BRITISH RACING GREEN The Morgan project was built by two high school students who had “grown up” with cyclekarts but had scant practical fabrication experience when they began. Plenty when they finished! Their Morgan was Gittreville’s first electric. The builders, both experienced racers, wanted to emphasize responsibility and pursue absolute efficiency with their build. The Morgan initially had an 800W motor and a 36V lead-acid (AGM) battery pack. In its
The 1914 French Grand Prix is reputed to be one of the greatest races of the twentieth century. After a Hiatus of 5 years Mercedes returned to the GP scene in 1914. Engines were now restricted to 4.5 litre for the first time so Mercedes drew on their Aero engine division to come up with a new high revving engine. A team of 5 Mercedes 18/100 turned up to what
The British race car with the Italian sounding name. The LAGONDA car company was founded in 1906 in Staines, England, by Wilbur Gunn, with the moniker chosen for the Shawnee name of his native Springfield, Ohio. In 1935 Lagonda shrewdly wooed W.O. Bentley away from prestigious Rolls Royce to design his now infamous V-12 which was launched in 1937. Later in 1939 the simply dubbed ‘V12’ was one of two
Firstly, there was the car. The glorious green giants thundering along England’s country lanes; Sir Henry ‘Tim” Birkin was one of the famed “Bentley Boys”, and campaigned a privateer Bentley Four and a half liter monoposto. Over fourteen feet long, and weighing nearly two tons, the car was huge. There is a reason why Bugatti’s reported description of the Bentleys of the day as being “the world’s fastest trucks” has
In 1923 Austin sent a team of three cars to contest the Voiturette Race in Boulogne, France. The Austin Seven Boulogne was part of The Great Austin Seven Build Off with fellow Austin Seven inspired cars: the BMW 35/15 PS-DA3 Wartburg, the Rosengart LR2 and Bruce McLaren’s Austin Seven racer. I have a lot of these profiles to personally compile having built ten cars either alone or as a team