65 replies to this topic

[ry6]

Does anyone have any information on two "amateur" Connaught drivers from 1955/56 era.Probably they competed in the more minor events in Britain and the Continent.
They are Bill Holt, who was an ex Royal Tank army officer and later a farmer, and Mike Young, who was an engineer.
They raced Connaught A5 (2 litre) and Connaught A8 (2.5 litre) respectively.
Also where did they obtain their cars - from the factory or second hand?
Regards
Rob

[David McKinney]

Can’t help much with the personal details of these drivers, but Holt seems to have started racing with an HRG in 1947, moving on to a Jaguar XK120 in 1951/52, then an ERA in 1954 before acquiring his Connaught, which he raced in British events in 1955 and 1956.
I don’t have any record of Young racing anything before campaigning his Connaught in 1954/55 Brtitish races (and at least once in France), initially with a 2-litre engine and the second year with the 2.5 Alta.
Both, as you no doubt know, took their cars to South Africa at the beginning of 1956, and although Holt continued to race his in the Northern Hemisphere later, Young seems to have retired after his southern sorties.

Neither driver bought their Connaughts direct from the factory. A5 was in fact never a works car, but rather Lionel Marr’s private car, which he raced 1952/55. A8 had been a team car, in 1953, but was apparently sold to Guy Jason-Henry in September of that year, before passing to Young in time for the following season’s racing.
The ex-Holt car was sold to New Zealand in 1957 but didn’t race much - and achieved less. It was still there last I heard, stored away from anyone who might want to buy it. Young’s has been a regular competitor in British historic racing for the past 30 years.

[Felix Muelas]

Quote

Originally posted by David McKinney
I don’t have any record of Young racing anything before campaigning his Connaught in 1954/55 Brtitish races (and at least once in France), initially with a 2-litre engine and the second year with the 2.5 Alta.

Although this must be later, according to Pritchard's "Specialist British Sports/Racing Cars of the 50s and 60s" (and that´s the only reference to be found of him in the whole book) a Lotus Mk10 was delivered (let´s guess sometime during 1956) to Mike Young "his car was powered by a Connaught 2-litre engine".

Felix

[David McKinney]

The Lotus Mk X was delivered in 1955

[Felix Muelas]

Thanks, David

Felix

[Marcor]

here's some results of those two Connaught drivers.

Bill Holt (Connaught A5)
11/04/55 Glover Trophy or Richmond Trophy Goodwood F1, 5 th
07/05/55 Daily Express Trophy Silverstone, F1, 8th
30/07/55 London Trophy heat 2 Crystal Palace F1, 6th
03/09/55 Daily Telegraph Trophy Aintree F1, 7th
05/05/56 Daily Express International Trophy Silverstone F1, 9th
23/06/56 Aintree 100 Aintree F1, 5th

Michael Young (Connaught A8)
07/06/54 BARC F1 Goodwood F1, 5th
19/06/54 Crystal Palace Trophy heat 1 Crystal Palace F1, 6th
07/08/54 Gold Cup Oulton Park F1, NC (10)
28/08/54 Joe Fry Memorial Trophy Castle Combe F1, 4th
11/04/55 Glover Trophy or Richmond Trophy Goodwood F1, 6th
29/05/55 Albi Les Planques F1, DNF
30/07/55 London Trophy heat 2 Crystal Palace F1, 4th
30/07/55 London Trophy Final Crystal Palace F1, 6th
13/08/55 Redex Trophy Snetterton F1, DNF
24/09/55 Daily Dispatch Gold Cup Oulton Park F1, 9th
01/10/55 Avon Trophy Castle Combe F1, 9th

There's another Connaught driver called Young but his first name was John

[Roger Clark]

Both Michael Young and Bill Holt also appeared at Brands Hatch on 1/8/55. Holt finished 6th in both heats and on aggregate. Young was outside the top 6 in both races.

The two races over the bank holiday weekend 30/7/55 and 1/8/55 were probably Young's first with a 2.5 litre engine

Young competed at Carterhall on 6/8/55. He was on the front row of the grid, but I don't know what happened in the race.

[Barry Lake]

Marcor

Probably I could look this up myself but, since you seem to have the information to hand, are you sure there was a John Young?

Could it, perhaps, be Michael Young mistakenly mis-entered in the programme? Or perhaps they were brothers sharing the same car?

Is it the same model Connaught entered for both Youngs?

John Young is in one of the races in which Jack Brabham and Dick Cobden raced, so it would be nice to know who he was.

[Rob29]

Yes there were 2 Youngs in Connaughts. Don't think they were related.

[Roger Clark]

Quote

Originally posted by Barry Lake
Marcor

Probably I could look this up myself but, since you seem to have the information to hand, are you sure there was a John Young?

