the beginnings of the post war OHC engines. Look at the front view and you can see that the starting handle shaft is below the chassis frame in what looks to be a subframe, so the engine is mounted low in the chassis, the crankshaft below the main chassis frame. The transmission looks to be special too, narrow track, the only reason for this would be a solid diffless axle. Enlarging the side view, the rear springs appear to be angled inwards, the brakes look to be contracting band brakes, Weller was probably trying to work out how to brake the live rear axle ends.
There exists a portfolio of drawings in the Science Museum collection, its just possible there maybe something there-
http://http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/download/GB%200069%20AUTO
There could also be a description in the contemporary press, the RAC Lightcar TT would have had some coverage.
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A rare rear view of an early car, (W.J. Brunell photograph).
You can see the transmission of the 1913/14 period, with substantial cast aluminum axle tubes supporting the spring mounting and the hubs/brakes. Just a tool locker at the back, no dickey seat, I think that came along in 1921 at the beginning of the Edge period.
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A team of three cars was intended to compete in the TT, there would have been parts in various stages of completion, but it seems everything was behind and untested, its likely that only the one car was completed, its performance was poor and Weller was probably relieved when the race was cancelled. However the car would survive the war to try again....
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quote:
Originally posted by jonto
However the car would survive the war to try again..
Hi Jonto - if you are correct that the 1914 car used the Weller race engine then some serious changes subsequently took place following the war, not least (a) that Weller’s four cylinder race engines (in Hawker's early 1921 racer and also Joyce’s later ‘100 miles in an hour’ car) had the carbs on the left and the exhaust on the right side and (b) I believe these used a 1500cc wet-liner engine derived from Weller's work, after the war, on the 'Six'. Therefore, the engines would had to have been so changed/modified they might not be considered remotely the same.
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Just a new camshaft would be all that was needed to change sides on the head, a new head would be a lot more work but would have been done if thought necessary.
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A nice picture.
Lunch stop at the Royal Huts Hotel during the Autumn one Day Cyclecar Trial,October 29,1913.
To the right foreground, isn't than the rear of a Sociable? Behind perhaps a Swift, behind again a GWK, back a bit No32 a GN, No1 another Sociable, further back perhaps an AC Fivet and on the left in front of the garage definitely an AC Fivet. In the early days there were many public road events, trials and hill climbs organized by the RAC and regional clubs. Factory cars driven by works personnel were often entered posing as private entries.
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Some more thoughts on this 1914 racecar’s engine. Was it really a Weller engine?
The Autocar, Nov 1914, shows that AC offered customers both the 10 hp and 12 hp Fivet engines and ‘The Red Book’ (1920) confirms AC offered a 12 hp before the outbreak of the Great War (thus the 12hp was not only post-war as has been suggested elsewhere). Before the war, only the Fivet engine was available for the production cars and, after the war, AC again was buying Fivet engines (that company having trouble supplying demand late 1919, when AC turned to Anzani).
If Weller could design and make a race engine in 1914 then why didn’t he produce a 4-cyl. AC engine for the production line? Indeed, why would he need to turn to Anzani? Would Weller have had the staff and production facilities to build a race engine from scratch, considering the pattern making, castings and so on - just think, for example, of the forging of crank and conrods - a complex business for a one-off (or three off) racecar. Would it be feasible to be considering changing camshafts and cylinder heads for carbs and exhaust to be placed on opposite sides from one car to the next? Very complex and surely we cannot be talking of the same engines later used in the 1920 racecars.
Also, this 1914 racecar may not actually have been 1500cc as many cars, with smaller engines, entered and raced in other classes. Also, of interest, is that Fivet did make an engine (after the war at least) with a bore of 69mm = 1495cc.
The picture of the early Fivet engine in Jock Henderson’s ‘The History of AC’ is of poor quality but seems to have a different style head and may have a removable manifold (unlike production engines) – if so, then this may answer the two/four exhaust pipes in the above photos of the car?
It would be incredible if Weller had designed and built a one-off engine from scratch for the race and put this in a primitive crude car that appears quickly put together. Why wouldn’t he modify a Fivet engine that was readily available to him?
I may be completely wrong, these are just thoughts, and the answer will be to find a magazine, like ‘The Motor’ of the time, that may give more information on this little-known car and what engine was actually used.
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There's an old expression, 'cant see the wood for the trees', or is it the other way round in this case :-)
There's an important point that's being overlooked, the car was crab tracked, narrow at the rear, this makes it mechanically special indeed. In the frontal picture you can see the steering box drop arm and its forward mounting with transverse drag link, that could be an adapted production item, the six stud hubs and artillery wheels too are standard, as for the rest of it...
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The second AC race car, Harry Hawkers single seater.
This Motor Sport article is worth reading-
http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/october-1998/48/harry-hawker-aviatorracing-driver
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The following quotes are taken from-
"H. G. Hawker, airman: his life and work", Muriel Hawker 1922
this book is out of copyright and can be downloaded here-
https://archive.org/stream/hghawkerairmanhi00hawkrich/hghawkerairmanhi00hawkrich_djvu.txt
The PDF file is I think the best as you get the pictures to.
These quotes could do with dating, the narrative moves around a little covering different activities.
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The first mention of the car-
It was never amusing to be towed home by Harry, as I know
well from experience. Once at Brooklands the 6-cylinder A.C.,
then in its experimental stage, had broken something while on
the track, and Harry offered its driver, Victor Bruce, a tow home
on his own racing A.C., then fitted with a two-seater body. Just
before starting, a little delay was caused by someone taking the
passenger seat on the 6-cylinder A.C. for a lift home, which said
seat was apparently booked by another member of a little gang of
speed merchants who forgather at Brooklands, called generally
"Moir," although he has other and very nice names. The
gentleman having been placed gently but firmly on his feet by Moir,
he started to walk up the hill from the paddock towards the gate.
Harry, having tied the six-cylinder on behind with a bit of
thin string he had found lying about, we started off, accelerating
to take the hill. Halfway up, just passing the seat-usurper, to
whom Moir, standing on the seat that he could be better seen, was
bowing with that courtly manner lost to us centuries ago, the
string broke through the jerk in changing gear, and the bow had
a sudden and undignified ending. However, in a very up-to-
date manner, the gentlemen assisted in replacing him, and the rest
of the homeward journey, with the same string, only much shorter,
leaving a couple of feet between the two cars, was of sufficiently
diverting a nature to remedy any discomfort that might have been
felt from the bruises. Harry and I being very late for something
that night, we hurried, making a run home in record time, which
time I should hate to see in print.
This is followed by accounts of preps for the Atlantic attempt and the date of leaving for Newfoundland, March 28th 1919. But as I said the book is not necessarily describing events in chronological order.
