Tag Archives: Prescott

The Ultimate Laxative – Napier Bentley

5 Replies

This year marked the first time I have witnessed a hill climb event in fact I liked it so much the first time I went to two the first at Prescott and the second at Loton Park. Both were VSCC run meetings and highly entertaining despite the fact that no over taking is guaranteed.

The reason I enjoy these events is because of the breath taking variety of vehicles many by manufacturers long since disappeared and probably most models are completely unknown to me. Falling into the category vehicles unknown to me is this beautiful Napier Bentley driven by Christopher Williams which races in the Pre 1941 Racing Cars over 3000cc 183 cui class.

The car easily qualifies for the big engined class as it is powered by a Napier Lion Marine engine rescued from a WW2 Motor Torpedo boat. The 550hp engine is a 24,000 cc / 1464.5 cui, Arrow 12 with 3 banks of 4 cylinders that was originally developed in 1917 for aircraft applications being used in over 160 different aircraft types, the engine was also used to power Sir Malcom Cambell to over 250 mph in 1932, and John Cobb to 394 mph in 1947.

This car was originally built by David Llewellyn in 1968 with a Sunbeam chassis but after an accident the Sunbeam chassis was replaced by a 1929 chassis from an 8 litre Bentley. Chris Williams , see the man in the bowler hat, has been looking after it since 1999.

It would appear a sense of humour is essential to drive such a fearsome beast…

….easily capable of spinning its wheels in any gear.

Just noticed that Gettin’ a lil’ psycho on tyres has somehow made it through it’s first month and has just had it’s 1,000 th page view ! Thanks to everyone who has popped by and especially all those who have contributed to making this so much fun, looking forward to tomorrow’s instalment of Gettin’ a lil’ psycho on tyres already, don’t forget to come back now !

Share

Superleggera ! A Q car to leave Mr Bond eating dust – Aston Martin DB4 GT

5 Replies

Anybody who thinks of them selves as any kind of a car enthusiast will have to admit a visit to a VSCC meeting at Prescott is worth it just to see the mouth watering vehicles in the car park.

The vehicle above is a case in point. When I first saw it I thought it was a DB5 or DB6 those faired in lights were a bit of a give away… but boy was I ever wrong ! The clue as to the identity of this vehicle is the ‘egg box grill’ which predates the horizontal bars of the grill of a DB5 or DB6, making this model a DB4 of series 3 or earlier.

The red and white badge in the centre of the grill indicates that the owner is a member of the Institute of Advanced Motorists.

The car bears the legendary Superleggera badge on the side of the bonnet indicating it is built using the light weight tubeframe duraluminium construction pioneered and licensed by Carrozeria Touring of Milan.

At 5 inches shorter than the 1110 regular DB4’s this car is one of only 75 DB4 GT’s sharing the same short wheel base chassis as the 20 original DB4 GT Zagato’s (plus 4 Sanction II’s and 2 Sanction III’s). The DB4 GT also has thinner body panels than the standard DB4 and an upgraded 302 hp 3750 cc / 228 cui in line 6 cylinder engine distinguishable by a twin spark plug head. It was capable of 153 mph (8 miles and hour faster than Mr Bonds DB5) and 0 – 60 in just 6.1 secs, not bad for 1959 !

The final give away that this model is a DB4 GT are the clearly visible bulky racing fuel filler caps. If like me you like your performance vehicles to be slightly understated, relative to say the DB4 GT Zagato then you’ll absolutely love this car.

Thanks for dropping by, don’t forget to come back now !

Share

Was one of these Fraser Nash BMW’s an antecedent of the AC Cobra ?

6 Replies

At the August VSCC Prescott meeting one of the things that stood out was that the car park was almost as interesting as the Paddock.

For example pictured here in the car park is what I believe to be a Fraser Nash (UK BMW importer and assemblers amongst many other things for those not in the know) BMW 315/1.

Amazingly the car above is also a Fraser Nash BMW 315/1, dating from 1935 according to the VSCC programme, but the bodywork stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the traditional VSCC fare in the paddock at Prescott.

My first thought was that it might be a Tojerio body or AC Ace body, or at least a copy of either of those two vehicles dating back to 1952 and 1953 respectively, I also wondered how this car could possibly qualify to run in a VSCC event which generally caters for pre WW2 vehicles.

Thanks to Tim Murray at the TNF Forum I found out what the story behind the aluminium (English pronunciation please) bodied BMW 315/1 special, though there are many question marks around this vehicle, not least who actually commissioned it in the first place ?

It turns out this vehicle was originally supplied with body work by Abbots of Farnham and then after the War turned up, sans body, in the hands of a chemist who took it to Williams & Pritchard of London, a small sub contracting bodywork shop before WW2, a Spitfire fuselage workshop during WW2 which returned to doing repairs and bodywork after WW2.

The owner of the chassis took with him a pile of motoring magazines and sat down with Williams & Pritchard and pointed out all the features he wanted incorporated into the new bodywork for his old BMW.

When did this happen you may well ask ? 1965 ? 1960 ? 1955 ? after the Tojerio and AC Ace had been around ? 1950 ? none of the above amazingly the aluminium body work dates back to 1948 four years before the Tojerio which famously morphed into the AC Ace !

The Fraser Nash BMW 315/1 is allowed to compete in VSCC events because the body sits on a prewar chassis.

More information on Williams & Pritchard and the story of this car can be found here.

Hope you enjoyed today’s blog and will join me again tomorrow.

Share

Happy 100th Birthday British and Colonial Aeroplane Company, Ltd !

5 Replies

What better way to celebrate the start of my blogging career, than with a centenary celebration in honour of the company that started my local exclusive vehicle manufacturer, The Bristol Car Company.

Unfortunately I missed the celebrations at Filton this weekend where 200 odd Bristol’s, nearly 5% of all Bristol’s ever made, were on display but have already made arrangements to be at the 101st birthday party.

Bristol 400, Prescott

Above is a photo taken at the Prescott VSCC meeting back in August of what I believe to be one of the 487 Bristol 400’s made between 1947 and 1950.

The Bristol 400 featured a 1971 cc ohv straight 6 which, along with the chassis and bodywork, was based on the pre war BMW 327.

Some great snaps, by my friend Tim Murray, from the centenary celebrations can be seen at The Nostalgia Forum here.

Hope you enjoyed my first blog and as they used to say on one of my favourite TV show’s ‘y’all come back now ! Hear !’

Share