Could it, perhaps, be Michael Young mistakenly mis-entered in the programme? Or perhaps they were brothers sharing the same car?

Is it the same model Connaught entered for both Youngs?

John Young is in one of the races in which Jack Brabham and Dick Cobden raced, so it would be nice to know who he was.

michael Young, Jack Brabham and Dick Cobden all competed at BrandsHatch on Moday 1 august 1955. John Young's engine had blown up at Crystal Palace two days earlier so it's unlikely he was at Brands Hatch.

[David McKinney]

Like Rob29, I don't think they were related. John Young still attends historic race meetings in the UK (he owned a CM Maserati 250F about ten years ago). I had an interesting lunch with him at Goodwood House a couple of years back.

[Marcor]

I've John Young with the Connaught A AL10 (03/09/55 Daily Telegraph Trophy Aintree, 5th), the same car being previously driven by Bill Whitehouse, with best results (for Whitehouse):
05/06/54 Curtis Trophy Snetterton, second behind Salvadori's Maserati 250F 2507
28/8/54 Joe Fry Memorial Trophy Castle Combe, 2nd behind Gould's Cooper Bristol T23.

John Young also drove a Lotus 9 in the 1955 Redex Trophy Snetterton (August 13), finishing 9th.

I will try to type a summary of all the Connaught A-type's drivers, checking in all my data, but if anyone has already that, I'm interested to read it... I've already tried to do the same thing with the ERAs (A, B,C-type), not really easy !

The 1 August event at Brands Hatch in 1955, was it the Rochester Cup ? Was it a FL race ?

[Roger Clark]

Quote

Originally posted by Marcor

The 1 August event at Brands Hatch in 1955, was it the Rochester Cup ? Was it a FL race ?

Yes to both

[Rob29]

Just found this in record book.
London Trophy -Crystal Palace-30.07.55

#6 -Michael Young-Connaught chassis~A8-4th heat2,4th final.
#12-JohnYoung-Connaught " AL10-retired lap7-also heat2.

[Barry Lake]

The race I was referring to in which John Young competed was at Ibsley, 30 April 1955. Formula Libre 15 laps.

Thanks everyone for your information.

And, yes Marcor, I would like to see a summary of the Connaught drivers.

[Milan Fistonic]

Barry

This is the Motor Sport report on the April 30, 1955 meeting at Ibsley.

FORMULE LIBRE (Over 500cc) RACE (15 Laps)

Sports cars were admitted, and this was a really fine race. Salvadori led after the first lap, which Cobden’s ex-Whitehead Ferrari had dominated, and behind Beauman’s Connaught took Keen’s Cooper-Alta after six laps, Brabham’s Cooper-Alta going great guns behind, although Riseley-Pritchard’s Connaught got by after seven laps.
Behind, Scott-Brown drove his usual unruffled race in the 1954 sports Lister-Bristol, and when Beauman and Brabham vanished with two laps to go he was placed fifth, Young (Connaught) pipping him on the last lap.
Wick drove his Cooper-Jaguar well (it has triple two-choke Weber carburettors), Webb’s fuel-injection Turner was motoring well, but Anthony’s disc-brake Lotus-Bristol with roll-resistance at the rear, was outclassed by the Lister. Incidentally, Anthony had made good use of the R.E.M.E. breakdown crane in the Paddock to remove the engine from his car after a stone had punctured the sump.

1st R.Salvadori (Maserati) 866.6 mph
2nd J Riseley-Pritchard (Connaught)
3rd J.A.Young (Connaught)

Lap record Salvadori 1m 21.4s

If J.A.Young finished third then presumably it must have been the other Young that pipped Scott Brown for fourth.

[Roger Clark]

According to Autosport, Scott-Brown finished fourth. THere's no mention of M Young.

[Ray Bell]

Shall we quote the inevitable WB?

"Pity the Poor Historian"!

[Marcor]

Quote

originally posted by Barry Lake

And, yes Marcor, I would like to see a summary of the Connaught drivers.

I'm trying to compile all about the Connaught A's results. From 1950 (Kenneth McAlpine) to 1961 (Sam Tingle), I've collected 276 data, mainly in F2, F1 and F Libre races. I think you all know 9 cars were built: chassis number A1, A3, A4, A5, A6, A7, AL9 and AL10. From those 276 data, I've identified the chassis number of 221 one's. Some facts leave in the dark and I ask your help.

Kenneth McAlpine, a wealthy enthusiast, commissioned Rodney Clarke and Mike Oliver to build him a F2 car. That would be Connaught A1, powered by a Lea Francis L4 engine. McAlpine ran first in British sprint events or short races. In 1952 the up-grading of F2 to the WC formula coincided with the fact that suddenly Connaught Engineering had orders to replicas of the Connaught A1 and a further 8 A-cars were to be built.