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The second mention of the car is on August 2th 1920
On Monday morning I decided to go to town, praying
that something might happen to prevent his driving the car. (450hp Sunbeam).
Arriving at Surbiton, I found the only car in the garage was the
racing A.C. before it had come into fame, which I managed to
start, and arrived at Brooklands past the time of the Sunbeam's
first race. I found Harry and Mr. Coatalen beside the car, which had not
been out, as its first race had been passed over through wetness
of the track. Surprised at seeing me, Harry told me to cheer up he had had
some laps in the morning and she was running beautifully.
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The third mention of the car-
On September 4th, the date of the Junior Car Club's Autumn
Meeting, Harry, in entering an A.C. car which he had lately
acquired, was to have made his first attempt at light car racing.
His entry was received and accepted, and it was not until the
cars were lined up in the paddock prior to entering the track that
the gods that be decided not to permit him to race as the car
was not standard. The car was a new 4-cylinder overhead valve
model which the A.C. Company had made with a view to a fast
standard sports model production, and the race was for standard cars only.
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Now there is a discourse on the history of the development of Harry's AC, this comes after dealing with the liquidation of the Sopwith company and the formation of Hawker Engineering.
In the meantime Harry had been working hard at every spare
moment on his A.C., the acquisition of which is very interesting.
One day in the summer Harry went for a short run with one of
the directors of Messrs. A.C. in a new model fitted with an over- head valve engine. It was purely an experimental production,
and after the run Harry wanted to see the drawings. He immedi-
ately saw possibilities as a racing car, and then and there wantedto
buy it.
I suggest that this was probably the 1914 car unless someone can find that another ohv racing AC existed in 1919 or (very)early 1920.
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He did buy it, and then followed months of real hard
work, bringing in its wake alternate successes and disappoint-
ments. From the moment he brought the car home there was little
rest for all concerned with it, his own energy and enthusiasm
being enormous. The engine was hurried into a standard sports
chassis and headed for Brooklands in a remarkably short space of
time, to be back again for modification almost as quickly.
Why would a new chassis be needed if this was post war built car? This new chassis would be the 1919 model with quarter ecliptic front springs. Was the straight tubular axle fitted at this time? The car had it after its second rebuild into single seater form, it used six cyl stub axles as you can see in the drawings, they are the same as those on an early six axle I have. What of the back axle? Cant imagine he would use a standard three speed wide ratio one, the car had its diffless solid racing axle as a single seater, now with the brakes moved inboard. Interestingly the car retained the six stud hubs and artillery wheels right to the end of its carrier with Harry. A picture of the car after its first rebuild is needed.
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In 1919 AC exhibited the new six-cylinder engine in both 1500 and 2 litre form. In 1921 it was shown as a complete car but further development went on before the six-cylinder was offered in 1923.
The race car of Hawker in 1921 was described as a four-cylinder 1500 version of Weller’s Six. In the same year, for example for the 200 mile race, five four-cylinder cars were entered by AC with both Anzani (x 2) and Weller engines (x 3). These, and Joyce’s car of the following year (and I believe Kaye Don’s), had by then, 4 valves per cylinder.
Regarding the above and dates:
Quote ‘…Harry went for a short run with one of the directors of Messrs. A.C. in a new model fitted with an over-head valve engine. It was purely an experimental production’ unquote
This could well have been a Six for experimental production or, I have read, Weller had worked on an experimental four-cylinder for production of a Sports Model (though how far this got I do not know…and it may have involved the race engine design anyway), however, in either case, Hawker may have gone out in one of these or, if a race car, it could well have been one of AC’s cars for the 200 mile race.
Muriel’s second mention of the AC racecar, in late 1920, actually could be an Anzani-engined car or the new Weller design.
Weller’s four-cylinder race engine of the early 20’s was four-cylinder, 16-valves and ohc. It showed strong resemblance to the Six, especially the castings, and it was suggested that Weller intended this four for production in numbers. As recorded above, even the stub axles of Hawker’s car are from a Six. This is why I suggest that development of this race engine went alongside the Six, and together with carbs/exhaust etc. (in postings above), unlikely a progression from the 1914 racecar.
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There is no indication that Harry Hawker ever had more than the one AC.Harry's car was running on the road when the six was still under development. It went through two rebuilds before as a single seater it did 105mph over the half mile on June 3rd 1921. The works race cars that ran in the two hundred mile race some three months later were iron head two valve single ignition for the ohc cars and the other two tuned up Anzani production chassis.
Can I ask you to go back and read through the posts again.
There is more to say yet.
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quote:
Originally posted by jonto
Harry's car was running on the road when the six was still under development.
That is what I've said in the last posting
quote:
Originally posted by jonto
The works race cars that ran in the two hundred mile race some three months later were iron head two valve single ignition for the ohc cars and the other two tuned up Anzani production chassis.
Not according to John McLellan, AC historian and author of many papers and books on AC cars (e.g. the excellent 'AC and Cobra'). He writes that the three Weller-engined 1921 JCC 200-mile racecars were 'built in a similar specification to the Hawker car but with a shorter wheelbase and splayed front springs they were geared to do 25mph per 1000rpm. Engines were four cylinders 16-valve single overhead camshaft units' etc.
I note that McLellan says also of the Hawker car 'in it was a four cylinder 1500cc version of Weller's wet-liner engine', so another pointer away from the 1914 car.
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But which came first, the 4 or the 6?
From the The Autocar, october 1st 1921-
All three cars are to have four cylinder
engines with a bore of 69mm and a stroke
of 100mm, the cylinders being cast in
aluminium with cast iron liners, aluminium
pistons and a detachable head.In the head at
present there are two large valves operated
by an overhead camshaft, though four valves may be used later....
This is in the future, I'm still in 1920, I aint got there yet!
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To continue, Muriel writes-
Many dark days followed. Troubles that would have broken the heart
of some men followed in what seemed like endless succession.
In one day he had six gaskets "blow " before he found the right
means and material to withstand the tremendous pressures
involved. It does not take much experience to know what this
means in terms of work, as the gaskets were all hand made, and
the " head," complete with pipe systems, connections, etc., had
to come off each time. This trouble over, and a set of pistons with decidedly ambitious tops having been designed and fitted, he proceeded to lap at what were then remarkable speeds indeed, and in spite of the fact that the very necessary parts frequently fell either in or out of the engine, he never lost faith in it. I remember, towing him home for it seemed the hundredth time, saying with a lack of his optimistic patience : " Let's burn the thing and buy a motor- car !" but his cheery reply was: "Never mind, we're really beginning to go now ! " and proceeded to take the motor down
prior to an all-night siting. Coffee and cakes figured at inter-
vals in these "all-night jobs," and I expect the neighbours
wondered if he ever slept.
