20 replies to this topic

[Derwent Motorsport]

C4 tonight documentary on Roberta Cowell at  8pm

 

[Vitesse2]

http://forums.autosp...roberta-cowell/

 

I'll leave both threads open for now and merge them later in the week.

[Paul Parker]

http://forums.autosp...roberta-cowell/

 

I'll leave both threads open for now and merge them later in the week.

 

I met Roberta Cowell in 1986 when I was working in King Street, Hammersmith for the now long departed Normand Continental VW/Audi dealership.

 

Roberta was noticeably unhappy and it left me feeling rather sad, a feeling of overwhelming regret was evident, she only spoke to me and left without anybody else noticing her presence.

[LotusElise]

I will await the opinions here before 4OD'ing the programme. I'm only really interested if they cover the later racing.

[kayemod]

I will await the opinions here before 4OD'ing the programme. I'm only really interested if they cover the later racing.

 

I forgot to set the recorder, and when I rushed to the TV, SWMBO was watching some awful scripted reality nonsense on "dancing". I had a quick scan of the paper and couldn't find a repeat, is there one listed anywhere?

[Vitesse2]

I forgot to set the recorder, and when I rushed to the TV, SWMBO was watching some awful scripted reality nonsense on "dancing". I had a quick scan of the paper and couldn't find a repeat, is there one listed anywhere?

As LotusElise says it will appear on 4oD - should be up by tomorrow. Otherwise it is repeated on 4seven (channel 140 on Sky) at 0205 on Monday.

[Cirio]

Very interesting and in the end rather sad docu. It must be so difficult to be born that way.

[Doug Nye]

Very sad - not only for Cowell him/her self but also now, very much, for his surviving children. 

 

Here's Cowell at Brooklands in 1939 - his mechanic/helper seen in this photo is the young and clean-shaven racing enthusiast Denis Jenkinson...

 

http://www.changelin...tration - D.jpg

 

Diana Carpenter, Cowell's wife, was herself a most remarkable lady, very well qualified as an engineer, a real car enthusiast and a girl who became a close friend of Jenks's too. In later years after her separation from Cowell I seem to recall being told that she was given a lift back from a party (or booze-up in a pub, I am not quite sure which) by Duncan Hamilton which I believe ended abruptly in a terrible road accident, in which she was severely injured - from memory (without checking my facts because it's late here now) being paralysed. She still outlived Jenks, preferred to be known by her third name - Zelma - (having been christened Diana Margaret Zelma Carpenter) had remarried, and settled on the Isle of Wight. Very sadly this incredibly resilient and fiercely independnt lady died as a result of, or in part as a cause of, a house fire at her home, I think around 2000...?

 

DCN

[Gabrci]

A quick search says "Died 2006. november 30. in Seaview, Isle of Wight, England, United Kingdom".

 

There is also a photo at the bottom of this page: http://digilander.li...M-z-KNOTT-1.htm

[MCS]

Whilst I am not entirely sure quite what I was expecting, I found it rather light in terms of information and footage, not to say somewhat repetitive.

[Stephen W]

MCS noticed that it was "somewhat repetitive". Well all documentaries made for the commercial channels (i.e. those who run advert breaks) tend these days to be repetitive. I think there are two reasons for this (a) after an ad-break they want to remind the viewer what has already gone on mainly because they think the viewer has the attention span of a gnat, and (b) they have very little to say and have bulked the show up so it fills an hour (including ad-breaks and waffle.)

[Gary C]

^^^^^^ what he said.

[RTH]

...And indeed the Ad breaks have become so long these days you have forgotten what programme you were watching , what channel and indeed what day of the week it was when it was last on.

[2F-001]

… and a third reason is it's an attempt to catch the interest of channel surfers.

[MCS]

I can’t disagree with Steve, Gary, Richard or Tony with their previous four posts.

 

Television today is absolutely woeful in the main, so Tony’s idea of “channel surfers” – something that we probably all do, at least to some extent – must be prevalent within the TV watching/viewing community.

 

That said, on reflection, the programme was rubbish; there, I have said it now. And I feel much better for that! 

 

Whilst I wasn’t particularly interested in the biological aspect of the topic, I was really rather hoping for some racing footage, as Lotus Elise and (I am sure) others were on here earlier...

[Allan Lupton]

Some were hoping for some coverage of Cowell & Watson, and all we got was the name signwritten on a van being craned somewhere.

C&W built a few sports specials on Lea-Francis chassis before LF got round to designing their Sports model. It is said that Jenks had a hand in the styling, but who can say?

[bradbury west]

It is certainly a credit to the body builders, Allan, double curvatures everywhere. Presumably they had a ready supply of aluminium. Many thanks for posting.

Roger Lund

[Charlieman]

It is certainly a credit to the body builders, Allan, double curvatures everywhere. Presumably they had a ready supply of aluminium. Many thanks for posting.

Roger Lund

That is a delight to see. Did the double bulge at the bottom of the body serve a special purpose? And did the rear mudguard protect anyone from spray?

[Allan Lupton]

Not sure what double bulge you mean, but the main bulged part of the body covers the chassis side members as the real body is narrower than the chassis. The rear mudguard is better than it looks in that photo as it has disappeared into the tail of the body. This modern photo from a different angle shows it to be a proper mudguard.

[P.Dron]

Some were hoping for some coverage of Cowell & Watson, and all we got was the name signwritten on a van being craned somewhere.

C&W built a few sports specials on Lea-Francis chassis before LF got round to designing their Sports model. It is said that Jenks had a hand in the styling, but who can say?

 

 

That's interesting. Jenks's nephew Peter Stevens, the famous car designer, may know the answer. I have asked him.

Edited by P.Dron, 03 November 2015 - 16:35.

[Macca]

http://www.changelin...wells Story.htm

 

Roberta's own story can be read there.

 

Paul M