1952
A1: driven by Kenneth McAlpine, the boss.

A2: there was never an A2.

A3: Ken(neth) Downing, a gentleman amateur who had been successful in his sportscar Connaught L2 took delivery of A3 in the beginning of the 1952 season. He raced with it in minor events in Britain and even in Belgium (Chimay) and in the Dutch GP.

A4: entered by Connaught Engineering (or Connaught Racing Syndicate), it was driven by Denis Poore who scored three points in the WC finishing 4th in the 1952 British GP.

A5: first entered by Connaught Engineering or Connaught Racing Syndicate (the works team), driven by Eric Thompson who also scored two points in the WC with a fifth place at Silverstone (British GP), Mike Hawthorn (loaned) and Stirling Moss (Italian GP), the car was bought by Leslie Marr who drove it from September 1952 to the end of 1954.

A6: a works car driven at least by Eric Thompson (crash at Goodwood, Madgwick Cup, September 27).

A7: the only appearance of Mike Oliver, the engineer, at the wheel of one A-type (in my data, of course, I could have miss some !!!!)

Bill Black entered sometimes a car for him or for Fotheringham-Parker (in 1952). What was the car ?


1953
A1: the McAlpine's car, but also Ron Flockhart (but it could be an error) at Charterhall, Newcastle Journal Trophy, August 15.

A3: Rob Walker purchased A3 from Ken Downing who had retired from competition. Tony Rolt was his main driver and was very successful in the British F2 and FL races. Eric Thompson also drove for Rob Walker.

A4: was now the ownership of the Ecurie Belge (driven mainly by John Claes and once in the Belgian GP by André Pilette).

A5: Leslie Marr's private car.

Ecurie Ecosse also bought (or lent) one car, entering James Scott-Douglas and Ian Stewart in 1952. Leslie Thorne was later entered by Ecurie Ecosse in the 1953 British GP. What was the chassis number of this car ? A6 or A7 ?

A7: was a works car (Roy Salvadori, Ron Flockhart)
A8: was used oa by Stirling Moss and "Bira", entered by the works. A8 was then sold and Guy Jason-Henry acquired it (not for a long time).

AL9 and AL10 were made during this season. John Lyons drove AL9 even in the Continent, at Albi for example, and was entered by W. Knight.

What were the cars used by John Coombs (British races), Jack Fairmann (Italian GP), Ron Flockhart (end of season), Stirling Moss (Ulster Trophy Dundrod) and Roy Salvadori (WC + British races).


1954
Although A-series continued to be successful in club racing and be placed in British events, the 2-litre engine was now outclassed. Some of the car were fitted with a 2.5-litre engine but the others just helped fill British race grid.

A1: always driven by Kenneth McAlpine.

A3: driven by John Riseley-Pritchard, Tony Rolt and Peter Collins (Rob Walker Racing).

A4: ?

A5: Leslie Marr.

A6: ? maybe Leslie Thorne entered by Ecurie Ecosse.

A7: driven by Boulton (entered by ?).

A8: Michael Young (self entered).

AL9: Don Beauman (entered by Sir Jeremy Boles).

AL10: Bill Whitehouse (self-entered).


1955
A3: driven firstly by John Riseley-Pritchard, then by Tony Brooks (entered by Equipe Endeavour brand).

A4: Alan Brown and Dick Gibson (entered both by Dick Gibson).

A5: Bill Holt (entered by Bill Holt). Graham Whitehead lent the car for his last single-seater race at Castle Comble, Avon Trophy, October 1.

A6: ?

A7: Boulton (I've got only one race this season).

A8: Michael Young (self entered).

AL9: Don Beauman (entered by Sir Jeremy Boles). Beauman had his fatal crash with this car during the Leinster Trophy (July 9).

AL10: John Young (self entered).

?: Roy Salvadori (Lavant Cup and Charterhall meeting in April).

?: John Coombs (International Trophy Silverstone).


1956
A3: Roy Salvadori (the Aintree 100, 23 June).

A4: Dick Gibson and Bob Ferry (entered both by Dick Gibson).

A5: Bill Holt (self entered).

AL10: John Young (self entered).

CT Atkins had to drive an A-type in the Vanwall Trophy Snetterton (July 22) but he didn't arrive. Which chassis number was it ?


later
A5: Ron Duncan: failed to qualify twice in the 1958 and 1959 New-Zealand GP, but I'm sure all the australasian fans can tell me more about the story of the car there...

