Rumblings, April 1952
Javelin in disguise
The accompanying photograph shows a very neat racing car, which you might be excused for thinking was a near-relative of the rear-engined Cisitalia or something equally top-line. In actual fact it is the means whereby enthusiastic Arthur Wylie, Editor of Australian Motor Sports, intends to practise what he preaches. For this trim single-seater racing car is, in fact, his new Wylie Javelin
Its chassis is that classic modern form, the double-tube frame, the main side-members being straight 2-in diameter 16-gauge steel tubes, with subsidiary longitudinal 1-in diameter 16-gauge tubes beneath. The cross-members are mostly 2-in diameter tubes, and the whole frame is of welded construction, reinforced by the .1-in diameter tubes of the body framework. Suspension, front and back, is by transverse leaf spring above Wishbones fabricated from 1-in by 10-gauge chrome molybdenum tubing. Swinging half-axles are used at the back, in conjunction with radius-arms fabricated from steel tube. The wheelbase is 7 ft 2 in, the front track 4 ft 4 in, rear track 3 ft 10 in, and the weight is 81/2 cwt.
In this workmanlike chassis is installed a Jowett Javelin engine, carefully balanced and with enlarged ports. It is supercharged with a Shorrock compressor mounted above the engine, drawing from a SU carburetter and feeding into an 18-gauge sheet-steel manifold. The flywheel is now 7 in in diameter and weighs only 11 lb. Transmission is via a 1 to 1 bevel gear from the crankshaft to a transverse shaft having a starting-handle dog at one end and a sprocket at the other. Chain drive is used from transverse shaft to a motor-cycle clutch, and close-ratio gearbox and final drive is by chain. A pressurised radiator is carried in the nose and a water pump is belt-driven from the aforementioned transverse transmission shaft. Javelin steering swivel-pins and knuckles are used, adapted to take nudge splined hubs. The front wheels use Fiat 500 rims and Rudge hubs, and Dunlop supplied the back wheels. Fuel is carried in tanks at the sides of the chassis and supercharger oil is in a small tank under the headrest. The body panels are alluminium. The supercharged Javelin engine is expected to develop 100 bhp, and Wylie should have an exceptionally exciting car in this interesting special.
Goodwood
The English motor-racing season opens with the International Easter Meeting at Goodwood on bank-holiday Monday. This year the BARC has made further improvements to the excellent Goodwood circuit. A new S-bend has been introduced just beyond Woodcote Corner and the members’ stands here have been re-sited and doubled in capacity so that cars can be seen taking the old Woodcote and the new corner. The stands have also been re-roofed to give better protection from rain, and in places round the circuit more concrete safety barriers have been erected. There are now terraced banks in all enclosures.
The new bend will naturally reduce the lap speed somewhat and thus the BARC has presented for all time the pre-1932 lap record to Farina—fitting enough when you remember how calmly and skilfully this great driver got his Alfa-Romeo round the 2.4-mile course at 97.86 mph last year. There is accommodation for 75,000 spectators at Goodwood and the BARC now has a membership of over 4,500. This explains why so many cars with the BARC badge are encountered these days, although some members who have not yet got their new badge sport the fine old Brooklands Club badge and it will be a sad day if every one of these were to disappear.
The Easter Monday races will number seven or eight and will include the Richmond Trophy, a 500-cc race, and Formula II and Formula Libre events. Racing starts at 1.30 pm and there is little need to persuade you to be present ! Advance bookings and information are available from 55, Park Lane, W1 (Tel. Grosvenor 4471).
Besides its members’ race meetings and open meetings, on August 16th the BARC is organising a very ambitious new race at Goodwood for the News of the World, which has put up prize money totalling £2,500. This will be a 9-hour International Sports-Car Race, starting at 3 pm, and finishing at midnight. Thus for an hour or more the cars will race in darkness, and the pits will be illuminated as at Le Mans. With a first prize of 1,000 guineas, a strong international entry of manufacturers’ teams, probably limited to 30 cars, is hoped for. The outright winner will be the car which covers the greatest distance in the nine hours, but there will also be up-to-2-litre, 2-3-litre and over 3-litre classes. A Le Mans start will be used.
From the spectators’ viewpoint there is the attractive proposition of being able to lunch comfortably before seeing the start and of getting to bed in London or at local hotels before 2 am after seeing the winner, headlamps ablaze, cross the finishing line. This 9-hour Race looks, indeed, likeanother BARC “winner.”
Incidentally, both our major circuits, Goodwood and Silverstone, see quite a lot of “business” these days apart from races. For example, on March 29th, the Bentley DC Eastbourne Rally competitors took part in a regularity test at Goodwood, and on March 22nd the entrants for the VSCC Pomeroy Memorial Trophy took acceleration tests and a one-hour highspeed run at Silverstone. Moreover, on March 31st the RAC put drivers in the British Rally through a high-speed trial at Silverstone (they also took tests at Castle Combe circuit on the same day), which last year proved to be some of the most varied and exciting “dicing” we have ever seen. And two Members’ Practice Days have been held at Goodwood.
The: Aston-Martin “works” team, mainly of open DB III cars, will compete this year in the Coppa Inter-Europe at Monza on April 14th, the Mille Miglia, Daily Express Production Car Race, Empire Trophy, Monaco GP, BARC 9-Hour Race and the TT.
Two Rallies : As quoted elsewhere in this issue, the Sestrieres Rally was won by Valenzano’s Lancia Aurelia and the Paris, St Raphael Rallye Feminin by Mme Simon’s little Renault.