Monocars
From time to time prior to World War 2, there were attempts to popularise single-seater road cars, and at one period they had a considerable vogue. The theme, "He who travels alone travels fastest" seems to have been the bait dangled in front of the early enthusiasts who, wishing for the performance of a motorcycle, wanted to be on four wheels. Sir John Carden (then Mr. John Carden), before the First World War, was the originator of the idea. The 5-h.p. Carden was essentially a simple vehicle, having either a single gear or two speeds. The 654-c.c. (70 x 85-mm.) J.A.P. side-valve engine was mounted at the rear, outrigger fashion, and drove the solid axle by chain. A multi-plate clutch was used, steering was by wire and bobbin, and there was no frame in the true sense of the word, the springs being attached to the body. Suspension was by a single spiral spring at the front, and cantilevers at the rear. Total weight of the monocar was 3-cwt., so performance was inclined to be somewhat startling.
After the war the Carden reappeared as the A.V., but grew another seat in 1920. A racing A.V. was also built, and, in the hands of Major Empson, did remarkably well at Brooklands and at various hill-climbs. The layout of the A.V. was also continued in the later Tamplin, but this make was generally made in two-seater form. The editorial staff of The Light Car made a deter¬mined attempt to popularise the movement. Spurred on by Hum¬phrey Symons, a prototype "saloon" was designed and built, which Symons motored around the countryside with great satis¬faction. This extraordinary little car was powered by a Scott water-cooled two-cylinder two-stroke engine, and attracted con¬siderable attention wherever it appeared. W. G. McMinnies, another member of that early band of enthusiasts, was the proud owner of a single-seat Morgan three- wheeler.
Prior to the Kaiser war, McMinnies was on the staff of The Cyclecar, and his "Jabberwock" was an outstanding per¬former in the competitions of the period. Monocars never actually caught the imagination of the general public, and it will be interesting to see the reaction to the modern Larmar, which, although primarily constructed for disabled drivers, has distinct possibilities as a single-seater sports car.
Anderson Specials
Some of the "home made" specials featured in pre-war British motorsport. These machines were very ingenious indeed, and often proved so successful that they even went into production, the Allard being cited as an example. Although many of the cars were merely bits and pieces of well-known makes, assembled to the builders' own ideas of what constitutes a sports or racing car, a certain number were genuine "blue-print jobs." Probably the most original and ingenious vehicles from this era, excluding the factory specials of course, were the wonderful Anderson Specials, the work of James Anderson, a Scottish garage proprietor and brilliant engineer.
Even at his first attempt he produced a sports car that was capable of competing on equal grounds with the most expensive types. The Andersons were amongst the few sports cars that could be used in every branch of the sport. It was a great pity that Anderson steadfastly refused to consider going into production with them, as he has had scores and scores of requests from all over the world to produce replicas of his four-wheel-drive cars. The Anderson vehicles were in the highest class as regards workmanship and general layout. The four-wheel-drive car had actually got a chassis that could be raised or lowered pneumatically in order to alter the ground clearance for trials and so on.
Unsprung weight was comparable with the German Grand Prix racing cars, and it was possible to lift any one wheel (they are all independently sprung) off the ground using one finger. The cars were powered by a beautifully made flat-eight engine, which was originally conceived in the mid 1920s. Early versions had two
Austin Seven blocks mounted horizontally, but subsequent Andersons were built using two Humber Nine blocks. Performance was startling, although maximum speeds were not high. The front-wheel-drive special had acceleration and road-holding comparable with a racing car, and with phenomenal silence. It was said at the time that the car made Scottish trials look so absurdly easy that it was responsible for the ban on four-wheel drive.
The MacDermid Special
Another ingenious trials car is the MacDermid Special, which has a rear-located Lancia Aprilia power unit. This car has only just reappeared in competitions after being laid up for the entire war period, but its performance augurs well for its future. It was conceived by R. A. MacDermid, one of the most successful M.G. trials drivers. J. G. Fry seems to have acquired it. In the main, trials specials are basically Ford V8-engined vehicles with a high power-weight ratio, low gear ratios, high ground clearance, small turning circle, and extremely skimpy bodies. Notable cars include Norman Terry's Terryford, D. W. Price's Price Special, Ken Hutchison's old Hutchison Special, Lloyd-Jones' Triangle Special (V8), Hankins's Ford V8-engined Singer, J. G. R. Watson's supercharged MacCulloch Special, J. R. Lines Lines Special, G.Crozier's twin-blown Crozier Special, A. H. Alexander's two Specials, 10-h.p. and 30-h.p„ W. C. C. Butler's Butler Special, and many others.