Sam Tingle: drove an A-type Connaught in the two 1960 South African GPs (January and December) and I'm sure he drove it in other occasions. Rob ?[p][Edited by Marcor on 02-07-2001]

[David McKinney]

Marcor:
•It is true that A2 was not built by the factory. A chassis was sold at the 1957 auction, and used to build up a complete car for historic racing in the 1960s.
•I’m fairly sure M Young’s car (A8) was the only one upgraded to a 2.5 engine
•It’s Bob Berry (well-known Jaguar driver), not Bob Ferry
•Ron Duncan did in fact qualify for both the 1958 and 1959 NZ GP, but chose not to start

I hope my own records answer some of your questions, and don’t raise too many new ones!

1950
A1 works (McAlpine)

1951
A1 works (McAlpine, Shawe-Taylor, Downing, Oliver)

1952
A1 works (McAlpine, Hawthorn, Eric Thompson)
A3 works (Downing, Poore)
A4 W B Black (Black, Fotheringham-Parker)
works (Poore, Downing)
A5 Leslie Marr
A6 works (Clarke, Thompson, Poore, Moss, Oliver)

1953
A1 works (McAlpine, Fairman, Salvadori)
A3 R R C Walker (Rolt, R Walker, Thompson, P Walker, Riseley-Prichard)
A4 Ecurie Belge (Claes, Pilette)
A5 Leslie Marr
A6 Ecurie Ecosse (Scott-Douglas, Murray, Ian Stewart)
A7 works (Salvadori, Flockhart)
A8 works (Coombs, Moss, Bira, Flockhart)
Guy Jason-Henry
AL9 Bill Knight (John Lyons)
works
AL10 works (Bira, Coombs, McAlpine)
?? works (Salvadori, Fairman, Coombs) - ex-Knight/Lyons car

1954
A1 works (McAlpine)
A3 R R C Walker (R Walker, Rolt, Collins, Riseley-Prichard)
A4 not raced
A5 Leslie Marr
A6 Ecurie Ecosse (Thorne, Lawrence, Hughes, Jimmy Stewart)
A7 works (McAlpine)
C D Boulton
A8 Michael Young
AL9 Sir Jeremy Boles (Don Beauman)
AL10 Bill Whitehouse
?? John Coombs late in year - A3? A6? A7?
?? Leslie Brooke (did not race)

1955
A3 Equipe Endeavour (Riseley-Prichard, Brooks, Alan Brown)
A4 Dick Gibson (Brown, Gibson, R J Harris)
A5 Leslie Marr
Bill Holt (Holt, Graham Whitehead)
A6 Harry Lindsay, Scotland (did not race?)
A7 C D Boulton
A8 Michael Young
AL9 Sir Jeremy Boles (Don Beauman)
AL10 John Young (Young, Salvadori)
?? John Coombs - A3? A6? A7?

1956
A3 C T Atkins (Atkins, Salvadori, Davis)
A4 Dick Gibson (Gibson, Bob Berry)
A5 Bill Holt
A7 C D Boulton
AL10 John Young

1957
A3 C T Atkins (Graham Hill)
A4 Dick Gibson in South Africa
?? Ann Lacy UK

1958
A5 Ron Duncan (and Johnny Buza) New Zealand
AL10 John Horton minor UK events

1959
A5 Ron Duncan
?? Hugh Clifford UK (A8?)
AL10 John Horton

1960
A4 Sam Tingle
A5 Ron Duncan
AL10 John Horton

1961
A4 Sam Tingle
A5 Jim Fenton
AL10 John Horton

1962
AL10 John Horton

1963
AL10 John Horton

1964
A4 Gillespie
AL10 John Horton

1965
Connaughts began to appear in UK historic races

[UAtkins]

David McKinney beat me to it on the information regarding my father, C.T. Atkins, I do have a photo that I can post (I hope) of him in A3 at Goodwood in 1956.



Thank you Ray...let's hope that works better!

[p][Edited by UAtkins on 02-07-2001]

[UAtkins]

The photo came to me just recently, courtesy Harry Pearce, my Dad's mechanic and the guy standing to the right of the car. With the help of a lot of people both on this forum and on Ebay (of all places) I am getting a huge amount of information on C.T. Atkins. Thanks a lot.

[ry6]

Dear Marcor
I had dinner with Sam Tingle last year when he visited Durban.
The Connaught he drove was the ex-Dick Gibson car.
I have a letter from Dick Gibson ,he now lives in Arizona USA, which says "I bought it from a man named Brown who lived in Guildford, Surrey. After Don Beauman was killed driving a similar car, Mike Hawthorne offered to prepare and look after my Connaught in his garage near Farnham. The special tuning he did improved the car enormously, but basically the car was too heavy."

Dick raced the Connaught in South Africa and Rhodesia in 1957. Then sold it to Sam who had been battling with an ERA.
"I sold it to him for 850 pounds"

"After I sold Sam the Connaught I bought a Cooper-Bristol 2 litre single seater. It had been built for an American called Cole, son of E K Cole, the big Radio and TV man). Sadly just before he was to take delivery of it he was killed in a race in Switzerland. I bought it from the executors of his estate (brand new) at a very favourable figure."

