7 replies to this topic

[HenryMann]

A friend of mine's grandfather was a pre-war racing driver, by the name of Walter Noel Rees. Not much is known by the family about his career apart from the fact that he drove for/with Lord Essenden. I wonder whether any TNF members might know any more....?

[Tim Murray]

Noel Rees was apparently a wealthy building contractor who purchased a number of different racing cars which were usually raced for him in major events by the Hon Brian Lewis (who became Baron Essendon in 1944). He's mentioned in these earlier posts:
 

(etc)

A total of four ex-works T59 Bugs fetched up in England in 1935, dbw, c/no’s 59121 (Martin), 59122 (Eccles), 59123 (Howe) and 59124 (Noel Rees, for Lewis)

Richard, this I have found on Classic and Sports cars, October 1982 about the ex-Birkin Maserati 8C-3002, I was interested in it because it was raced by TASO Mathieson in 1946. It seems it is NOT your Brighton car.

[After Birkin's death] Maserati 3002 was raced no more that year, but in 1934 it was purchased by Noel Rees, a prosperous building contractor, for the Hon. Brian Lewis to drive, He ran it at the International Trophy at Brooklands, coming up against Whitney Straight in the newest 2.9-litre single-seater Maserati equipped with a Wilson preselector gearbox. After an epic struggle, Lewis came within a whisker of victory, for Straight won from the older car by just 4secs, with one of his tyres right down to the white breaker strip. One more lap and 3002 could well have won, but at least she shared the fastest lap with her more modern rival at 55.13mph. In the British Empire Trophy at the same track the car misbehaved, a broken
connecting rod putting Lewis out when holding third place on lap 63.

In 1935 another Tim, stockbroker T.E. Rose-Richard, acquired the car, but his tenure was brief and his ride even briefer, his only race with 3002 being the Mannin Moar at Douglas, Isle of Man, where he covered less than a lap before the universal joint broke.

(etc)

Don't be fooled by the 'Mountain Championship' bit, Gary. This has nothing to do with hillclimbing.
The Mountain Championship was one of the few annual scratch races at Brooklands. Its name came from the fact that it was run on the so-called Mountain Circuit, which incorporated some of the infield roads and a bit of the banking. In spite of being only a short race, it always attracted the fastest cars in the country at the time.
Noel Rees and Arthur Fox were well-known entrants in the big British races of the time, with Hon Brian Lewis as their favoured driver. It was he who drove their Monza Alfa to third place in the 1933 Mountain Championship race.

He may well have competed in his own cars in more minor events, but he's mentioned in William Boddy's Brooklands history only as an entrant, not a driver..

Edited by Tim Murray, 02 June 2016 - 12:37.

[Vitesse2]

Rees and Earl Howe are shown as the joint entrants of the two Bugattis driven by Howe and Lewis in the 1935 TT (Motor Sport August 1935, p464). Rees had also been the entrant of Lewis's Alfa Romeo in 1933 - he owned the first 'Monza' in Britain.

 

There's also this from the April 1934 edition:

 

An Italian Prodigy.

Most of us have one particular marque which we admire more than any other, and when two fellow enthusiasts meet superlatives are apt to fly thick and fast. My own weakness is for Lancias, and I rather pride myself on the adjectives I can apply to the road holding

and steering of these wonderful cars. But I met my match at Bournemouth in Noel Rees, whom I had always considered a 100% Alfa Romeo man.

While he was at Milan, taking delivery of his new 2.3' Alfa cabriolet, he used a Lancia " Augusta " for his local motoring, and he immediately became a tremendous admirer of this 4 cylinder 11.9 h.p. miracle. It will do an effortless 70 m.p.h. and handles on icy roads better than any car he has ever driven. In Italy it costs about £280. There is a possibility of a batch of six coming over to this country, fitted with special coachwork. Noel Rees is giving one to his son, and Brian Lewis will also probably have one.

There's also this long 2003 article by WB, about Lewis, which provides some background. Rees was a partner in Fox & Nicholl:

 

http://www.motorspor...lassy-performer

 

That link will also provide a sidebar link to quite a few other mentions of Noel Rees in the Motor Sport Archive.

[Vitesse2]

Noel Rees was apparently a wealthy building contractor who purchased a number of different racing cars which were usually raced for him in major events by the Hon Brian Lewis (who became Baron Essendon in 1944). He's mentioned in these earlier posts:
 



He may well have competed in his own cars in more minor events, but he's mentioned in William Boddy's Brooklands history only as an entrant, not a driver..

I've found a J Noel Rees in a report of the JCC Members Day at Brooklands in The Times, March 28th 1938, p5. Son of Walter? First Class award, driving a Lancia - perhaps the one mentioned in that 1934 article? Not racing, of course - autotests, manoeuvrabilty etc.

 

There's also a long article in The Times of March 17th 1984, by Peter Waymark, the author of a slim book on the history of Petts Wood - Walter Noel Rees apparently built much of it and had a reputation for erecting some of the better examples of Tudorbethan houses.

[Geoff E]

His presence on the 1911 census shows him to have been a coal merchant, newly married and in Ireland. http://www.census.na...s/nai001853068/

 

He was born on Christmas Day 1886 in Merthyr Tydfil. His father was a quarry owner.

 

He married Annetta Valentina Roberts in Dublin in 1910.

Edited by Geoff E, 02 June 2016 - 15:21.

[fuzzi]

As well as his support for Brian Lewis in racing cars, Noel Rees commissioned a close-coupled four door saloon body from the Darracq coachworks in Acton for his Talbot 105. The body was widely admired and became a catalogued body on the short chassis models of the Talbot range. Arthur Fox had the 105 Single-Seater clothed in a Noel Rees body after the Talbot works team was wound up and he kept the car as his daily driver for many years (it now appears as GO51 - the number it wore as the Team Leader in 1931). From an informal count there are more 'Noel Rees' bodied Talbots listed in the Talbot Owners Club than any other saloon body.

 

Type 'Talbot 75 Sports Saloon' into Google to see several handsome examples

Edited by fuzzi, 03 June 2016 - 10:14.

[HenryMann]

Many thanks for all your knowledgeable replies!

[Geoff E]

I've found a J Noel Rees in a report of the JCC Members Day at Brooklands in The Times, March 28th 1938, p5. Son of Walter?

 In the 1939 registration survey, there was a son (born in 1913) who appears as Illtyd N Rees. He died in Wales in 1983.  Apparently he was born in Australia.

 

There is a thread on RootsChat about Walter Noel Rees. Lots of comings and goings but probably nothing to interest TNF.  http://www.rootschat...?topic=608907.0