E.R.A.

See my Facebook webpage.

Edited by Fafnir, 06 August 2020 - 19:17.

See my Facebook webpage.

 

Will start to update it soon and hope you like it .

 

The cars have been sitting still for a long time now and hopefully they will get exercised again shortly.

 

www.facebook.com/englishautomobiles.co.uk/

Facebook won't open it up.

... in addition to which many people won't go near Facebook for well known reasons. You'd get better results if you'd use another form of web hosting!

There are two ERA pages on Face Book already.

What's a 'Face Book'   

DCN

A book full of feces, umm faces? 

Used correctly and carefully it can be a great way to communicate and promote events etc. 

This is a link to the ERA group: https://www.facebook...ps/45765603200/

Groups are for people to share and comment on stuff.

Pages are for commercial purposes and people can only have limited access to comment and post.

This all sounds good. Do you want to identify yourself? 

I had not heard about new ERAs being made. Have you more details?

ERA cars have a well defined history history with all cars accounted for. Significant people in the motor racing industry were closely involved when these cars were originally racing. Post WW11 they remained successful, through to their VSCC activities and today, at the posh gigs. Sure, cars crash and break, are 'modified' and acquire new engines and gearboxes. Is this a replica, like an F3 car with 5 new corners and 7 rebuilt engines?

Consequently, I'm trying to work out what this thread is telling me. I'm not involved other than having watching ERA cars in action in the 60s/70s and enjoying information, occasionally revisiting my modest ERA library. If I had the skill and the budget I would grab the first 'real' ERA that came my way, and race it!. Daydreaming, of course.

R1A in road trim for testing

That's the first time I've seen an ERA with mudguards. It also underlines how very much we need a definitive history of the type.

You have clearly never come across David Weguelin's book "English Racing Automobiles", published in 1980.

That photograph is on page 33.

I have, but it is too expensive for my pocket. The 1980 date also rather back up my statement regarding a new/revised history of the marque. Sadly, despite many glowing reviews, the Porter Press book on R4D just doesn't fit the bill. That's more due to the production than the authoring, but there you go.

I thought BRM Vol.1 covered much of the ERA history rather well, this merely a prequel to the BRM story.

The 1980 date also rather back up my statement regarding a new/revised history of the marque..

Whilst the post-1980 history won't be covered is there any other reason why a 1980 book, very detailed. well researched and with access to appropriate records would need revising?
 

Whilst the post-1980 history won't be covered is there any other reason why a 1980 book, very detailed. well researched and with access to appropriate records would need revising?
 

Yes - it 'only' has 200-odd pages and the subject deserves at least 200,000 words and twice as many pages. Part of that should be a chassis register and in that respect alone, much has happened in the 40 years since Weguelin's book was published. And if there are continuation cars (including AJM1) then they too should be included; again that part was missing from the Weguelin book.

I have all three BRM books and they cover that subject very well but cannot (I'm sure DCN would agree) do ERA the justice that a dedicated book would.

Anybody wanting to know the ownership of ERAs since 1980, and much else about the cars, should visit the ERA Club website:  https://www.eraclub.co.uk/index.html

Well, you are entitled to you opinion, but for the serious ERA historian David Weguelin’s book is more than adequate.

Tough crowd.

Perhaps with demonstrably good reason...         

I do wonder how many people would buy a book about ERA affairs since 1980. Not me, although this is something that would be ideal for online publication, by someone keen enough and time enough to pursue their dream. Anyway, I'm sure the information is already available via Facebook or wherever the ERA crew congregate these days.

Be realistic.  How many people who own the Weguelin book would want to buy another with substantially the same content?  And how many who donj't own the Weguelin book would want to buy a detailed ERA history?

Strange. Only recently I read an article by a well-known publisher who very specifically said that many motorsport books get turned down for publication (due to repetitive subjects or poor research), but other subjects are no-brainers. He very specifically stated that an ERA book would be in the latter category, so it seems I'm not alone.

To be clear, not a new book dealing only with 1980 onwards, not a rehash of the Weguelin book, and not the R4D book. Something like Simon Taylor's HWM set.

Again, I'm no publisher but it would appear that the idea is not as daft as some might think.

And then a decent Nuvolari biography.

Strange. Only recently I read an article by a well-known publisher who very specifically said that many motorsport books get turned down for publication (due to repetitive subjects or poor research), but other subjects are no-brainers. He very specifically stated that an ERA book would be in the latter category, so it seems I'm not alone.

I agree 100%. I'm currently enjoying the Hugh Conway Bugatti Pur-Sang, a 55 year old edition, the most recent being out of print for donkeys years. It was affordable (£29) and provides enough detail for my interest in Bugattis. Some observations will have changed over the years, but it's fine for me. I'm sure that Conway's heritage would provide sufficient material for further research owing to greater accessibility of library and newspaper archives. There's scope for a new Bugatti book from somebody who has an engineer's eye and is ready to conduct 30 years of research for negligible direct reward.

It seems that there is money to be made writing and publishing narrow subject books, massively detailed, about collectable cars. The premium editions bound in unicorn leather sell to owners or aspiring owners of identifiable cars, and this is something which we have to accept about the publishing and old racer businesses.

As I have proposed here before, there's a business in writing popular books or booklets. A volume printed but properly bound book about ERA, like one of the Haynes books, retailing for £20 would be a long term seller. There's a huge market for something like the Profile pamphlets -- a £5 booklet or three for £12, quick history about a model or series of models, 100 years of racing history.

Well it's all very strange: I applied to join the ERA Facebook group a week or so ago and haven't heard a thing since!

Well it's all very strange: I applied to join the ERA Facebook group a week or so ago and haven't heard a thing since!

Which one?

Which one?

The one you linked in post #8.

Well it's all very strange: I applied to join the ERA Facebook group a week or so ago and haven't heard a thing since!

Try again & PM me on Facebook when you have done so.

Was not the ERA name revived about 20 years ago with an effort to make a one make formula for retro single seaters of the seveties or there about. I don't think it ever got off the ground but I am sure a kit car manufacturer was involved. 

There was also this...

...the ERA allegedly standing for Engineering & Research Application Ltd, shoehorning a 1.3l Mini Metro turbo in a Mini City.  436 produced between 1989 and 1991, costing £11,949 to you sir. 

Apparently the two ERAs were related.  Can't find any info about the later ERA though.

Try again & PM me on Facebook when you have done so.

Done!

The ERA HSS was followed by a two seater sportscar, the ERA 30, a car which looked vaguely like a Lotus 23 but was somewhere between a Lotus 23 and Lotus 30 in size. Both cars were powered by 1800 cc Zetec engines. Apparently Tiger Sportscars own the rights to the ERA name.

According to Tiger Sports Cars website - "Tiger now manufacture the new English Racing Automobiles"   Why does someone buy the rights to a long defunct name then seemingly pass it off as a modern iteration of the original companies products and heritage. There is no historical link at all.  Why can't they think up a new name? 

Maybe Lorraine-Dietrich or Mors  will make a comeback   

I had or may still have a catalogue for the ERA Mini and I think they were still based in Dunstable but had previously diverted into research rather than making racing cars.  As mentioned above I doubt if there is any link between the ERA company and the one created by Tiger kit cars.   Mind you we don't have BRM cars but we now have BRM watches which certainly try and trade off the name. 

The web host "madasafish" closed – so the current version of website mentioned above is now ----

http://www.thehodgki....uk/ERAcars.htm