Regards
Rob

[ry6]

Dear Marcor
I will dig up the information on the races which Sam drove A4 in in South Africa and Rhodesia on the weekend.
I note that it passed from Sam to Gillespie.
Gillespie was the driver of an ERA in Rhodesia for a while.
Regards
Rob

[Marcor]

Quote

originally posted by Rob:
I have a letter from Dick Gibson ,he now lives in Arizona USA, which says "I bought it from a man named Brown who lived in Guildford, Surrey. After Don Beauman was killed driving a similar car, Mike Hawthorne offered to prepare and look after my Connaught in his garage near Farnham. The special tuning he did improved the car enormously, but basically the car was too heavy."

Dick raced the Connaught in South Africa and Rhodesia in 1957. Then sold it to Sam who had been battling with an ERA.
"I sold it to him for 850 pounds"

"After I sold Sam the Connaught I bought a Cooper-Bristol 2 litre single seater. It had been built for an American called Cole, son of E K Cole, the big Radio and TV man). Sadly just before he was to take delivery of it he was killed in a race in Switzerland. I bought it from the executors of his estate (brand new) at a very favourable figure."

Dick Gibson spoke about a American called Cole. It is of course Tom Cole who died during the 1953 24 H of Le Mans. After a very good fourth overall in the Mille Miglia with his private Ferrari 340 MM behind Giannino Marzotto (Ferrari 340 MM), JM Fangio (Alfa Romeo 6C 30) and Felice Bonetto (Lancia D20), he raced the same car at Le Mans sharing with Luigi Chinetti. Unluckily it ran into straw bales and overturned in the 16th hour of the race at White House. Poor Tom Cole was killed instantly.

Dick Gibson bought the ex Cole Cooper Bristol T23 (chassis CB-9-53 ?) from the Bristol factory in 1954. He race the car with moderate success in 1954 (Lavant Cup, DNF - Cornwall MRC F1 race Davidstow, 3rd - Redex Trophy Snetterton, 6th) before buying the ex-Johnny Claes 2-litre Connaught A4 from Alan Brown. Gibson began racing his A-type Connaught in the UK during 1955. After his Connaught adventure, Gibson was back to Cooper cars.

[Marcor]

And now two other accounts about Connaught A drivers:

I quote here Graham Hill in his biography dated from 1971 (English translation from the French version !)
"...Thanks to Tommy Atkins, I got - for the first time -on an old single-seater Connaught. The car had a 2-litre capacity reduced to 1.5-litre to take part in the F2 race held on Easter Monday at Goodwood *

From the top of this monument, I outclassed all those little Cooper and Lotus. My car made a colossal row but it stayed nailed on the grid. The car was equipped with a selective Wilson gearbox which had problems. The situation was very embarrassing for me in front of 55.000 spectators**. The car could start but behind the others and I never saw again the other contenders during the 10-lap races..."

*: this race was the 1957 Lavant Cup. It was won by Tony Brooks ahead of Jack Brabham (all 2 Cooper T43 Climax).
** An other source confirms the numbers of spectators.


About Tony Brooks (in Classic & Sports car September 99):
Tony Brooks was taken to the Aston Martin works team for 1955. It was not until Le Mans that he raced for Aston Martin, paired with John Riseley-Pritchard. It was being thrown in at the deep end because of his experience amounted to about 30 clubbies. Tony drove to team orders, but the car lasted only 89 laps. 1955 was the year of Levegh's terrible accident at Le Mans and, as a result, Riseley-Pritchard retired from racing under pressure from his family. He still owned a Formula 2 Connaught *** and Tony drove it in a few minor British races****. That led to the drive at Syracuse with the B-type.

***: the Connaught A3.
****: some of the Brooks'results with the car:
30/07/55: London Trophy Crystal Palace (Final of 33,5 km), F1, 4 th
03/09/55: Daily Telegraph Trophy Aintree (82 km), F1, 4th
03/09/55: Formule libre race Aintree (82 km), FL, 3rd
01/10/55: Avon Trophy Castle Combe (163 km), F1, 5th

[ry6]

I have just received the latest "Historic Motor Racing". As a matter of co-incidence I see that there is to be an article/interview with about Ken Downing in the next issue. He is described as a young driver of the 40's and 50's, who was one of Connaughts first customers.
Should be interesting.

