PARRY THOMAS DEAD

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 19783, 5 March 1927, Page 7

PARRY THOMAS DEAD

A MARTYR TO SPEED TERRIBLE END OF FAMOUS DRIVER ACCIDENT AT PENDINS SANDS. CAE CRASHES AT THREE MILES A MINUTE. [By Telegraph—Per z*ress Assn.—Copyright.] LONDON, March 3. Half an hour after Parry Thomas, the world’s foremost racing motorist, stepped unconcernedly into the famous car Babs at Pendine Sands, against the doctor’s orders owing to his suffering from influenza, in an endeavour to wrest the speed championship from Campbell, he was lying dead, .and the car, the product of his own genius, was a, tangled mass of debris. Tho disaster occurred on his fourth attempt. He had changed the plugs., travelled one way, and was about to enter the official mile on his way back, having attained a spee.d of 170 miles an hour, when tho driving chain ef the back wheel snapped, clipped tho cogs, locked the wheels, and wrapped itself round them. Horrible Wounds. At terrific speed the car skidded violently. Pieces of the mechanism were hurled 100 yards. Then the machine somersaulted twice and again skidded almost broadside on. The rear wheel bounded like a rocket towards the sea, the chain unwound, broke through the mudguard with staggering force, and struck Thomas on the neck, tearing off his scalp from the neck to the forehead and virtually decapitating him. Death must have been instantaneous. The car came to a stop more than half a mile from the scene of the accident, turned on its side in a crumpled heap and burst into violent flames. Pieces of the car body, portions of the mechanism, and the windscreen were pounded into an inextricable tangle. Thomas was lying entangled, and before he could be extricated his legs had to be broken. There was a heart-rending scene when one of Thomas’ mechanics rushed towards the starting point, crying like a child and shouting “Oh, my God. Ho is dead. Parry Thomas is dead. ” Parry Thomas’ last epic appearance at Brooklands was in October last, when he broke three records. He was obviously a sick man when he went to his death. Do you have a mascot?” he was asked just before he stepped into the car. “No, I do not trust in false gods,” he replied. At that moment the mechanic arrived with a black eat presented by a lady motorist, which he tied to the car. Parry Thomas was literally unwrapped from the Babs. It was a 400 horse power car and developed over 600 h.p. It had twelve cylinders, four carburetters and its engine speed was roughly 2000 revolutions. Since Malcolm Campbell took the record a month ago Parry Thomas had changed tho shape of his car and fitted it with a new radiator. Campbell said: “A stout-hearted fellow has gone. You take your life in your hands in an attempt of this kind.” ANOTHER SPEED FIEND MAJOR SEGRAVE. SEEKS NEW RECORDS IN FLORIDA RUGBY, March 3. Major Segrave, who is to attempt to reach a speed of 200 miles an hour in his 1000 horse-power Sunbeam racing car, is on his way to tho United States, accompanied by ten mechanics. The attempt will be made on Florida Sands and the tests may begin on March 19. Major Segrave is convinced that he can beat the existing world speed record for automobiles, but it is desired to know whether anything can travel faster than 180 miles an hour on land. It is calculated that the two 500 horse power engines with which the car is fitted will propel it at a speed of 96 miles am hour in first gear, 156 miles an hour in second, and 212 miles an hour in top. The car will consume a gallon of petrol every mile and the wind resistance at 200 miles an hour will bo lOOOlbs. on tho front of tho vehicle. Tho car is described as the most powerful and scientifically perfect yet built.