60 replies to this topic

[Roger Clark]

R. H. H. Parnell was ‘Tim’, not Reg.

Weren't they both?

[Tim Murray]

Well yes, but my understanding (based on Graham Gauld’s biography of Reg senior) is that Reg senior didn’t like any of the names - Reginald Harold Haslem - that his son had been given.

’My father thought my name was shocking, in fact I don’t think he was even present at my christening because he couldn’t believe they had given me all those names - so he always used to call me Tim!’

[cooper997]

Not that this info is likely to help Michael's quest, but Tony Johns has brought it to my attention that Gillian Harris/ Stillwell wrote a chapter in the Wyer/Nixon 'Racing with the David Brown Aston Martins vol 2'

 

Stephen

[Michael Oliver]

Could it be an ex-F2 car from 1960?

 

RGDS RLT

 

The F2 cars from 1960 were as follows:

 

903 - Louise Bryden-Brown for Dan Gurney. Continued racing into 1961.

904 - Reg Parnell for Geoff Duke et al, continued racing into 1961, probably with Yeoman Credit (but could also be Tim Parnell's 1961 car, although I think this is unlikely).

909 - Tony Marsh. Continued to racing into 1961.

 

Then there are also two non-works 18s that appeared in 1960:

 

901 - Vanwall, practised for Snetterton Sept 1960, did not race. Offered f/s March 1964.

905 - Ian Burgess/Scuderia Centro Sud 1960, reportedly to Camoradi for Burgess in 1961.

 

905 is the mystery to me - it ran two races with a 2.5-litre Maserati engine in 1960, then may have been converted back to run 1.5-litre Climax for Camoradi, according to a story told by Ian Burgess and quoted by Bonhams in their auction description for 908 in 2012. But I don't know that there are any proven race appearances for this car in 1961, as Camoradi only had one Lotus and one Cooper that season at races, and the 18 they had was 908.

 

There is one for sale ad from Autosport 13th September 1963 I've come across which I can't tie to a specific car, which technically could fit 905 if it was rebuilt as a Climax-engined car but I don't know or recognise the address or phone number where it was being advertised from. Does anyone know where Ian Burgess lived at that time?

 

"Lotus XVIII, Formula 1. Brand new and unused, complete less engine and gearbox. £295. - 78 West End Lane, London, NW6 MAIda Vale 6320." 

 

This was the same phone number which advertised, in Autosport 11th January 1963 a "Coventry Climax FPF 1500 twin-cam, completely reconditioned. Also spare pistons, liners, bearings, etc. £295 the lot - MAIda Vale 6320."

 

I think this might have been the car that ended up with Peter Bailey, with an engine but less gearbox, as he later advertises for a gearbox suitable for a Lotus F1 car. Then I lose track of it.

 

Regardless, if any of this activity relates to 905, then it does not seem possible that it can be Tim Parnell's 1961 F1 car...!

[Michael Oliver]

This appears in the following issues of The Autocar

 

 

23/12/60 The Autocar

The Sport by Garnier – "Yeoman Credit have sent two cars – a Cooper and a Lotus, both powered by 2 ½ litre Climax engines – off to New Zealand for the New Zealand Grand Prix at Ardmore, Auckland, on 7 January, the Lady Wigram Trophy race at Christchurch on 21 January, and for the Invercargill meeting on 4 February. Drivers are Roy Salvadori and Joakim Bonnier who, together with Reg Parnell and the mechanics, will leave for New Zealand after Christmas.”

 

30/12/60 The Autocar

The Sport by Garnier – John Surtees forsake two wheels “Immediate plans include a month’s racing in New Zealand, early in the New Year, with a formula 1 Lotus – it wouldn’t be the formula 1 Lotus that Reg Parnell and the Yeoman Credit Team are taking to New Zealand with them would it?...”

 

I guess the 1st is from a YC Press release, but it must have been forgotten by the next issue.

 

 

Stephen

 

Thanks for this Stephen. I wonder how the cars travelled, by boat or plane? I guess the former in those days?

 

And of course, ultimately, Surtees did drive an 18 in New Zealand but for Team Lotus rather than Parnell, despite the fact that he was a Parnell driver for 1961!

[Michael Oliver]

Do we know of any other 18s with the oil filler covered by the bodywork?

 

Good question, as always, Roger! As far as I can tell, not in Europe, no. I have one shot of 915 driven by Cliff Allison at the International Trophy where it appears not to have an exposed oil filler but I think it is just that it is covered by the race number. Outside of Europe, only Syd van der Vyver's car that raced in South Africa didn't have the visible oil filler.

[Michael Oliver]

Weren't they both?

 

Were they both though? I haven't gone to the extent of ordering a copy of his birth certificate but in his birth record viewable on Ancestry, Reg is simply listed as Reginald, also in his marriage record, with no additional given names.

 

In contrast, in the same records 'Tim' is shown as Reginald H. H. He was Reginald Harold Haslam with an 'a' not an 'e', I would suggest because Reg had married Gladys Haslam.

 

So does anyone have any firm evidence to show that Reg was also R.H.H.? Apart from his Wikipedia entry that is...more than happy to be correct on this, I just haven't personally found anything that proves Reg was R.H.H. too but then again the era he raced in is not one I have a lot of reference material about.

[Tim Murray]

Reg Parnell’s middle name(s)

[cooper997]

Thanks for this Stephen. I wonder how the cars travelled, by boat or plane? I guess the former in those days?

 

And of course, ultimately, Surtees did drive an 18 in New Zealand but for Team Lotus rather than Parnell, despite the fact that he was a Parnell driver for 1961!

 

Michael, hard to know without lots of ferreting for a potential answer to this. But if the publication date of a late December 1960 The Autocar snippet has anything to do with it then 'by boat' wouldn't have been an option. Although maybe I'm trying to read too much in to it. 

 

 

Stephen

[cooper997]

29/9/61 Autosport classifieds

 

 

 

Stephen

[cooper997]

The Motor's Philip Turner The Sporting Side column

 

 

 

Stephen