[ry6]

Marcor - some results for the Gibson/Tingle car in South Africa and Rhodesia

1957
22 April - Coronation 100, Roy Hesketh circuit, Driver - D Gibson (Retired)
23 March - van Riebeeck Trophy, Eerste Rivier Aerodrome - D Gibson, Did not start. (Broke con rod while being warmed up)
6 April - 1820 Settlers Trophy, Grand Central - D Gibson -
1st in Over 1300 cc scratch race for racing cars
"late 1957?" - Ray Amm Memorial Races, Belvedere : Driver Sam Tingle ; 2nd in 5 lap racing car handicap ;
3rd in 5 laps Sports?GT?Racing car handicap ;

1958

1 January - False Bay 100, Gunners Circle - S Tingle - (Retired)

1960

1 January - SAGP - S Tingle (8th)
27 December - SAGP - S Tingle (11th)

unknown date - Evening Standard Trophy - 36 laps at Marlborough - S Tingle (3rd)
Sports andracing cars over 1600 cc - (2nd)

unknown date - Kumalo Circuit - unlimited handicap race - (4th)

[David McKinney]

Some more on Connaught A4:

Gibson retired in 1820 Settlers Handicap on 6/4/57

Tingle won the Rhodesian Championship (presumably on points in several races) 1959, 1960 and 1961

1960
Rand Winter Trophy - Tingle 4th
Rhodesian GP, Salisbury, 14/8 - Tingle 4th

1961
Rhodesian GP - Tingle 4th

[David McKinney]

Correction to my 7 Feb post about Ron Duncan in the NZ GP. He did NOT in fact qualify for the 1958 race, but did for the 1959. I really must try to remember not to rely on my memory...
A5 in fact achieved very little in New Zealand. Below is as complete a list as I have of its appearances (or lack thereof):

1958
11/1 NZ Grand Prix, Ardmore - Ron Duncan DNS
18/1 Levin International - Ron Duncan entered
25/1 Lady Wigram Trophy - Johnny Buza entered
1/2 Dunedin road race - Johnny Buza DNS
25/1 Teretonga Trophy - Johnny Buza DNS
-/12 Ardmore sprint - Ron Duncan first in 2-litre class

1959
(all Ron Duncan)
10/1 NZGP heat - 12th
10/1 NZ Grand Prix, Ardmore - DNS
10/1 Ultimate-Ekco Handicap - ?8th - 3rd on scratch
17/1 NSCC Ardmore club meeting - 3rd in handicap race
28/2 Ohakea Trophy race - DNS

1960
9/1 Ardmore Trophy sportscar race - Ron Duncan DNS

1961
7/1 Ardmore Trophy sportscar race - Ron Duncan DNS
28/1 Dunedin sportscar race - Jim Fenton DNF - crashed into wall

1962
6/1 Ardmore Trophy sportscar race - Jim Fenton DNS

[Marcor]

Rob, David, thank you.

This is very interesting. I've learnt a lot. I will certainly buy Historic Motor Racing.

For 15 days I won't post as I will be away (on journey). 2 weeks without posting at TNF, an eternity !!!

[fines]

MarCoR, I'm sure I'm not the only one who will miss you! And make sure to take a day off to catch up on two weeks of TNF posts after you return...

[Hieronymus]

Quote

Originally posted by Marcor

1955
A3: driven firstly by John Riseley-Pritchard, then by Tony Brooks (entered by Equipe Endeavour brand).

Something I kindly wish to ask in this regard. Was "Equipe Endeavour" not run by a chap called Tommy Sopwith - a relative of the Sopwith aeroplane company? I believe Tony Brooks was entered by Riseley-Pritchard for his races in the A3??

[Patrice L'Rodent]

Quote Marcor..........
AL9: Don Beauman (entered by Sir Jeremy Boles). Beauman had his fatal crash with this car during the Leinster Trophy (July 9).

For anyone interested.

As a small boy I witnessed this accident, attending the race with my father who was working as a spectator marshall. It was a loonngg time ago, but as I recall it, I was at a point 300 or 400 yards from the crash. Beauman lost control coming down the hill towards the Beehive pub corner on the Wicklow circuit, and collided with a tree. The car caught fire and I remember the flames going right up through the tree top. Later, I visited the site and for many years had a solidified lump of aluminium from the car as a souvenir.
I recall the car was taken under control of the coronor to the Rootes group main dealer in Wicklow, Coleborn and Hopkins (I had forgotten all this stuff, but it is amazing what a memory prompt will bring back) where I sneaked in after school to see it. I recall one of the mechanics there removing the Connaught badge from the remains of the bodywork. Quite an awakening experience for a young boy.
On the lighter side, as a proud Leinster boy, I didn't like that car from the other side of Ireland :-)
Pat D'Rat

PS, The piece of Connaught aluminium lived for many years on my window sill beside another shard of aluminium that came from Sammy Miller's NSU Max motorcycle from about the same time. He had slid off at Ballinabarney (farther around the Wicklow circuit from the Beehive) shredding the aluminium dustbin fairing. Those souvenirs are long lost.
A fairly recent trip to Wicklow showed a nice monument in the Beehive parking lot remembering the winners of the various winners in the Leinster 200 and the Leinster Trophy races in the 1940s and 1950s
PDR

[Doug Nye]

Patrice - welcome to TNF - fascinating eye-witness account.