A notable exception to the Ford dominance is the M.G. Magna-powered Wolseley Hornet, which rejoiced in the name of Ophelia (O feelya tyres grippin'). In the hands of C. C. Evans and Cyril Butler, its fabricators, it won several of classic events in the face of fierce competition from Britain's best trials devices. Its stable-mate, "Daisy," sprang from "Starkadder," a highly potent hill-stormer fabricated from parts of a G.N. and powered by a 1924 six- cylinder A.C. engine. Several Austin-inspired specials are also to be seen battling their way through mud, and among the most successful were those piloted by A. R. Mallock, Ken Wharton, and Holland Birkett. Much of the credit for the popularity of Austin rebuilt specials must go to the officials of the 750 Club, and the great vintage enthusiast, W. Boddy, editor of Motor Sport during the 1940s. The L.M.B. Specials were mainly powered by Ford V8 or supercharged Ford Ten engines, and all featured the famous "knock-kneed " suspension, which seems to defy all the known laws relating to the behaviour of the front wheels, but was extraordinarily successful, nevertheless.
Bloody Mary
However, most of the ingenuity seems to have been reserved for the speed hill-climb type of event, mainly at Shelsley, where the name Shelsley Special was applied to practically all hybrid racing machines devised for scaling steep acclivities at rapid rate. The most universal specials were simply G.N. chassis and transmission with highly tuned big-twin motor-cycle engines. The Bolster cars went a step further in that the famous "Bloody Mary" employed two large engines, whilst another one boasted of no fewer than four power units. The sight of the imperturbable Bolster, sitting almost on the ground, with elbows raised in order to avoid the frightful maze of engines and whirring chains, streaking up Shelsley Walsh, probably to record the best un-supercharged time of the day, was, according to many, well worth seeing.
The Freikaiserwagen and Kaiserwagen
Another extremely potent special was the Freikaiserwagen, which was mainly Morgan, with a blown K.M.C. Blackburne o.h.v. twin engine mounted at the rear. The name was a tribute to its sponsors, the cousins David and Joe Fry, and Dick Cassar. The latter also raced the Kaiserwagen, which had a six-cylinder A.C.engine. C. P. Vaughan was also a familiar sight in the famous old Becke Powerplus which was built originally by Von der Becke, and then acquired by S. H. Newsome. The old car seemed to get faster and faster as each season came. Considering that the power unit was based on the old Wolseley Moth Ten of the very early 1920s, this vehicle was indeed a hill-climb wonder.
The Dowson Lightweight Special
There is no doubt whatsoever that the most beautiful sprint special ever devised was the Dowson Lightweight Special. This incredibly fast little car has actually beaten the works' official side-valve Austins on several occasions, using a 1931 Ulster-type Austin power unit with a high-pressure supercharger. It was constructed almost entirely from light alloys, and the wheels were independently sprung by means of rubber rings. The single-seater body was wonderfully streamlined, and the car looked just like a miniature G.P. Mercedes.
Some of the 500-c.c. specials that followed WW2 were models of ingenuity. Colin Strang fitted an o.h.v. Vincent-H.R.D. single-cylinder engine in the rear of a Fiat 500 chassis, using a very clever transmission system. H. C. Lones, famous Morgan three-wheeler exponent, managed to fit a T.T.-type o.h.v. J.A.P. single in an Ulster-Austin frame. In spite of a compression ratio of over 10 to 1, Lones' inordinate shyness prevented him asking the help of people to shove him off, and he fitted a self-starter which really worked. The little car was known as the "Tiger Kitten" and was a suitable name for the descendant of the twin-cylinder "Tiger Cat.
