Grandpa Raby had a long career in the 500cc Formula III series (of which you can find more at
www.500race.org ). He was a significant player, if not of the top order. Unfortunately, we haven't got a biography for him, though he is on the priority list. But unlike the bigger, more prestigious series, getting adequate information together can be a bit tricky.
A few points I can make:
- He did not appear in the 1951 Who's Who book (between the '51 and '52 series), so probably wasn't involved at that point. Of course, he may have been racing elsewhere.
- He may have raced 500s in 1952, but the first record I have is the Coronation Meeting, 24th May 1953, at Brands Hatch (in those days, Brands was run by the Half Litre Association, and all meetings were exclusively for 500s). The report in Iota magazine makes no direct mention of him, but he ran in the Junior Race (making the final), the Open Challenge Race (did not qualify from his heat), and the Junior vs Senior Handicap race. Junior races were open to those who had not scored a podium in a class race, so we can assume that he was still in his early days.
- He's at Brands again in June, August, and October, Crystal Palace in July & September, and in August has a go at the Commander Yorke 100-mile race at Silverstone (one of the big 500 events of the year) - retiring with a thrown chain.
- The Iota report from Brands, October, apears to show him in a 1948 Cooper-JAP Mk II. This would add weight to the idea that it was his first car and was still getting the hang of the racing game. He took a third in the Junior Final and a second in the Sprint race for JAP-engined cars, so he was clearly making progress.
- I see nothing for 1954, but in 1955 he appears to still be in the Junior class. He did win the 500cc class at the Brighton Speed Trials. I believe he had graduated to a much more modern Cooper Mk VIII or Mk IX. He continued winning in '56 and '57, now running with the big boys like Jim Russell and Stuart Lewis-Evans.
Although I have no records of it, I believe he also made trips to Scandinavia for the big International races in the Summer.
I should point out that I'm working from my own records rather than the "Black Book" - the latter will have more references, if perhaps less detail.
I'm not personally aware of any of his 500 cars still being in circulation. However that would partly be because the history is harder to trace and verify than other, bigger series, and perhaps because a "Raby Car" could be either one he drove, or one he sold through the business.
I know of a couple of pictures in print, but I'm currently sans scanner (and with a couple of hundred scans already lined up). i have only one passport-style image on file, which Google Image has probably already turned up for you. So if you PM me an email address, I'll add you to my "To-do" list. Equally, we would be happy to add a biography page on our site if your search is fruitful.
