Sorry for that Mike, I hang my head in shame.
Would love to know more about how he came about the engine if you know the story?
Thanks again for the clarification.

Location: New Forest

Thanks for the info. Nice to have photos of the engine to go with the car. My friend doesn't know when the photo was taken. Possibly 80's

Location: Vernon British Columbia

I think I'm correct in saying that Terry McGrath raced this car for an owner for some time. Haven't heard from/of Terry for years, but if he's still around he may fill in some of the history. That may even be Terry behind the wheel. Cheers, Bill in Oz

Location: Euroa,Victoria

Top pic about 1990. Owner Edward Way at the wheel. I campaigned the car for 5 years in the mid 1980s, (owned at the time by Gil Baird). Top speed 105 mph at VSCC Colerne and 41.5 secs up Shelsley.

Location: Moseley Birmingham UK

Bill: Terry emailed this to me by mistake. Hopefully he won't mind sharing his info with Friends. Gord French



Hi Bill,
Yes I’m still around and racing these days a CGSs Amilcar/Riley, but have a 1928 Fabric A7 saloon to tazz about in.
Last time we met was on the Isle of Man in 1977!

Just discovered the A7 Friends website.
Do get in touch…

Location: Vernon British Columbia

I made copy negs of Bowles's photo album for the 750 Bulletin when Cliff Bradshaw was editor.
This pencil note by Bowles was tucked into the album.


front


back

Bowles' pics of the engine...

What a beast!

The only Austin 7 bit on this engine is the tin flywheel cover. No torque below 4000rpm then it came in like a rocket up to 8000. I never circuit-raced it. Edward Way did later at Mallory.

Location: Moseley Birmingham UK

According to the Bank of England, based upon an inflation average of 5.3% a year, spending £500 on an item in 1947 is the equivalent to spending £17,647 today !

Jeff.

Location: Almost but not quite, the far North East of England

So what is the engine?

Location: Near Mi Motorway Jtn 28

It's one of the Murray Jamieson sidevalve racer engines, once fitted to the car raced by Kay Petre which was written off in a crash at Brooklands.

Location: Richmond, Texas

And Brian - Kay Petre's crash was not caused by her, she was hit in the tail and rolled over by another car, the driver of which was banned 'til the end of that season. She sustained serious head injuries, was unconscious for some time. When released from hospital she turned up at Brooklands still with bandages on her head, did her usual trick of one slow lap, then gave her car the stick for a few hot laps, just to see if she still had the nerve. But the end of that season saw her retire from racing, although not from Rallies. What a lady. Most including Austin were convinced she wouldn't survive the crash. At the time Herbert was so upset he ordered that her Seven be never rebuilt, that's how the engine turned up a solitary entity later.
Roger - thanks for the onsending. If you don't know of Terry he's a great jazz player, too. On the IOM we had to do 3 timed laps of the TT course (100 miles) in our Sevens. On my last lap I was thumping along the long downhill stretch from Snae Fell where about 7/8 of the way down one had to get around a right-angle corner or you ended up in the pub opposite. I could see someone waving frantically at me to slow - I thought there must be an accident. But no, it was Terry holding out a pint which I had to drink before continuing on. Luckily I got to the next control on time, so like most others we got a gold. That's Terry. See what elaborate follow-on your two photos can cause? Cheers, Bill in Oz

Location: Euroa,Victoria

The other driver in the Brooklands incident was Reg Parnell in a Riley. I met Kay Petre when Bert Hadley and I went to a dinner at the Midland Motor Museum in the 80s. Bert was always besotted by her, and was untypically bashful in her presence. There was a massive class divide...

Location: Moseley Birmingham UK

"See what elaborate follow-on your two photos can cause? Cheers, Bill in Oz"[/quote]


You are right, Bill. But what interesting information. And from the people who experienced it. Gord

Location: Vernon British Columbia

Gord (& perhaps others) - more trivia. It was ironical (see above) that Kay owned the famous ex- Raymond Mays' White Riley which was the fore-runner of the ERA. As Petre wore a pale-blue satin driving suit & accessories, also a specially-moulded-to-her-shapely-bottom (I have her vital statistics!) driving seat to match, it's not hard to guess that the White Riley became blue. When hired by Herbert Austin to drive the factory side-valve single-seater, he had it painted an identical blue, as he did later with her Le Mans Grasshopper. In 1935 she had set a Ladies record at Brooklands of 134.75 mph on Klemantaski's huge 10-litre Delage, proving she could drive anything at speed. I only ever spoke to her by phone, but she told me a few interesting things, including her being very nervous before any event, but soon got over that once the competitions began. When asked about the faster cars she drove she mentioned doing a few laps on a factory Auto Union at a race meeting in South Africa, which she felt wasn't generally known. Referring to her head injuries she said she'd been a good skier and a champion ice-skater before a knee injury put paid to a professional career, so her interest then turned to motor-racing, to later getting injured at that! A very interesting lady, it's a surprise no-one has written a book about her as far as I know. So apart from Kay's guardianship of the car and it's engine it would be great to find other details of the the engine's ownership over the years. We hope to hear more. Cheers, Bill in Oz

Location: Euroa,Victoria

Hardly the sort of car to disappear so where is it now?

Much more than the motor was presumably far removed from standard so were original parts other than the motor also acquired? Was the original diff simply offset or not 90 deg?

500 quid does seem a formidable sum for a motor. Ordinary cars were very inflated immediately post war, but demand unlikely to extend to racing motors with limited application. When did Formula 3 arrive and how much was a complete new 500?

Location: Auckland, NZ

Original engine, Jamieson supercharger and gearbox were all that were used. The original had an 80 degree, offset back axle. The recreation has a chopped and offset Ruby one. The car is now in safe hands with a knowledgeable enthusiast but not been used for over 10 years.

Location: Moseley Birmingham UK