Malcolm Campbell's Blue Bird heard in public after 50 years

Malcolm Campbell's Blue Bird heard in public after 50 years

You may remember back in October of 2012 I wrote rather an essay-length blog post about the various Land Speed Record cars and their drivers who dominated the record-breaking scene in the 1920s and '30s.  Sir Malcolm Campbell, one of my personal heroes, featured prominently along with his series of Blue Bird speed cars.

I only briefly mentioned Campbell's first Blue Bird in that post, but now I am delighted to see that it has had its engine run up for the first time in 50 years during an event at its Beaulieu home.  Prior to this Blue Bird I had not run since July 1962 when it was driven by the then Lord Montagu at a Brooklands racing festival.  A disaster during an engine test in the early 1990s nearly put paid to it ever being a moving display again but thanks to the many years' hard work by engineers and enthusiasts at the National Motor Museum the roar of the 350hp Sunbeam Manitou-Arab aero-engine was heard again yesterday.

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Blue Bird record car to fire up

The history of the car up until this point is well-covered in the accompanying articles so I won't bore you by repeating the details here.  Suffice to say it is splendid, as always, to see an important part of British motoring history - from one of my favourite periods - given a new lease of life after sitting dormant for so long.  Blue Bird's story is a thrilling one and I hope this latest news means we will get to see it more often and moving under its own power at events up and down the country.  I note that it is already scheduled to appear at a fascinating-sounding exhibit due to open at Beaulieu on the 20th March, with further work on the gearbox and other ancillaries also planned for this year to bring it back to 1924 record-breaking specification (remarkable when you consider that the original plans were lost during the Second World War).  All of which this wonderful machine fully deserves.

As this particular Blue Bird was also later driven by dance band leader, motor enthusiast and sometime racing driver Billy Cotton that's all the excuse I need to end this post with a song by that same man.  Toodle-pip for now!

Vintage MG SA bought for £30 fetches £60,000 at auction

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Vintage MG SA bought for £30 fetches £60,000 at auction

Easing me back in to the Eclectic Ephemera routine comes this story, of a type that is the welcome bread-and-butter of this blog but none the worse for that.  In fact this will be my third post to feature a restored MG sports car, following on from a jungle discovery two years ago and an under-shed restoration job back in May of 2012.  Now this latest classic MG to make the news features both echoes of the previous two stories as well as some unique coincidences of its own.

Beginning as a seemingly run-of-the-mill tale of vintage car rediscovery and renovation, the story of this particular MG took an interesting turn when it emerged that a remarkable series of circumstances had led to it returning to the same garage from which it had been bought as a second-hand runabout back in 1966.  It's often not unusual for a classic car to be returned to and resold by the same dealer, even over the course of several decades, but this is a rarer occurrence where the car has been sold on privately and made its way through different owners around the country before finding its way back to the 1960s dealer more by sheer happenstance.  That its return should have been noticed by the brother of the man who bought it in '66, and that that man has been reunited with - albeit briefly before it heads off to its new owner at Silverstone - is simply a splendid example of serendipity.

The car is now thought to be the only one of its type to be recently sold in the UK and one of only 90-odd known to still exist.  It is more this fact plus the excellent restoration that one of its later owners undertook on it that has caused it to sell for £60,000 (and I bet that the old owner is kicking himself for letting it go at £70 in 1970!) but this particular twist of fate certainly adds a noteworthy chapter to this car's history.  As mentioned at the beginning of this post it can sit comfortably with the similar MG discoveries featured on this blog, of which I am sure it will not be the last.

Vintage Rolls-Royces honour Spirit of Ecstasy

Vintage Rolls-Royces honour Spirit of Ecstasy by itnnews

Another car manufacturer, another anniversary. This time it is the renowned luxury car maker Rolls-Royce who are celebrating 100 years of their famous Spirit of Ecstasy, or Flying Lady, bonnet mascot.

Although Royces have been built since 1904 it was from 1911 that the Spirit of Ecstasy began to appear on that imposing Grecian grille. Like many great designs it was modelled after a beautiful woman, in this case the mistress of a Tory politician(!). It is rather fitting that the MP in question was Lord Montagu of Beaulieu (an avid motorist who is said to have introduced King Edward VII to the joys of motoring and who became the first person to drive a car to the Houses of Parliament), whose home later became the site of the National Motor Museum.

In pictures: Spirit of Ecstasy Centenary Drive

Since 1911 the Flying Lady has become one of the most well-known symbols in motoring throughout the world and synonymous with one of the most opulent brands available. It is impossible to think of Rolls-Royce without thinking of the Spirit of Ecstasy and what started out as a one-off commission for a single customer has since become a cornerstone of the whole company. A Royce just wouldn't look the same gliding to a halt outside the Savoy without the Flying Lady adorning its nose (although that is now technically possible as all modern Royces have the ability to retract the mascot into the grille to stop it from being stolen!). I think it's safe to say that for as long as there will be a Rolls-Royce there will be a Spirit of Ecstasy atop its prow. Here's to the next 100 years!

I have to admit that I've always been more of a Bentley man myself (ha! to listen to me you'd think I'd been swapping between Bentleys and Royces all my life - I wish!). However there have been a few Royces down the years that I really like, so to help celebrate here are a some of my favourite examples of cars sporting this famous Lady:

(All images courtesy of Supercars.net)

The 1914 Silver Ghost Labourdette Skiff I have already blogged about in my post about wooden-bodied cars, but it deserves another mention here.

In my opinion some of the best Royces of the 20s and 30s were from Rolls-Royce of America Inc. with coachwork by Brewster of Springfield, Massachusetts. The epitome of Art Deco, roaring Twenties glamour!

How about a 27-litre V12 Rolls-Royce Merlin aero engine, later used in the Spitfire fighter, underneath that Spirit of Ecstasy? Then she really would be a Flying Lady! Amazingly in the 1970s a 1931 Phantom II was re-engineered to accept a Merlin engine and later restored in 2007. One can scarcely imagine what it must be like to drive a car that has 1,100 horsepower and was able to out-accelerate a 1958 Vanwall F1 racer! And what must it sound like?! Glorious, in every sense of the word.

Royces quickly became popular with the super-rich Maharajahs of India, who decorated their cars in their own inimitable fashion. Words can't do justice to this Silver Ghost, so I won't even try. I love the whole thing, but the snakes on the wings are a great touch(!).

This 1935 Phantom I Jonckheere Coupe is simply gorgeous. Its streamlined shape just screams 30s Art Deco decadence. Check out the circular door!

The body for this 1947 Phantom III Labourdette Vutotal Cabriolet cost $44,000 alone, which equates to about $325,000 in today's money! Those inserts are actually brass, not gold, in case you're wondering. My taste's not that vulgar(!).