Brooklands race track to return to use with £4.7m grant

Brooklands race track to return to use with £4.7m grant

Well, this has just about made my year and no mistake!  I doubt there'll be any more welcome [vintage] news in 2015 to trump this, and we're not even a quarter of the way through the year.

Yes, this is the overwhelmingly joyous news (which had me bouncing off the walls in excitement, I can tell you!) that the Brooklands race track in Weybridge, Surrey - first constructed in 1907 but defunct as a motor racing ciruit since the start of the Second World War in 1939, when it was largely built over and used for aircraft production - has been awarded nearly £5,000,000 in Heritage Lottery funding for use in restoring some of the track to its original 1930s condition.

Although efforts have been underway for some time now in this regard, confirmation of the Hertiage Lottery Fund's £4.7million contribution means that the projected overall costs of £7,100,000 have very nearly been met and work will begin soon.  This will involve dismantling the Grade II listed Bellman Hanger (erected by Vickers Aviation in 1940 for the production of Wellington bombers and more recently used to exhibit some of the Brooklands Museum's wonderful aeroplanes) and moving it, plus all its contents, several hundred yards where it will be rebuilt and restored to once again house many aeronautical exhibits.  Once this is done the next exciting part of the work can begin - the restoration of the start-finish straight (above).  Unseen and unused since Vickers built their production facilities over it in 1940, it will once again echo to the cheers of spectators and the roar of racing engines for the first time in 75 years.  Connected to the surviving banking at the north-east corner of the circuit it will provide the longest section of usable track since Brooklands' heyday in the 1920s and '30s.

Alas, despite the somewhat misleading B.B.C. article the entire track will not be returned to use since in the intervening decades a retail park and housing estate have been built over other sections.  Still, this is the best news that could have happened for Brooklands and will certainly return the track to as close to its pre-war glory as is possible.  And with this work, who knows what may be in store for the future?  Maybe we will see a complete circuit yet?

I last went to Brooklands in 2007 when the circuit was celebrating its centenary and what a fantastic day out that was.  Period outfits were worn and famous Brooklands racers including John Cobb's Napier-Railton and the later Napier-Bentley (above).  The Brooklands Musuem put on a fantastic event and is well-worth the visit and, although I didn't have the time or money to experience it on the day, the Mercedes-Benz World complex within the track is reputedly well worth a look-see.  Mercedes' contribution to the circuit's revival should not be overlooked and we owe them a debt of thanks for assisting the Museum in keeping the "Brooklands spirit" alive.



Personally I can't wait to see the results of the "Re-engineering of Brooklands" once it is complete, hopefully by the summer of 2016.  I'm sure it will breathe a whole new lease of life into an already fantastic place and my return there is only a matter of time.  With luck there will be some [period] special events to celebrate the reopening (already Brooklands plays host to many annual events and meetings, including the Double Twelve and 1940s Weekend - which I keep meaning to get along to) and I look forward to seeing the fruits of the restoration - Brooklands 1930s-style!

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.

source

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!

Penny farthing race takes place in Knutsford

Penny farthing race takes place in Knutsford

A charming bit of British eccentricity now, featuring perhaps the most recognisable bicycle design of the last 140 years - the Penny-farthing.

This particular event is all the more gladdening for the fact that it is in aid of a good cause and also that it brings Penny-farthing riders from around the world together to share their common interest. It must be quite an interesting and remarkable sight for the locals as well!

Although the skills needed to ride a bike such as the Penny-farthing may seem alien to those of us more used to conventionally-designed machines, by all accounts the actual riding is quite straightforward and it is more the mounting/alighting and the consequences of falling off that are the greater hazards to overcome. I don't think I shall be trying my luck with a full-size Penny-farthing any time soon, although I'm pleased to see that there is a 21st Century version currently available!

The 2CV race that will not take your breath away

The 2CV race that will not take your breath away

Always capable of raising a smile if nothing else (rather unfairly, as I'm sure some owners would agree) the good old 2CV - Tin Snail, Garden-Shed-on-Wheels, call it what you will - is actually a jolly nice little car and a superb little French success story, having been produced continuously from 1948 until 1990. It is a marvel of simplicity and original design.

They're certainly unusual cars and not normally the sort of thing that would occur to someone as being a good vehicle to form the basis of a 24-hour endurance race. Stories abound of flexing body-shells causing doors to fly open unexpectedly and with their skinny tyres and soft, high-riding suspension (designed so that French farmers could drive across a ploughed field with a crate of eggs on the back seat and not break a single one) they don't exactly lend themselves to spirited driving!

However underneath that unmistakable exterior is some ingenious, quality (for the time) mechanicals that are easy to fix (and modify) and which are sturdy and hard-wearing, as they needed to be for the car's original purpose. Newer variants are also deceptively fast. I myself was once a passenger in a standard 1984 model which reached an indicated 90mph (I say "indicated"; the speedometer only goes up to 90mph and the needle was off the end, so it may even have been a little more! OK, there may have been a slight downward slope to the road and the wind behind us, but still...!). So while it may be slow compared to most racing events (and standard modern-day family cars if it comes to that) the unique qualities of the 2CV must make this a highly entertaining form of motorsport. I don't know that even I would want to watch it for 24 hours straight but nevertheless it does look like a lot of fun!

The driving force of British motorsport

The driving force of British motorsport

A wide-ranging article from the B.B.C. which serves as a nice reminder that Britain is still a world-leader in the field of motorsport, having been one of the founders of the sport. If you ever get the chance to visit the old Brooklands track (and this coming weekend's Double Twelve would be the perfect opportunity) I urge you to do so, for it is drenched in history and full of pioneering automobiles and racing memorabilia; well worth the trip.

Britain has a strong presence in every form of motorsport around the world. Not least in Formula 1, where we have produced the two most recent World Champions and have - as the article mentions - ¾ of all current F1 teams based in this country including some of the top runners. We even have competitive drivers in the likes of the American IndyCar formula.

Once again we see the British flair for engineering and innovation put to good use in an industry that is continually advancing and coming up with new ideas and inventions that will one day find their way on to the cars that the general public can buy. It is heartening to see that, even in these times of economic and supposedly environmental crises, the motorsport industry is riding out a rough patch, looking ahead and going from strength to strength.