On one occasion he walked into the office of Mr. Weller, the
designer of the engine, at the A.C. Works and, laying a mutilated
mass of metal down on the desk, exclaimed : " Here you are.
How's this for an A.C. con. -rod ? How soon can I have another ? "
One had to be produced, and off down to the track again. He
fitted stiffer valve-springs and reconsidered the " cam contours,"
with the result that the speed kept creeping up and curious
rumours regarding some kind of forced induction floated round
the paddock, much to his amusement.
Mr. Weller tells of a very funny incident. When everything
had been looking promising, one afternoon Harry, smiling as
usual, came into the office and called him down to the yard.
"Come and have a look at the engine," he said. "I've got
something to show you." And he had. Mr. Weller found the
remains of the precious engine strapped to the back of Harry's
Rolls-Royce, the body of which he had recently discarded, and
in the interval of the fitting of the new body ran it for " use,"
as he called it. A gaping hole was in the crank-case of the engine big enough to put a boot in. Harry then produced a tangled remnant which had once done duty as a connecting-rod, saying : " It shot clean across the track ! I walked back and found it lying on the grass ; it was still warm when I picked it up." It was quite true he
found it in the exact spot he shed it, but while the design was
almost identical, on close inspection the stamping number proved
conclusively that it was not an A.C. rod at all, but some other
unfortunate who must have gone round just before. As far as
I know, the proper remains were never found. Even this disaster failed to deter Harry. Although the cross- shaft was smashed and A.C.'s had no spare crank-case available, he very quickly improvised a bracket and remounted the magneto in front of the engine, where, driven by a chain, it operated very well. A patch was welded on the crank-case and the engine was soon running again with as much " pep " as ever. With the advent of high and sustained speeds the exhaust valves commenced to give trouble. The valve-heads could usually be found reposing on the bottom of the sump, but on one occasion, after a fruitless three-hour search, Harry discovered the valve- head must have gone out through the exhaust-pipe ! Once, as the car was coming off the Byfleet banking on the track, after a lap or two at speed, unmistakable sounds proclaimed that the " umpteenth " valve-head had broken. It being the day before it was to race at a meeting, it was a very serious matter, but Harry, nothing daunted, mechanically began to tie the rope attaching the A.C. on to the Minerva, saying: "We'll be with them when the flag falls." That his confidence was justified is now a matter of light-car history. The Minerva I have just mentioned was my car, which Harry had had fitted with an enclosed body upholstered in Bedford cord for comfortable winter motoring.
It degenerated into a travelling workshop for the A.C., which
little car I always followed proudly to Brooklands, complete with
tow-rope and spares, and nearly always, less proudly, preceded
it home, connected by the rope. Soon the A.C. started to reach the 90 miles per hour mark, and it was then that the single-seater streamline chassis was made in which Mr. Weller gave great care to questions of weight distribu- tion as well as the elimination of any external details which might cause resistance. To this chassis Harry designed and built in his works his now famous streamlined body, and in his able hands the success of the combination exceeded everyone's expectations from the start, and at its debut created a sensation in racing
circles.
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A bit about Sopwith Aviation-
IMMEDIATELY after the war efforts were made by the Sopwith
Aviation and Engineering Company to turn out domestic utensils
from aluminium. Mr. Sigrist tells the tale of Harry walking
into his office one morning after discovering the new object the
firm was to produce, and sitting down, said : " Well, Fred, what
do you think of it ! Saucepans ! Where do I come in ? I
never thought I should live to find myself in a job that Mrs.
Beeton could do better than I."
I believe a good many saucepans were made, which, according
to a contributor to a flying paper, "involved strenuous work on
the firm's chief tester," and also a certain wooden toy was turned
out in good numbers ; but the firm commenced real post-war
work in the production of the A. B.C. motor-bicycle.
The company continued with the production of this cycle for
some time, but was eventually unable to weather the slump of
1920, and in the September of that year the Sopwith Aviation and
Engineering Company closed down.
In November a new company was founded by Messrs. Sop-
with and Sigrist and Harry, known as the H. G. Hawker Engineer-
ing Company, which started in the production of a 2-stroke motor-
cycle and also special aluminium body-work. After the appear-
ance of Harry's streamlined A.C. a considerable demand for like
racing bodies appeared, until most of the best known racing light
cars became furnished with Hawker streamline bodies.
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Harry's car after its second rebuild to single seater form-
The car made its first public appearance in its streamlined
form at the Easter Meeting of the B.A.R.C., where it caused a great
deal of enthusiasm, it being the first really streamlined racing
car ever seen at Brooklands. But it was not the first time it
had actually been on the track, so although " terrificly fast for a
I -5litre car," as one current motor paper had it, it was handicapped
out of any hope of winning either of the races entered, but suc-
ceeded in taking second place in both. In the second race he
made a very spectacular run through the whole field, with the
exception of the limit man who won the race.
After winning the 1,500 cc. Scratch Race at the Junior Car
Club Meeting and also the very interesting short sprint of 250
yards against Captain Fraser Nash's famous G.N. named Mowgli he began to really " tune up " for records. He was very anxious his A.C. to be the first 1,500 cc. car to attain 100 miles an hour,
and on June 3rd he gained the coveted distinction on his A.C.
under official observation. He attacked the flying and standing
half-mile records, which stood to the credit of the G.N., and
established world's light car records by achieving the speed of
105.15 miles per hour for the flying and 61.43 miles per hour for
the standing starts. Those records caused a great sensation in
the motor world, and even the lay Press showed some sort of
enthusiasm for the latest achievement of the world whose efforts
are generally ignored. Harry received many letters of congratulation from the people interested in the first " 100 miles an hour light car," and I think the real sporting atmosphere of Brooklands was conveyed in a genial letter of congratulation from Mr. Lionel Martin, who was not too proud to say he had coveted the distinction for the
Aston-Martin car, which I know Harry appreciated very much, as
also the hearty grip of Captain Nash who, till then, had swept the
board at Brooklands with his G.N., but who now realised he had
met his match in the A.C.
In practising for the Midsummer Meeting of the B.A.R.C.
on June 25th, he had a very narrow escape from disaster. I was
timing his lap speed from the stand, when, as he was about to
enter the railway straight at about 100 miles per hour, he sud-
denly appeared to slide down the banking, and a huge cloud of dust
concealed him from view. A man immediately behind me, who
had been watching the A.C., exclaimed : " Hawker's off the track !
