Britain’s Newest Racing Car Built In Surrey

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27442, 31 August 1954, Page 6

Britain’s Newest Racing Car Built In Surrey

(Prom th, London Correa LONDON, August I<J. A small group ot English racing enthusiasts who hope to see -the greenpainted cars of Great Britain sweep the field in European Grand Prix events unwrapped their “secret” racer this week. The new car, a 2J litre Connaught has an enveloping aerodynamic body with a large tail fin similar to Sir Malcolm Campbell’s famous Bluebird. In test runs it has lapped the Goodwood racetrack at more than 130 miles an hour and its maximum speed is said to be between 180 and 200 miles an hour. The Connaught is the first serious attempt by British makers to challenge the supremacy of the Italian Ferraris and Maseratis and the new Mercedes Benz on Grand Prix courses since the B.R.M. racer was developed. Unlike the ill-fated B.R.M. which took five years to develop and which cpst some £250,000, the Connaught has been “built on a shoestring.” It is being made by Connaught Engineering, a non-profit making company backed by Mr Kenneth McAlpine, a wealthy young enthusiast who is determined to win a Grand Prix with a Britishmade car. • In the small Surrey village of Send, the designer, Mr Rodney Clarke, and a team of 40 draughtsmen ‘and engineers, have been working for a year on the new challenger. “We decided to make the car last September when it was clear that, in spite of the fact that Britain has never won a Grand Prix classic since Sir Henry Seagrave won in his Sunbeam more than 30 years ago, no member of the motor industry had expressed any intention of building a car to represent Britain,” said Mr Clarke. "We glan to build seven models which will e sold and raced privately. If tests are successful we will have the prototype car entered in the Italian Grand Prix next month.” • The German and Italian racing cars backed by huge industrial enterprises,

■pendent of “The Press”) are estimated to cost about £40,000 . each but the Connaught has been built for approximately £15,000 each. Without outside sponsorship, the makers cannot sport an official Connaught team for Grand Prix racing as it is estimated that it would cost at least £50,000 a year lo race a team in classic events. After the prototype has been tested cars will be raced separately by the backer, Mr McAlpine, and leading British drivers, Tony Holt, Leslie Marr and Peter Whitehead. The Connaught is built to the new Formula I international racing class which covers cars up to 2500 c.c. unsupercharged or 750 c.c. supercharged. The former B.RM. which was built under an old rating had 16 cylinders and a rating of 1} litre unsupercharged but the Connaught is powered by a 2470 c.c. four-cylinder Alta engine. It has twin-overhead camshafts, wet cylinder liners in an alloy block which is built in one piece with the crank case, and Thin wall bearings. It also has dry sump lubrication and direct petrol injection instead of the usual carburettors. The aluminium streamlined body is 14ft‘4in long and sft 6in high and the streamlining encloses the driver up to shoulder height. Air intakes in the. nose direct air on to the front brakes and the radiator and there are ducts at the side lor the rear brakes. An unusual feature of the design is the fourspeed pre-selector gearbox which has been fitted instead of the short gatechange gears usually favoured in racing cars. The Connaught may have competition from other English teams next year. Mr Alfred Owen, head of the large engineering concern, who bought the B.R.M. when the co-operative project was abandoned, is developing a new 4 cylinder unsupercharged 2} litre B.R.M. for racing next season. Mr Owen’s rival, Mr Tony Vandervell, another wealthy engineering director, is also said to be building a new formula car. At present Mr Vandervell races a 4} litre Ferrari under the name of the "Thinwall Special.”