Many specials achieved considerable fame, and it is worth while listing a few: Davenport's Spider, mainly G.N. with Frazer-Nash pieces based on the amazing old overhead-camshaft big-twin power unit built about 1922; Moor's Wasp, with Norton cylinder heads; Nash's Terror, a very special Frazer-Nash; Walter Watkins' Watkins Special, Frazer- Nash-cum-J.A.P.; Woodall's Chatterbox, Morgan plus J.A.P. plus everything else; Carlmark's odd-looking but beautifully made Carlmark Special, J.A.P. engine in G.N. chassis, mounted at the rear, and no rear suspension; Instone's noisy G.N. with supercharged big-twin engine which is known as "The Martyr" George Povey's miniature dirt-track car, with wheels about the size of dinner-plates; Clegg's big-twin Dorcas, of Brooklands Test-hill fame; Skinner's supercharged Morris Minor and Hudson-engined Morris Minor; Spikins' Singer-engined and Hudson-engined Specials; Waddy's incredible two-engined, four-wheel-drive Fuzzi; Brooke's Riley, which always grew a different power department ranging from M.G. to Alta and E.R.A., and many others too numerous to mention. The intense interest in 500-c.c. racing, stimulated by the success of Strang, Cooper, Lones, and others, will doubtless bring into being an even greater number of specials. The fierce competition will almost certainly bring in professional participation, and it is not idle to surmise that engines of an R.A.C. rating of 3.5-h.p. might well produce over twenty times that in terms of b.h.p. After all, the Norton motor-cycle engine was said to push out some 53 b.h.p. for the 1938 T.T. without the aid of forced induction, and who knows what future designs will produce, backed by the tremendous advances made in internal-combustion engines during the 193945 Great War of the Nations.
Three-Wheelers
From time to time several attempts have been made to break into the market for three-wheeled cars, monopolised for so long by the Morgan. Whilst the majority lasted only for a very short period, one or two were very successful in their day, notably the T.B., which was an excellent little sports car in every way, and accomplished some remarkable feats in strenuous six-day trials, mostly piloted by F. S. Spouse, who later drove Morgans. Unlike the Morgan, the T.B. made use of shaft drive, and had cantilever springs at the rear, and quarter-elliptic at the front. It used a J.A.P. twin-cylinder power unit, and its radiator was strangely reminiscent of early Bugattis. The Castle-Three was an attempt to market a light car on three wheels, having a four-cylinder water-cooled Dorman engine and shaft-and-bevel final drive. Its weight (and high price) were not in its favour, and it did not make an appeal to prospective owners of three-wheelers, who expected performance akin to the Morgan . . . and didn't get it! >The Coventry-Premier was a promising design, and its performance was nearly up to Malvern standards.
A notable feature was the total enclosure of the rear chain in an oil-tight case. TheWooler-Mule, put out by the manufacturers of the Wooler motorcycles, had the distinction of being one of the very few three- wheelers to have final drive by belt. The Royal Ruby had many sporting characteristics, especially after it underwent a metamorphosis in the hands of W. D. Hawkes, but also did not survive very long. The Omega promised well, and was a delightful little machine to handle, but the makers concentrated on their motor-cycles more. Coventry-Victors had a steady market for many years in the Midlands, and it was indeed a great pity that the streamlined, Beauvais-bodied two- seater had not a performance in keeping with its ultra-sporting lines, especially as the o.h.v. flat-twin 750-c.c. power unit was capable of a very high power output indeed. One of the rare examples of the single wheel in front was to be found in the Raleigh, which had quite a vogue in the middle 1930s, but did not particularly appeal to the sporting motorist. The little J.M.B. was strictly utilitarian, having a single-cylinder engine and no pretensions as to high performance. The same can be said of the Hilton-Peacey (H.P.), which was designed more as an economical means of transport rather than as a sporting three-wheeler. >Many other makes appeared at spasmodic intervals, but all notably failed when it came to competition work and ability to maintain the high cruising speeds of the Morgans. (See also B.S.A. and Morgan.)
Miscellaneous Cars
Not mentioned in the following pages here at Unique Cars and Parts are other makes made in very small numbers, such as Arab, Surrey, Windsor, Hatton-McEvoy, L.M.B., Epoch, Leidart V8, Moveo, Reynard, Maudslay, etc. The Maudslay was the most interesting of the forementioned, even although it is doubtful whether it actually passed the prototype stage. At any rate, the chassis that was exhibited at the 1923 Motor Show created great interest from a technical point of view. A six-cylinder twin overhead-camshaft power unit was used, with a capacity of 1991 c.c. (65 x 100-mm.). The camshafts were operated from the rear of the engine by means of a crankshaft- driven gearwheel, a half-time gearwheel, and an eccentric controlling the base of a Y-shaped timing arm. The upper arms of the " Y " drove the camshafts through the medium of suitably arranged cranks.