He'll need his luck now ! " Running down the steps of the stand,
the first person I saw in the paddock was Mr. Coatalen just getting
into his car. He took me round to the spot, where, as one would
quite expect, Harry was standing up by the side of the track,
waving his hands to denote his complete fitness. His appearance, however, was terrible, as his whole face was covered with blood,
but, rubbing it with his handkerchief, asked for volunteers to help
him out with the car, which could not at first be seen. It had completely hopped the three-feet concrete parapet that surrounds
the track, and was reposing, right way up, in the long grass. Remonstrances to him to leave the getting up of the machine
to the many willing volunteers who had arrived on the scene were
of no avail ; he hated any sort of fuss, and only left for the paddock when the car was on the track again. It appeared the cause of
the accident was the side of the bonnet, over which there was no
strap, coming loose and hitting Harry on his forehead, dazing
him for the minute. Later, holding out his goggles, complete,
but splintered in a thousand pieces and covered with blood, Harry
said : " Hang it all, these are my favourite goggles ! Just fitted
me before ; only fit for Triplex display window now ! " We towed the A.C. home, very little damaged considering the jar it must have received in negotiating the parapet, and the whole of that night was spent in taking the body off and looking for any possible trouble. New wheels were substituted for the two completely buckled ones, and Harry raced the car the next day at the B.A.R.C. Meeting, where, unfortunately, engine trouble prevented him winning any races. After the sprint records he had put up, Harry's intention was to go for sustained and still greater speeds with the object of
attacking world's records irrespective of size before the end of
the year, but he was only destined to live three more weeks,
leaving the car, his loved car on which he had spent so much of
his interest and time during the last six months, at the height of
its fame, for others to carry on to the 120 miles per hour goal.
Harry was test flying the Nieuport Goshawk biplane that he was to fly in an air race when something went wrong , he crashed attempting to land and was thrown out and died. After his death the car went back to AC's.
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Harry had two daughters, there may be a family archive, diaries/photographs.
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With reference to the engine in this racing car, the late Stuart Wallace wrote on this subject in the December 1994 Action.
It would appear that this 1500 cc engine was designed by John Weller but he was not happy with the performance of the car. He continued to develop the engine but by 1920 it was abandoned as it ran very roughly and by this time his AC light six engine was taking centre stage
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quote:
Originally posted by musicman
With reference to the engine in this racing car, the late Stuart Wallace wrote on this subject in the December 1994 Action. It would appear that this 1500 cc engine was designed by John Weller but he was not happy with the performance of the car. He continued to develop the engine but by 1920 it was abandoned as it ran very roughly and by this time his AC light six engine was taking centre stage
Which racing car are you referring to? The 1914 car or Hawker’s, both are in the posting above.
If Hawker’s, this is too simplistic on Stuart’s part, as the 1500 four-cylinder race engine was used in the factory racecars of 1921 (plus Hawker’s car). Weller designed a longer chassis for Hawker and was directly involved with the streamlined body design. The engine was improved in 1921 at the factory. It may have 'run roughly' but by using this engine Hawker became the first man to break records in the ‘Light Car’ class at more than 100mph, tremendous PR for the company at the time (they even offered race replicas for sale at £1000). Earlier, Weller was not happy with performance, nor was Hawker, but the engine was not abandoned by 1920, and continued after Weller left the company in 1922. I’m sure that resources were going on development of the Six, for the production cars, but the four-cylinder race engine was for a particular category, then and there, and the Six was yet to show its true worth.
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I think Stuart was referring to the 1914 car, perhaps it's engines lack of refinement was Weller's inspiration for moving up to 6 cylinders, meanwhile nice to have someone else to develop the four. (Just speculation).
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Sorry for the confusion. the AC 1500cc engine was used for the 1914 race car.
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quote:
Originally posted by musicman
Sorry for the confusion. the AC 1500cc engine was used for the 1914 race car.
In that case, I bow to the knowledge, and associated assumptions, of Jonto and Stuart Wallace.
I’ve learnt something. It was incredible that Weller could design and manufactured from the bench-up, with all associated costs, a completely new racing engine for 1914 considering, at the time, that all production was based on the Fivet engine.
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No need to bow, when new historical material is found it warrants looking into.
The Light Car and Cycle Car would be perhaps the first place to look for information, the VSCC library has a full set I believe if any one could visit and leaf through he 1914 issues.
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Here is the 1919 6cyl chassis with its quarter elliptic front springs. This must be the new chassis Harry used for his first rebuild.
The front axle is still fabricated from tube, a forging not obtained yet. I imagine the 1914 chassis must have rolled alarmingly with its transverse front and narrow rear spring base. It seems very probable that Weller's first attempt at an 'in house' engine was the four cylinder one, then for whatever reason the decision was made to move up to six cylinders which would open up another level of troubles as balancing of six in lines was not fully understood in 1919.
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The next events were the twenty four hour record attempt and the JCC two hundred mile race. S.C.H. Davies was a driver in both, there is an account of his experiences in 'Motor Racing' published in 1931. Is this known or would it be new material here?
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quote]Originally posted by jonto
/quote]
A very interesting thread, in particular the period 1913 - 1920 for which little is recorded about AC's history.
Regarding the 1914 competition car pictured early in the thread, that may be the car intended for the 1914 TT, the event being cancelled on the outbreak of WWI. But there is not much evidence to link the car in the photo with the event, or to confirm the source of the engine.
Re the Fivet engines, the first 4-wheeled AC car, the 10hp announced in 1913, had a 1096cc Fivet engine - see ACtion Archive April 2013. The 12hp followed circa 1914, with a 1327cc Fivet.
The 1917 sales catalogue continued to offer ACs with the Fivet engine. However, by then, car production was more or less at a standstill, with priority given to munitions.
During WWI, AC had also experimented with a MAG four-cylinder engine in a road car.
This illustrates the open-ended range of possibilities for the source of the engine in the 1914 competition car. It is also not beyond reason to suppose that AC started to experiment with their own design - but I have seen no evidence of that being the case in 1914.
The Archive acquired copies of the Science Museum drawings, referred to earler in the thread. The originals are all ink on vellum. Some are of engines.
The picture which emerges from those engine drawings, and other sources, is far from clear. What is known is:
a. The first announcement of the Weller Six, in 1919, was of a shaft driven sohc in two capacities - 1478cc and 1991cc;
b. The Science Museum drawings include two General Arrangements of Weller sohc engines - one dated 1921 of a shaft driven sohc six-cylinder engine, the second dated 1919 of a chain-driven sohc four-cylinder! The latter featured Weller's patented chain tensioner.
c. The Science Museum drawings include a General Arrangement of a side valve in-line six!
The earliest known road test of a car with the AC Six engine is late 1919. It was claimed then that AC had been experimenting with six-cylinder engines for three years - but is not specific about the details of the engine design or source.
In the Archive, the earliest sales catalogue for a six-cylinder AC features the shaft-driven sohc 1478cc engine. The model is the 'Ditton Six'(ACtion Archive October 2002). We now know that the company name in the catalogue - Auto-Carriers Ltd - dates this after February 1920 (see ACtion Archive March 2016)
Part of the mystery of the Weller Six design is that some of the detailed engineering looks, on the face of it, to be similar to the Fivet! For example, the 1327cc Fivet four-cyl had a bore and stroke of 65mm x 100mm!
