The Southport Motor Club Championship Meeting on Birkdale Sands, 12 September 1925
"First Place in the Flying Start Kilometre sprints 1100cc Novice Class was taken by N Jolly of Lytham driving his unsupercharged Austin Seven Sports. His time was 40.4 secs which made him Class Champion for the year."
Fuzzi,
That's brilliant. I very much appreciate your ingenuity. It's more than likely that Norman Jolly raced cars too because when I met him, he owned Lytham Boatyard and lived in a very expensive property on East Beach.
One of my ex-Jolly Broughs was eventually bought by Terry Larson in the USA who placed it in his museum amongst a range of exotic SS and Jaguar sports cars. Terry Larson is a Jaguar fanatic and I've seen him described as USA's foremost historian and expert on these cars.
Why is my old 1924 SS80 Brough amongst such notable cars?
Well it seems that it was originally sold to Swallow Sidecars in Blackpool. This was a company building unique motorcycle sidecars started by William Walmesley that was kickstarted into life in 1922 when William Lyons (later Sir William) became a partner. According to the Brough Superior Club (who hold the factory records), each year, the two partners treated themselves to a pair of Broughs which they presumably claimed were demonstrators (for tax purposes). The one I owned was reputedly used by Sir William Lyons who went on to form Jaguar Cars.
Sir William was a motorcycle enthusiast from his childhood and often raced his various motorcycles in the sand racing events of the Lancashire coast - Southport, Ainsdale, Blackpool and Morecambe (there may be more). My supposition is that he knew Norman Jolly from sand racing and from living only about 8 miles from each other. Hence it is easy to see how Jolly may have come by his ex-Lyons Brough Superior. Lyons probably told him he was selling it and Jolly bought it off Lyons. They may have been good friends for all I know because there wouldn't be many V-Twin Harleys (William Lyons raced one) and 1000cc Brough Superiors on the Fylde roads in the early 1920s.
In an attempt to add weight to this supposition, I was hoping to find a racing programme or results of that era listing both Norman Jolly and William Lyons competing at the same event. So far, you're the first person to find any mention of 'N Jolly of Lytham' so well done and thank you.