The crankshaft itself was built up of seven interchangeable units held together by taper and bolt. The shaft itself ran on nine bearings. Both camshafts were supported on roller bearings, and, following motor-cycle practice, caged-roller big-ends were used. Other features were a turbine pattern water pump, and twin Solex carburetters. Half-elliptic springing was employed, the rear being underslung. A fully floating rear axle was fitted. The Maudslay was altogether a most promising design. The Moveo originated from Preston around 1932, but few cars appear to have been completed. The prototype chassis had a 3-litre (72.5 x 120-mm.) o.h.v. six-cylinder Meadows engine fitted with twin Amal carburetters, and said to develop about 75 b.h.p. at 3,800 r.p.m. The chassis had deep-section side members upswept front and rear to accommodate long, flat, semi-elliptic springs. Lockheed hydraulic brakes worked in 17-in. drums and a four-speed gearbox was fitted. Supercharged editions were also proposed and the chassis was also announced as being available with the 4.5-litre Meadows engine.
Very little information exists about the Moveo in competition reports from the era. The Reynard was designed and built in Highgate about 1931, but that appears to have been as far as it went. The well-known four-cylinder 1496-c.c. (69 x 100-mm.) Meadows o.h.v. engine was used, which, with twin Zenith carburetters and a 6 to 1 compression, pushed out over 45 b.h.p. at 4,000 r.p.m. Apart from its ultra-low build (somewhat after the lines of the Riley Brooklands Nine), it followed a conventional pattern with semi-elliptic springs and a four-speed gearbox.
Chief interest in the L.M.B. Epoch centred round its tubular chassis, which was of the backbone type. The engine was a blown version of the Ford " Ten," and the entire car was sturdily constructed more as a trials car than anything else. It featured the well-known L.M.B. split-axle i.f.s. Leslie Ballamy seems to have built only one Epoch, and it was a promising little vehicle altogether for the trials man. One or two sporting versions of the Windsor were produced around 1923. A four-cylinder 1352-c.c. (65 x 101-mm.), o.h.v. (pushrod) engine was featured together with single-plate clutch and four-speed gearbox (standard ratios, 4.44, 7.5, 10.4 and 17 to 1). A curious point concerning the four-wheel braking system of the car was that the rear brakes were arranged to operate before those on the front wheels. This was said to cut out skidding altogether. The 12/40 Star was produced as a 70 m.p.h. two-seater in 1927. It had a 1945-c.c. (69 x 130-mm.), o.h.v. (push-rod) four- cylinder engine and four-speed gearbox.
Parts and Accessories
It could be argued that it was the period prior to World War 2 that saw the biggest advances in motoring technology. At that time, however, it was mainly the accessories people rather than the manufacturers themselves that spent enormous sums in development work, and depended for much of their experimental work on racing, trials and record-breaking. It was only by subjecting their products to the high stresses encountered under racing or trials conditions that weaknesses in design and construction can be rectified before passing on the product to the user. The accessories people made great use of Brooklands before the war, and it was a severe handicap that there was no suitable spot where sustained high speeds can be attempted immediately after the war. There is no denying the fact that the famous old track saw the birth of many components which were to become everyday fitments on all sports cars, to say nothing of normal touring vehicles.
Prior to Workd War 2 the British trials were a first-rate testing-ground, and there was nothing quite like a few miles of really rough going to discover which of the odd stays and brackets were likely to work loose or fracture. Tribute must be paid to the very large part played by the Lockheed concern in developing hydraulic brakes, and to Girling and Bendix for perfecting the mechanical type and their contribution not only to British car manufacture, but that of other nations. It is significant that the ultra-successful German Auto Union and Mercedes Benz G.P. racing cars depended on Lockheeds for their powerful anchors. Also, the post-war Girling was adapted for hydraulic operation, and was a further vindication of the system that first appeared on the little Triumph Super Sevens of the 1920s..
Technical advancements were not restricted to braking - steering during this era was brought to a high pitch of efficiency by the highly specialised concerns that manufactured Burman Douglas, Marles-Weller and Bishop steering-gear units. Suspension was largely dependent on the makers of proprietary shock absorbers such as
Lucas (Luvax-Girling), Armstrong, Newton, Hartford and others. Rudge-Whitworth and Dunlop road wheels were to be found on the majority of British sports cars, whilst the safety of every fast car is in the capable hands of the tyre makers such as Dunlop, Goodyear, Firestone, Hutchison, Avon, John Bull and many others.
Greatly increased power output was taken care of by clutches mainly of Borg and Beck manufacture, although some cars were fitted with the Newton centrifugal unit, which was ideally suited to pre-selective gearboxes. After World War 2 the majority of car manufacturers assembled their own gearboxes, but even in the early 1950s some preferred to use well-tried proprietary boxes such as Moss, Wilson and Cotal. In practically every case prop, shafts were supplied by Hardy-Spicer, and a large number of manufacturers made use of the E.N.V. transmission. Clutch linings, as well as brake linings, came mostly from the works that produce Ferodo and Don friction linings.