Crankshaft torsional vibration was a significant engineering challenge in six cylinder engines. It bedevilled the Weller Six engine design throughout most of its life, not helped by the long stroke and poor journal overlap. The harmonic damper fitted to the nose of the crankshaft, in the 1950s, came the closest to controlling the problem.
The ground is slowly being prepared for an Archive article piecing this all together!
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The third AC race car, the 2 ltr 24 hour record car-
S.C.H. Davies was one of the drivers in the double twelve hours record attempt at Brooklands on the 27th September 1921.
"Sammy" writes that the car used the Hawker body, its looks to be the same car now with Rudge hubs and wheels, the engine change and the 6 cyl radiator mounted further forward, perhaps higher,the bonnet line now slopes rearwards a little.
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S.C.H. Davis Motor Racing 1931
Sammy writes-
Most people's first step towards a wheel for a real race on the road is taken if they can join a team which is about to attack long distance records with a car.
Record breaking, of course, is totally different from racing. The drivers have the inspiration that comes from doing something that has never been done before, wether it is a question of International Class Records, which are the best figures put up by cars classed according to engine capacity, or World's Records, which are the best records irrespective of engine size. Then, again, for records the car need not start if it is not ready, for officials can be put off to another day, and that alone is a tremendous difference from the road or track race.
My first run for records took place on Brooklands track when, to gain experience for the coming 200 mile race in 1921, I took part in an attack on the double- twelve hour record that is a British record in which the car runs for twelve hours, is then locked up by the officials, to be returned to its crew the following day to start on another twelve hours.
The car was a six-cylinder, two-litre A.C. with a single-seater streamline body originally used for Hawker's car, and a long plain external exhaust pipe. A Noble and W.G. Brownsort commenced, from a depot astablished at the head of the finishing straight with fuel, oil, water, spares, spare wheels, jacks, tools and all equipment, a chart, sundry watches, and a group of mechanics. The machine would run to two hours, the electric timing apparatus recording its passage, at an average of eighty m.p,.h., well above the record; it would then come in, a swarm of mechanics would rush forward, water, oil and fuel would go in, the tires would be examined; then off the car would go with another driver.
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(http://i66.tinypic.com/1zvr0nt.jpg)
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As intermediate records were taken, a little note would arrive from the timing box giving the speed and distance or time. The system of signalling was simple but effective, for, if the car speed was right, T. Gillet, of A.C,'s, would stand out on the track in plain view, with his arms folded, if too fast would pat the air in the conventional slow-down signal, if too slow, would swing one arm backwards and forwards as though giving the “pass” signal in touring. “Stop” was shown by holding up both arms. On a blackboard the number of laps and the speed on the previous lap were written in chalk for the drivers amusement.
For twelve hours all went well, though the exhaust pipe came loose and was secured, the average was over seventy m.p.h., good for those days, and everyone was happy, save that I, very properly, got into trouble for going down to the paddock to tea without first saying exactly where I was going. At the end of that time the car was locked away, and we all went to bed.
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Very early next morning I arrived at the track to find Noble not feeling very well, Brownsort a bit tired, having had little sleep, and a thick white mist all over the track. That was a cheerful prospect for our start, but start we had to, and it was speedily apparent that the car was on the slow side. Accordingly , as the fresh man of the team, I was put on, previously arranging that a line of cars should be stationed across the mouth of the finishing straight so that their red tail lights, switched on, would show as a guide line.
The car stopped; I got in, lowered the little wind-screen until I could just see over the top- goggles were useless- and was pushed off until the engine fired. Then I pushed the throttle wide open and hung on, staring into the mist until my eyes ached, and trusting to the Lord in the matter of direction. Fortunately I found I could see the fence, so steered by that and the curve of the banking, cutting out in fright every now and then. It was a wild ride. Sometimes in panic I thought I must be going down the finishing straight, and would arrive in my own depot at high speed from behind; once I nearly hit the railings of the public enclosure, which caused my heart to accelerate violently, and once I had to brake hard, having lost all sense of direction near the fork, but the car kept going, and the depot signals, when I could them were O.K. The worst of it was that the cold air, mist, and strain made my eyes very painful; but, after an age, the mist began to lift, letting me keep my foot down for longer and longer stretches, until the “slower” signal told me that the battle was won.
After that the run became enjoyable, and in about an hour's time the mist melted away altogether, so I settled down to try and keep an absolutely regular speed by rev. counter reading, watching the chalk figures on the board intently for the variation round by round.
My spell ended sooner than I liked, but after it I walked on air, for I had driven a real racing car in a record and survived, an experience I would not have exchanged for much gold. Later on another spell when the weather had cleared up completely confirmed my belief that racing must be one of the world's finest games-
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-but a third spell showed me the other side of the medal.
I was having lunch off duty when a message arrived from S.F. Edge, who was in charge of the attempt, asking me to come at once as, by stopping at the timing strip and restarting, they though the car would take the two- litre class hour record, for which a standing start is necessary. Scrambling into overalls I dashed to the depot, where the car, smothered in mechanics, was being refilled, climbed into the cockpit, switched on, got into gear and waited.
Underneath the body a man was draining the sump oil into a pan. Suddenly I heard him say, “Blimey, what's this?” and he got up holing the small end of a connecting rod! Alas, it was too true, we had lost rod and piston from one cylinder presumably exactly as the driver switched off to coast in to the depot. That put an end to the whole thing, to my sorrow, but we had taken eighteen records, all but one at over seventy m.p.h.
The body and chassis of that car served for many a record, until its designer would not have recognized the shape, and big patches lent a dissolute air to the whole thing.
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After the 200 Miles Race one of the new special overhead camshaft four-cylinder engines was installed in the chassis, and I was sent out to get the 1 I/2 litre hour record, then much coveted because there was always a remote chance of being the first car to accomplish 100 miles in the time. Several people had tried and failed, but were known to be ready again for further attempts.
I set off, flat out, keeping as low in the car as I could to reduce head resistance, and we had a glorious half-hour going really well, a most inspiring run, though the tail bumped on the track every round when we leapt bodily from the home banking down on to the railway straight. There is nothing more lonely than the cockpit of a racing car on the track. In it, one seems cut off from all the world, the exhaust noise, added to the roar of the wind, deafens, the track itself seems wider and longer than ever before.
