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Graham Hill in a motorised bath tub!


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#1 piperp2

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Posted 16 July 2009 - 14:37

Does anyone know anything about the picture below, it looks like Graham Hill in a motorised bath tub! I obtained it from some recent slides given to me from 1960/1961

Posted Image[/img]

Edited by piperp2, 16 July 2009 - 15:24.


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#2 Vitesse2

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Posted 16 July 2009 - 15:14

Boxing Day at Brands Hatch, 1959 :)

http://forums.autosp...w...t&p=3281909 et seq

#3 piperp2

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Posted 16 July 2009 - 15:25

Boxing Day at Brands Hatch, 1959 :)

http://forums.autosp...w...t&p=3281909 et seq



Vitesse

Many thanks

#4 Doug Nye

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Posted 16 July 2009 - 21:03

Perhaps laterally reversed?

DCN

#5 Vitesse2

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Posted 16 July 2009 - 21:09

Perhaps laterally reversed?

DCN

Yes, that occurred to me afterwards, Doug.

#6 bradbury west

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Posted 16 July 2009 - 21:41

It depends if the cars are on South Bank.
Roger Lund

#7 Vitesse2

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Posted 16 July 2009 - 23:29

It depends if the cars are on South Bank.
Roger Lund

I don't think that's in dispute.

But if the picture's the right way round then Graham's either driving the thing anti-clockwise or it had a reverse gear capable of getting it up Druid's Hill!

#8 bradbury west

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Posted 17 July 2009 - 06:59

Doug and Richard, you are right. In the Ward pictures the tiller seems to indicate right hand operation and the brush/mirror is also on the right hand side, as clearly confirmed in Autosport Jan 1 1960. p26
RL

#9 DUFFY

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Posted 01 June 2015 - 17:44



#10 Vitesse2

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Posted 01 June 2015 - 18:08

There's also a Pathé News report on its earlier run from Bath to London, which took place on November 14th 1959:

 

 

This is how it was reported that day - as front page news - in the Bath Chronicle. Obviously the name they gave it is somewhat politically incorrect ...

 

 

Sambo, The Ugly Duckling, Goes to Town

Complete with rubber duck, scrubbing brush and taps, a 1927 cast iron bath rolled smoothly away from outside Bath Abbey this morning on the first stage of a Bath to London run - by bath.

The bath, fitted with wheels, steering and a motor scooter engine, was designed by final year mechanical students from Kingston College, Surrey. The purpose of the stunt is to raise money for charities.

This morning the gaily-coloured tub attracted a large crowd at the junction of Cheap Street and High Street. As the bath-robed driver, David Harding, took up position a cheer went up from the crowd.

In all 13 students, who travelled to Bath on Friday, will drive the bath for half-hour periods and will be preceded by a loud-speaker van, followed by two cars. The bath's top speed is 35mph.

The vehicle has been built to comply with the Road Transport Acts and has a foot brake, a water cover mounted on a hoop, gear lever with a model duck attached and a back-scrubbing brush with recessed miror.

It has been named Sambo, for Simply Another Motorised Bath Operation.

The bath recently appeared on Cliff Michelmore's TV programme "Tonight". This morning it was again filmed for TV.

I've just noticed that Cliff Michelmore actually autographed it too!



#11 Dick Dastardly

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Posted 01 June 2015 - 19:20

Does anyone know anything about the picture below, it looks like Graham Hill in a motorised bath tub! I obtained it from some recent slides given to me from 1960/1961

img003.jpg[/img]

 

I can picture him testing this with a very young Damon in the bath :drunk:



#12 raceannouncer2003

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Posted 02 June 2015 - 05:41

hill_in_tub_MR.jpg

 

I thought this was among some photos by Ted Langton-Adams from the 1962 Nurburgring 1000 km, but maybe not.

 

Vince H.


Edited by raceannouncer2003, 02 June 2015 - 05:43.


#13 Glengavel

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Posted 02 June 2015 - 06:10

Encouraged by his rave reviews for 'Grand Prix', Mr Hill's subsequent audition for 'Last of the Summer Wine' was sadly fruitless.



#14 Jimisgod

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Posted 02 June 2015 - 07:09

 

How does it steer?



#15 Vitesse2

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Posted 02 June 2015 - 07:36

How does it steer?

It's not immediately obvious, but I'd guess the motorcycle twist grip is pivoted in some way and connected to the single front wheel through a series of gearwheels. At low speeds you probably wouldn't need to turn that front wheel much in order to change direction. There are some out-takes on the British Pathé site which confirm the impression given in the stills that the thing was controlled with one hand only. First twenty seconds or so:

 

http://www.britishpa...cp-uni-3-mobile



#16 Stephen W

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Posted 02 June 2015 - 08:26

Didn't they drive the vehicle from London to Brands for Graham's test drive?

 

:eek:



#17 Dick Dastardly

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Posted 02 June 2015 - 09:01

Registration....999 Miles Per Bath :drunk:



#18 2F-001

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Posted 02 June 2015 - 09:18

I think it might use rear-wheel steering...

It could possibly use the French 'front-wheel-drive bike' principle, but it uses a scooter rear end and from the engine-bay shot it appears the engine has no room to swing to the right within the confines of the tub (see what I did there?).
Making the driven wheel steer in that installation would seem ludicrously complex for such a project.

Those two rear-mounted scooter front wheel units are installed so they can rotate on the steerer tubes, with what might be a light-but rigid lateral link between them. There seems to be more than the brake lines running to the rear wheels, though it's not clear how this connects to the tiller (or pedal?). There is another left-hand control but that clearly isn't the steering.
In the longer Pathé clip the rear wheels appear to move a little (which is all they need), whilst the front doesn't.

It might be more desirable to have the driven wheel at the back, like a Morgan or Grinnell Scorpion; but for reasons of appearance and 'driver-packaging', the taps and the blunt end do need to be at the front - a rear-engined layout would have necessitated the drivetrain being at least partially exposed, which would negate the minimalist 'it's just a bathtub' aesthetic.

Try getting something like that through IVA these days...


Edited by 2F-001, 02 June 2015 - 09:33.


#19 Gary Davies

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Posted 02 June 2015 - 09:42

Was a motorised bath tub lap record for Brands ever formally recognised?  :eek:  :blush:  :cool:  :wave:   ;)



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#20 Stephen W

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Posted 03 June 2015 - 08:31

Was a motorised bath tub lap record for Brands ever formally recognised?  :eek:  :blush:  :cool:  :wave:   ;)

 

No as Graham didn't complete a "flying lap".



#21 Tim Murray

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Posted 03 June 2015 - 09:10

It might be true that he wasn't exactly flying, but he did complete a lap or two:
 

The motorised bathtub was driven by Graham Hill for a "couple" of laps as a diversion between races at the '59 Boxing Day Brands meeting, his quickest lap being 2mns 59.7 secs. The car had been the subject of John Bolster's Yuletide Road test the previous week.
The no plate on the green TR behind the fence looks familiar, possibly a competition model, perhaps done as an Octane article in recent times; I cannot find the file.
Roger Lund


(from the thread linked to by Vitesse in post 2 above)