The sad remains of the Boles Connaught were brought back here to Farnham - my home town - where the Hawthorns' mechanic Brit Pearce stripped out what few items remained of any value in their Tourist Trophy garage premises on East Street. Having finished the job he walked into the adjoining maltings business where Leslie Hawthorn had his office. Mike was there and Brit asked him what he wanted done with the bare bones of the charred chassis. "Stick it in the pit and pour concrete over the bloody thing...", Mike instructed.

'The pit' was an open excavation for the TT Garage's brand-new showroom extension being built at that time. Brit told me this is what they did, the Connaught frame was dumped in the hole, and the foundation concrete poured over it.

The story developed into a legend which emerged about five years ago when the old garage changed hands and further building work commenced. A piece was published in the local paper from the new proprietor saying that he'd been told Mike Hawthorn's World Championship-winning Ferrari had been buried in the old foundations after his death in 1959, and should they find it they would have it restored because it would be worth over a million Pounds. I was one who put them straight. Needless to say, no million pound Ferrari was disinterred, although some rust-stained hollows in old concrete and a few shards of heavily corroded metal were located, I believe. Had a lot of salt in it, apparently, that old mix of concrete...

DCN

PS - Hieronymus - Tommy Sopwith is the son of Sir T.O.M. Sopwith of aviation and America's Cup yacht-racing fame - Equipe Endeavour took the name of Sir Tom's 1930s America's Cup yacht, 'Endeavour'.

PPS - I've just found the item (above) about Tom Cole being related to the E.K.Cole family of 'Ekco' radio fame. I don't know if that's true.

He was certainly - according to his surviving sisters - from the family which owned the 'Vidor' batteries company, English born, raised in the USA, suffered polio as a child and overcome its after-effects - including years of paralysis - to take up skiing and motor racing....with considerable success. He was a VERY promising driver with the context of his time.

[Patrice L'Rodent]

Thank you Doug for both the welcome and the further news of the Connaught.
My dad, who is still alive and well in his 80s and living in Canberra, will love that story.
PDR

[Patrice L'Rodent]

Well, to revive an old thread.
I took my laptop to Canberra a few months ago and showed Dad this thread. He told me he had caught Tony Br**n stealing the badge from the Connaught, and as his foreman, confiscated it.
He thought he might even still have it.
Yesterday, I drove to Canberra to see him, and he gave me the Connaught badge!!
My first reaction was it was smaller than I remembered, but it has survived and is currently sitting on top of my TV. I can take a picture if anyone is interested, but still haven't figured out how to post it.
Now the question is, "What do I do with it" ? I am not a collector of memorabilia, but I realise this might have some value to someone somewhere.
Pat

[eldougo]

Quote

Originally posted by Patrice L'Rodent

Now the question is, "What do I do with it" ? I am not a collector of memorabilia, but I realise this might have some value to someone somewhere.

I guess you could sell it and with the money ? buy the Ford Prefect that Ray posted and then in your spare time make a(Irish Ford 10 spl). hope you have a good trip.

[Allen Brown]

I'm curious what engines were used in the A-Type Connaughts after 1953.

Marcor mentions above that some cars got 2.5-litre engines but were these enlarged Lea-Francis engines or would they have been the Altas found in the B-Types? And does anyone know which cars got upgraded and which didn't? The Black Books just list the engine as Lea-Francis giving no clue as to the capacity.

Thanks

Allen

[David McKinney]

Without checking, I can think of only one big-engined A-Type, Mike Young's, which used a 2.5 Alta (as in the B-Types - and, now I look, as listed in the Black Book...)
And, in spite of what all the websites say, I don't know if I'd call the 2-litre A-Type engine a Lea-Francis. Lea-Francis-based, yes, but surely more Connaught than Leaf by 1963?

[Allan Lupton]

Quote

Originally posted by David McKinney
Without checking, I can think of only one big-engined A-Type, Mike Young's, which used a 2.5 Alta (as in the B-Types - and, now I look, as listed in the Black Book...)
And, in spite of what all the websites say, I don't know if I'd call the 2-litre A-Type engine a Lea-Francis. Lea-Francis-based, yes, but surely more Connaught than Leaf by 1963?

Lea-Francis-based is about right. The layout is the same, and by the time the 2 litre A type was raced, there were still a good number of common parts including the cylinder head (remarkably). Page 75 of Johnny Johnson's "To Draw a Long Line" gives the detail.
When someone called it a Lea-Francis engine, Johnny Johnson is said to have remarked that it was about as much Lea-Francis as an ERA was Riley.