Cutting the Vicker's shed corner by pulling the car off the Byfleet banking early and heading straight across to the shed, where the wind, rebounding, caused the A.C. To drift bodily sideways as we passed, I was delighting in the fast, fierce run up to the home banking; suddenly there was a fearful crash, the rear wheels locked, the car skidded violently, then, as I freed the clutch and switched off, straightened to coast past the depot down to the timing strip at the first mile box. A piston and rod had collapsed; but the average for fifty miles was 93.86 m.p.h., which included the final coast, and we took five records.
It was always the same thing, a big burst of speed, then the pieces flew. Weeks would be spent finding out how to cure the trouble, then perhaps success would reward our efforts; followed experiment to make the engine go faster still, another catastrophe, and more weeks' hard work. But we learned a lot.
Naturally there were some humorous interludes. On one occasion I was going round the track fast in a certain car and suddenly noticed one of the depot staff on all fours on the concrete, apparently offering up prayers according to some Asiatic rite. Next round round every member of the depot, mechanics and all, were spread out in a long line, all of them squatting or kneeling, and all of them looking at the car! It suddenly dawned on me that there must be something the matter, and greatly excited, I made desperate efforts to find out what the trouble might be, though the narrowness of the cockpit made it impossible to turn and look behind. I began to have that unpleasant feeling when imaginary, icy fingers play up and down the knobbly part of one's spine.
Two rounds later I came out from behind the Members' Hill to be greeted by men holding up their arms, men waving flags, a blackboard with “STOP!” on it in huge letters, and one man who seemed to be dancing with excitement. I came to the conclusion that either they were all mad, or the car must be coming to pieces. If the latter, obviously I had got to be careful to stop gently, as a sudden hard application of brakes might precipitate the disaster. So I switched off, got into neutral, and coasted. A car came alongside full of men who shouted and pointed. Since I was stone deaf from the exhaust, that conveyed nothing, but when my car came to rest I found it lop-sided. The bolts holding one front quarter-elliptic spring had broken. From the depot the gradual list had been seen, hence the excitement.
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quote:
Originally posted by jonto
A piston and rod had collapsed; but the average for fifty miles was 93.86 m.p.h., which included the final coast, and we took five records.
This photograph, and record in SCH Davis' own hand, was generously bequethed to the ACOC Archive by the great man.
(http://i1178.photobucket.com/albums/x380/jospr/SCH%20Davis%20Origin%201-1%2050%20Mile%20record%20Brooklands%201921.jpg)
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High on the members banking at over 90 m.p.h., seen from the members hill. The car now has the 16 valve cylinder head and twin tandem bonnets. Was the date October 28th 1921 and where was the start line for long distance records?
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Brooklands Race Track, the outer circuit was driven in a counter clockwise direction.
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The service depot for long distance record attempts was placed in the mouth of the finishing straight where it met the home banking just after the members bridge.
(http://i65.tinypic.com/2lld5sg.jpg)
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Leaving the depot, where the home banking merged into the railway straight, was the bridge over the river Wey which had "sunk" creating the famous bump, fast cars leapt of the banking landing on the straight some yards further on...
(http://i64.tinypic.com/2ykjd52.jpg)
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The fast run along the railway straight...
(http://i66.tinypic.com/mil4ys.jpg)
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Round the Byfleet banking...
(http://i67.tinypic.com/2s97jpw.jpg)
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From the Byfleet banking to the fork...
(http://i63.tinypic.com/24qsqp4.jpg)
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The tricky bit crossing the fork, placing the car in position for the run up to the home banking, the entrance to the finishing straight on the left, the Vickers sheds on the right...
(http://i66.tinypic.com/o0pgza.jpg)
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Leaving the fork, the pits on the left...
(http://i67.tinypic.com/14nmwlf.jpg)
(http://i64.tinypic.com/nofzbr.jpg)
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Arriving at the home banking...
(http://i68.tinypic.com/b6tvus.jpg)
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Rounding the home banking, the members hill on the inside...
(http://i68.tinypic.com/2ryjczt.jpg)
Lap completed, a wild ride on a light fast car!
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Great set of photos - thanks for posting!
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The track was certainly in full swing by 1922. The B.A.R.C. Held its usual meetings and secured its usual versatile “fields”. Cars and their occupants were admitted free on Sundays to the Paddock and Lawn, and tea could be had by the top of the Test Hill, so that many Londoners were encouraged to drive down at non-race week-ends. A "thé dansant" started in the members' room on the Hill at 4 p.m. On these Sundays, with an excellent band, while on weekdays and Sunday afternoons non-members were encouraged to try their vehicles on the Track at a charge per day of 10s. For a car or 5s. for a motor-cycle. How drab by comparison is life today! (W. Boddy).
A tea dance, or thé dansant (French: literally dancing tea) is a summer or autumn afternoon or early-evening dance from four to seven p.m.,
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quote:
Originally posted by jonto
The track was certainly in full swing by 1922...tea could be had by the top of the Test Hill...
Some reading this thread may not be aware that much of the Brooklands banking is still in place. Below are some photos that I took last year of the old track and the test hill. The cafeteria, referred to above at the top of the test hill, now houses the Brooklands Motor Company (= AC Heritage), the company specialising in, and restoring, all past AC models.
Members' Bridge:
(http://www.seabirding.co.uk/images/P1100715Small.JPG)
Home Banking, from Members' Bridge:
(http://www.seabirding.co.uk/images/P1100707Small.JPG)
Home Banking, towards Railway Straight:
(http://www.seabirding.co.uk/images/P1100703Small.JPG)
Test Hill:
(http://www.seabirding.co.uk/images/P1100700Small.JPG)
This was alongside one of the old hangars:
(http://www.seabirding.co.uk/images/P1100720Small.JPG)
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I was at Oulton Park yesterday,21st, V.S.C.C race day, Ron Footitt's old AC powered GN was there sounding as good as ever...
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From The Autocar 1st April 1922
(http://i65.tinypic.com/f4ftli.jpg)
(Another picture of the single seater being serviced during a record attempt).
To the average motorist the driver of a racing car is mad; to the enthusiast earthly life seems to hold no higher delight. Actually, there is both more and less excitement in high-speed workthan would be supposed; less because there is some-thing of monotony on the track, more because certain possibilities occasionally seem very vivid indeed.
Suppose, for example, that a car, preferably a quite small car of a new type, is to set out for the hour record, one of the most coveted
of the class honours; and suppose also that it is ready. True, this needs quite a large strength of imagination, for few cars ever are ready in time. One or two laps may be covered beforehand to ascertain the feel of the car, and, maybe, to remove or add to the sheilds which blank the radiator; then come a final look round to make sure that everything is right, that balanced wheels actually are fitted, and no unbalanced one used by mistake, the streamlining secure, no spanners left in the underscreen, and that the steering is all present and correct. Steering gear arms and tubes, very wisely, are highly polished, so that any crack or flaw reveals itself quite easily- a precaution that in nine cases out of ten is unnecessary, though, in the tenth case, it may save the drivers life. Before one recent long race, for example, three steering arms were discovered to be flawed.