Carburetters could be of Solex, Zenith, Stromberg or S.U. manufacture, with a decided preference for the last-named by the makers of sporting machinery. The S.U. responded more readily than the fixed jet types to tuning, and was well suited to multi-carburetter layouts. The S.U. people also made the famous electric petrol pumps, and S.U. equipment was standardised on sports cars of the calibre of M.G., H.R.G., and Healey. Mechanical petrol pumps were usually of AC manufacture. Terry valve springs were standardised on the majority of high- performance engines, and the need for tappet adjustment could be entirely obviated with the Lockheed Zero-Lash tappet system.
Lucas Electrics
In the world of electrics
Lucas had practically a monopoly on British cars. In addition to a wide range of head-lamps, the famous Birmingham concern produced a wide variety of electrical accessories such as coils, distributors, magnetos, batteries, windscreen wipers, and dozens of other items standardised on British sports cars. Prior to World War 2 drivers who liked to travel quickly by night often chose the world-famous P. 100 long- range head-lamps - these being fitted as standard equipment to many of Britain’s fastest road cars. Only the French Marchal and German Zeiss head-lights were comparable with the P. 100 series. There were several manufacturers specialising in car batteries in addition to
Lucas, such as Exide, Young, Tungstanite and Nife. There was a considerable choice of spark plugs, and makers developed types suitable for every known make of power unit, whether for touring or out-and-out racing. Constant research was taking place in the large factories turning out Lodge, K.L.G.. Champion and AC-Sphinx spark plugs.
The Burgess Straight-Through Silencer
Smith or Jaeger instruments were found on the majority of British sports cars, and the accuracy of these very vital components was bound up with years of development through racing, and they were genuine miracles of precision engineering. On sports cars the Ashby or Bluemel steering wheels were the fashionable wear. These spring-spoked wheels were a lasting "tribute" to the none-too-smooth surface of Brooklands, where high-speed laps for lengthy periods was out of the question unless a fairly flexible steering wheel was used. Exhaust back-pressure was always a thorny problem on high-performance cars. If the gases were allowed to pass unobstructed to the outer atmosphere, the healthy crackle beloved of the true enthusiast generally resulted in the long arm of the law procuring a piece of wire, and other peculiar devices, for poking up the exhaust pipe. However, the Burgess straight-through silencer was practically free from back-pressure, and yet managed to retain a distinctive exhaust note not likely to offend the listeners in blue uniforms. The same could also be said for the Servais, which were also of the straight-through variety.
Superchargers
Superchargers were always associated with really fast sports cars from the pre-war ear, and there was a time when quite a number of cars were marketed with blowers. These were generally of Cozette, Centric, Arnott, Powerplus, Marshall or Zoller manufacture, with a few examples of the Roots-type by several concerns. The Alta had always been marketed with a Roots-type blower, constructed by Geoffrey Taylor himself. Cozette blowers were to be found on the early Lea-Francis and Austin super-sports cars. M.G. favoured Powerplus on the first K. type Magnettes, but the famous K.3 was fitted with a Marshall. A Zoller was provided on the extremely fast 750-c.c. Q-type M.G., and this well-known unit developed so well by M. A. McEvoy and Laurence Pomeroy, Jr., could also be had on certain Lagonda models. It was eventually fitted to some of the fastest pre-war racing cars, such as Raymond Mays' E.R.A.
Many Frazer-Nash cars used Centric installations, whilst Atalanta had a preference for the Arnott low-pressure system. Superchargers, adapted to engines capable of withstanding the added stresses of forced induction, were generally very reliable. Over a given distance, a car fitted with a blower and suitable gear ratios would often better the petrol consumption of a similar and normally aspirated car, owing to its ability to perform much better in the higher gears. Chris Shorrock, who was mainly responsible for the original Centric installations, became associated with the Clyde supercharger after WW2, built by a Dagenham engineering concern. The Clyde was used successfully on Goldie Gardner's incredible 750-c.c. M.G., which took international records in Belgium in 1946. A Shorrock design was also fitted to Gardner's 500-c.c. record-breaker. Low-pressure installations for standard cars were marketed by other concerns such as Arnott's (Carburetters, Ltd.) and the North Downs Engineering Co., Ltd. (Nordec).