[Allen Brown]

I'm realising that there's no simple way to describe racing engines. Taking a couple of random examples, the Traco Olds had a high proportion of Traco in its Oldsmobile and some of the Ford-badged engines of the 1960s were more Cosworth than Ford. In F1 terms, the Maserati Platé engine was mostly Maserati engine but so was the Milano wasn't it?

All I can really do is follow convention by calling these engines Lea-Francis. However, the name of the engine 'builder' (e.g. Ford built by Hart, Oldsmobile built by Traco, etc) should also be included. I'll call them "Lea-Francis Connaught" engines if I can find enough space.

Getting back to the subject, so were those A-type Connaughts at the 1954 British GPs 2-litre cars? I guess the Cooper-Bristols were too.

Allen

[David McKinney]

Quote

Originally posted by Allen Brown
Getting back to the subject, so were those A-type Connaughts at the 1954 British GPs 2-litre cars? I guess the Cooper-Bristols were too.

Yes and yes, though Bob Gerard later ran his CB with stretched (2.2) engine
As of course did Brabham with his rear-engined version

[Ian Stewart]

A6 was bought for Ecurie Ecosse by Major E.G.Thomson of the Ben Line shipping company, either late in 1952 or early in 1953. He also contributed a Cooper Bristol, and I assume he retained legal ownership of both cars, despite the fact that they were always listed as Ecurie Ecosse entries. To the best of my knowledge Major T. never saw them race, and David Murray never explained their unexpected appearance. Par for the course with David, or something like that!

I drove A6 in eight races in 1953 - I don't think it was driven by anyone else that year - and it achieved four DNFs, a fifth, a third and two firsts. To be accurate I should explain that one of the firsts was a dead heat, in the Formula Libre race at Snetterton in June '53. Alas I can't remember the other dead-heating car, but what an extraordinary result. Couldn't happen after the invention of the stop-watch, surely. Autosport remarked on it at the time, and one has to assume that no-one was actually standing at the finish line!

Leslie Thorne's friendship with David Murray was explained to me by Graham Gauld some time ago, and one has to wonder why his name keeps cropping up as an Ecurie Ecosse driver. Did he ever drive? I drove A6 in the 1953 British GP, but I begin to wonder if I was really meant to. In other words, was Mr. Thorne a potential Murray/Wilkie backer with lots of cash?? Graham may know - I can only guess.

The car driven by Ron Flockhart towards the end of the 1953 season will have been A7, a works car according to Ron, and somewhat quicker than A6, much to my chagrin....

I remember Bill Holt well, for a very good reason. My first visit to Silverstone wasn't all that auspicious thanks to Bill's skill and my clumsiness. We were both driving XK120s during practice, and I had the temerity to follow Bill through Woodcote, and then to my astonishment he disappeared into the distance while I disappeared into the scenery. It pays to get to know a circuit before overdoing the right foot!

Sorry I can't add anything to Bill's Connaught history, but I had stopped racing by the time he bought A5.

Pity I can't post photographs of A6 and A7, but I'm terrified of Bira's copyright strictures.

[David McKinney]

Nice to see you back, Ian.
My records show Sir James Scott-Douglas driving the EE Connaught in at least one 1953 event, and David Murray himself in another.
Your Snetterton dead heat was with Rodney Nuckey's Cooper-Bristol

[Graham Gauld]

Hi Ian, not heard from you for a while. Reference Leslie Thorne I did speak to him about fifteen years ago and he did not hint as to how he got the a drive but looking at David Murray's notes on the Connaught I see he credits all seven races you mention as being Leslie Thorne but as you will see by the attachment showing one of those seven races - Charterhall - it was you at the wheel. I think, however Leslie Thorne did drive the Connaught at the October meeting at Aintree 1954 and Peter Hughes drove it at Oulton Park.
As Ian remarks, David Murray did some odd things from time to time, but was a good operator and he did a great job in creating the whole concept of Ecurie Ecosse along with your goodself thanks to dinners in the Cafe Royal in Edinburgh. Pic shows Ian being pushed out on to the grid at CharterhallJuly 11 1954

[Graham Gauld]

Sorry about that the above should be 1953 and not 1953, sorry Ian.

[Ian Stewart]

David,
Many thanks for the info re Rodney Nuckey's Cooper Bristol. I knew it had happened, but couldn't remember the other "dead-heater's" name.

Graham,
Nice of you to post the picture - I have five photos of A6 in 1953, with different race numbers, so Leslie Thorne must have been much more active than we thought!

[Sharman]

Graham
You're on the wrong thread, that post should be on Senior Moments
John

[fuzzi]

Does anyone know whether the John Lyons who drove AL9 for W. 'Bill' Knight in 1953 was the son of Sir William Lyons of Jaguar. I know he drove in rallies but I have not heard of him racing.