The car is almost certain to be a single- seater, generally fitting the driver well and with the clutch pedal away to the left, and the
brake pedal on the right, and the body sides high enough to allow one to press the elbows against one while gripping the wheel. All the
driver can see before him are the cowl, an engine revolution counter, a switch, an oil gauge, the steering wheel, and a yard or so of narrow bonnet ans radiator. Somewhere out of sight are the gear lever and the ignition control.
(http://i67.tinypic.com/34td4xd.jpg)
(1914 Grand Prix Vauxhall)
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Sportsmanship.
The necessary preliminaries having been completed, a little knot of other friendly, but rival, enthusiasts wish the driver the best of
luck, though it often is their record that is ti be attacked. This is one of the things that makes Brooklands what it is, for no man,
however commercially-minded, will not willingly assist another to gain a record.
The starting point for all records is the pneumatic tube stretched across the track from the box, marking the commencement of the mile,
which tube conceals the wiring for the elactric timing. Down to this tube moves the car, and once arrived, the driver is loneliness
personified. Impossible as it is to hear a word above the roar of the exhaust, the attendants' orders are signalled by gestures. An
uplifted arm is dropped, and with a scream the clutch goes home. Forward moves the ignition lever; the second, third, and top gears
are meshed in turn as the revolution counter dial shows the correct engine speed, untill at last the car begins to atain real pace,
and shoots up the home banking. Just as a blur of figures shows in the depot at the home end of the finishing straight, the car flies
down down to the railway straight, and a "clunk" marks where the timing tube is passed. Thenceforward life is indeed worth the living.
The edges of the track blend in one continuous blur, the far horizon remains unnoticed, as straight towards the racing bonnet streams
the grey cement, the driver's head seems to be pressed back by some hidden agency, and the spare goggles' elastic quite hurts his neck.
All sounds die before one continuous roar of the exhaust, the "rev" counter shows 2,800rpm. (its belt probably slips), and the oil gauge
hand is steady at "65."
As the car is turned off the Byfleet banking, the wind catches it full astern, and it leaps forward; up, up go the "revs." to 3,000.
to 3,500, and the machine is really travelling. A shock, and the car mounts the banking, then in a flash comes the depot and two little
blurry figures on a blackboard reading "95"- or is it "85"?- anyhow, there is time for but a glance. Plunging down the bank to the
railway straight, the car steadies into the wind, slows imperceptibly, and becomes more comfortable. A train on the right seems stationary, then up the byfleet banking, a bang, another, and the driver leaves his seat, it seems for ages. Once more the exciting rush to the Vickers shed, with a big shock just after the banking, and a quite decided skid at the corner. Very well, it must be taken less sharply, and the car brought off the far banking earlier.
(http://i63.tinypic.com/ipmb85.jpg)
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Bumps and Physical Jerks.
Then the deopt-"96" this time- and simultaneously a soul- destroying bump which sends the driver flying in his narrow compartment. That was caused by running on to the concavity in the cement, and which one must guard against carefully the next time round. The car was to low; next time it must be higher, for the underside of the tail has hit the track at least once.
For perhaps ten laps time and the car fly; the intoxication of speed takes hold of the driver, who urges his mount to even greater efforts, knowing them to be unavailing.
Pulled off the banking earlier, the car slips a bit, but the Vickers shed corner is less exciting, though there is still a semblance of a front wheel skid. The jolts and bumps become more noticeable, the man is decidedly shaken about, and curiously enough, the second half- hour seems to go quite slowly.
One of two things soon happens; either the car holds on and a group of delighted enthusiasts hails the completion of the time or- a
sudden check to the exhaust note, a breif clatter, and something breaks. But, whether it break or whether the coveted record be actually captured, just these few brief moments, and especially when the speed was at three figures, make ample compensation for subsequent fatigue and partial deafness.
All cars differ. Some make you deaf, some to wonder whether your diaphragm can stand it five minutes longer; some have to be held in
position, and some are reasonably comfortable. Some, and these are very dangerous, plunge about the banking, lacking all sense of direction, and some never seem even fast. Make differs from make, seemingly identical cars from each other; but from each and every one there is a lesson
to be learned.
(http://i64.tinypic.com/2v1nqyx.jpg)
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Next on 22nd October 1921 comes the JCC 200 mile race, AC entered five cars, three special 4cyl OHC cars backed up by the two side valve race cars based on the production Anzani cars. A three car team is usual to enter in racing, but the addition of the two already proven cars seems to have been a wise move in the light of subsequent events!
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Sammy writes-
But once racing restarted, (after the first world war), it was better than ever before, everybody having a mass of superfluous energy to work off and being only too anxious to do it, in season or out. Anyhow, the Junior Car Club, a body that had made its name with the South Harting Hill-Climb
and a general efficiency trial calculated to wreck practically any car, however good, suddenly announced a 200 Mile Race on Brooklands track for any car with an engine capacity of not more than one and a half litres. The proposition rather took one's breath away, for though nothing could exceed the enthusiasm of that club, the race seemed a gigantic proposition, and big races hitherto had been solely affairs for the R.A.C. In practice, the committee went about shivering with apprehension, yet delighted with the idea, while every driver in the land commenced forthwith to search for a car.
In this I was lucky, for AC decided to run, and the team of five was based on the 1914 “equipe”, slightly altered, as B.A. Davy of Claudel-Hobson's joined W.G. Brownsort and myself, with G.C. Stead, and a works driver, H.C. Munday , added. John Weller had decided to build three machines of a new type, running two normal racing cars of the pattern that had already proved themselves in competition at the track.
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The new cars, when we saw the drawings during a solemn conference at the works, really were extremely promising, being based on a very fast little single-seater with which W. G. Hawker had already done well, there chief point being that the chassis was designed as part of a very pretty streamline body, whereas usually the body has to be thought out afterwards to suit an existing chassis. Moreover, the engines were mostly aluminium alloy, the gear boxes provided four speeds, and the crab-track was retained, that is the rear wheel track was narrower than the front. They were cars typical of John Weller, and I still think that they would have done exceptionally well had they been ready. Unfortunately, that was the one thing they were not, although everybody worked like galley slaves, showing the utmost enthusiasm.
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Sammy in the OHC car before the race, who was his mechanic, Head?
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Mine I drove from the works two days before the race, and had to take it back at once as the water-pump gland was leaking and the water ran into the base-chamber, where it did the oil no good at all. A night's work at high pressure, several hours' steady running-in, and the leak began again. More feverish work, then more running-in, and this time to the leak was added clutch slip and a strong suspicion that the contact-maker cam – the engine had battery ignition – was slipping. It was the day before the race, all three of the new cars were in trouble, there was nothing for it but to work all night; fortunately, the shed in the little paddock had electric light. We worked nearly all night, stopped the leak with bran, strengthened the clutch springs all we could, and since the car could not be tried on the track, tested the clutch by jumping hard on the starting handle with the engine in gear.
There was only one redeeming feature in the situation. Most other people were in trouble too, as tinkering noises and profanity amply proved in shed after shed; but away on the Byfleet side silence and contentment reigned where the three Talbot-Darraqs were housed.
That night, quite rightly driven away by Weller, the drivers had a few hours' troubled sleep, the mechanics none at all, and the next morning, as the crowds invaded the paddock and enclosures, we were still unready, or at least my car was, for we got the last bolt into the bracket holding the exhaust pipe under the supervision of no less a person than S. F. Edge, just as the cars were marshalled to go up to the start.
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Stead on one of the two side valve cars, based on the production Anzani engined model.
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The start was extremely exciting. The competing machines were arranged in three lines, with the 1,100 c.c. Cars in front. At the fall of the flag the first line went away, the second took its place and was immediately dispatched, the third line conformed to the movement until it, to, went away. Consequently, a mass of cars shot away in clouds of smoke, two other lines moved a length, then stopped; a fractional and another mass roared off, the third line moved a length and stopped; then, with barely a pause, they too dashed away. It was entirely successful and extremely dangerous.
Waiting in the second line, half asphyxiated by fumes and blinded by clouds of smoke, I was considering what would happen if the man in front had reverse instead of first in mesh, wondering also whether our new set of racing plugs could possibly stand all this without oiling. Immense volumes of smoke and a terrible noise showed me that the first line was off, we moved up one, I could just see Ebblewhite's red flag, it dropped, an avalanche of cars went off, we did not; with the engine screaming, we remained stationary- the clutch was playing the fool! I switched off , and pulled at the rear tyre my side to turn the wheel, the car crept away, I switched on, opened up gently, and lo, we had started; but the cold fury of that moment remains, and the fear that we should be rammed by the third wave.
Then for three laps, all went well, in and out among cars of all sizes, some already in trouble, some doing their best, and for the space of one lap we clung to the tail of a Talbot-Darracq, I think it was “Bill” Guinness' car!
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On the fourth lap a cylinder cut out; I thought "plug" and my mechanic agreed, so to the pit we went, there to discover that it was not a plug, but that a huge piece had broken away from one valve and gone through the piston. By this time I was desperate. I told the team chief that the car was going on, cylinder or no cylinder, untill it flew to pieces. This it very nearly did, for though we went surprisingly fast considering that the engine could only use three cylinders, the clutch slipped every time we came to the risefor the home banking, and on four sepatate occasions the clutch shaft, which had a sliding joint, slid out of engagement and had to be rammed home by my unfortunate mechanic, while time did nothing to improve what remained of the engine.
Meantime, in beautifull order at equal intervals, line ahead, Segrave, Guinness, and Malcolm Campbell went by the Talbot- Darracq's holding a lap speed of at least ninety m.p.h., Vizcaya and Mones Maury in pursuit with the little Brescia Bugattis, but at consiserably less speed, while in the 1,100 c.c. class E.B. Ware's Morgan led Lombard's Salmson and that exceedingly cheery sportsman, A. Frazer Nash, in a G.N.
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For us, struggling along as best we could, the race was full of incidents, as first Kensington-Moir's Aston-Martin, just after passing,
gushed fuel all over the track, the axle having hit the tank, then M. C. Topping who along with J. Leno, in stupendous yellow overalls,
as mechanic, was driving a very tiny Peugeot, got into quite serious trouble, awfull noises and, apparently, a perfect shower of bits
and pieces, giving dire evidence that the engine had had enough of phenominal revolutions for the day. They had started, it seems, with
a temporary lubrication system, in which Leno poured oil down a tub, carried from what had been a crank-case breather to the dash!
Now and then Stead and Brownsort passed, going well with the older type side-valve cars of our team, and exchanged meaning grimaces; an awfull clatter came from a Bleriot-Whippet on occasions; and once I saw Lombard charge the pits, to the considerable detriment of his Salmson's wheels. Friend went by grimly hanging on to the Talbot-Darracq's; other friends we passed doing exciting things with red-hot metal; and for quite a time I had a great fight with Pradier's crippled Charron-Laycock, which was faster than we were before the wind but slower against it, so that we passed and re-passed for lap after lap, and I regret to say, one mechanic put his tongue out at the other.
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The pace was telling none the less. Brownsort was observed to be changing a radiator, and commenting caustically on affairs in general
to his aggrieved pit manager; Davey's car appeared stationary, having seized its camshaft; the team, barring Stead, seemed completely
out of luck. Then my mechanic spotted the underscreen of a car upside down in the ditch below the Byfleet banking, and simultaneously
I saw the ambulance driving away. Deeply intrigued, we came down close to the inner edge to have a look-see, and were appalled to discover that it was one of our own cars, Munday's, which had burst a tyre and crashed. At the time niether of us knew why the car had turned over, which awoke forthwith unpleasant speculations as to the possible cause. Was it the steering, for instance, or had something important broken which might happen to our mount any moment, a thoroughly unsatisfactory train of thought causing involuntary uprising of the hair! Moreover, kind friends made ominous signs with there thumbs whenever we and they passed the wreck.
And so the afternoon wore on. Segrave, followed by Guinness and then by Campbell, whose car had lost a tyre earlier on, came over the finishing line, still in perfect order, though it was five laps before the winner who had averaged 88.2 m.p.h., could be stopped, and then only by frantically waving a bottle at him from the pits. Frazer Nash, having disposed of the Morgan and the Salmson, won the 1100 c.c. class at 71.54 m.p.h. Cheering and excitment was audiable from the pits, the crowd forsook the railings, the sun showed signs of disappearing too, and still we went on going round, the car making extraordinary noises.Our pit packed up, everybody packed up, we went on untill, just when we could see a chance of finishing, they opened the enclosure gates and let turing cars pour accross the course to the exit gates. We stopped: no more notice was taken of us than when we had been going, I became quite certain that I had been sitting on the nut of a shock absorber arm, a thing that had seemed likely for the last hour. I was very black and very thirsty, so was my mechanic. For all the chances of getting a drink it might have been the Sahara, nothing would induce the engine to start again; there we were, entirely alone. Pushing the car to the vacant pit, we left it there, made our way to the paddock, had a good wash and a huge tea. I saw Jarrott who had been a spectator, and explained; he said that we could have done no more, I felt more satisfied.
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Sammy Davis and Kay Don at Brooklands, 1973, BBC archives-
https://www.facebook.com/BBCArchive/videos/301374610459605/