Forthcoming B.M.C Utah Record Attempts

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The British Motor Corporation will take a team of drivers, composed of Stirling Moss, T. H. Wisdom, Phil Hill, Carroll Shelby and Ed. Leavens, to Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, in September, in an attempt to establish new records with two special cars, an M.G.-A and an Austin-Healey Sprite.

Stirling Moss and Phill Hill, in the supercharged M.G.-A EX 181, hope to exceed a speed of 250 m.p.h. T. H. Wisdom, Ed. Leavens and Carroll Shelby, in the 948-c.c. Austin-Healey Sprite, carry out an endurance trial to achieve more than two miles a minute for 12 consecutive hours. The M.G.-A EX 181, which will be making attempts in Class F — up to 1,500 c.c. — will be fitted with an engine developed from the B.M.C. ” B ” series unit. A specially designed Shorrock supercharger to raise the b.h.p. to 300 will again be fitted. One entirely new feature on this car will be a built-in controlled cooling and fire-extinguishing device which will automatically cut in if the engine becomes overheated.

The Austin-Healey Sprite, which will be making attempts in Class G — 750 to 1,100 c.c. — will be fitted with the B.M.C.” A ” series engine.

Both Stirling Moss and Phil Hill are flying direct to Utah from Italy after Monza, which means that the Austin-Healey Sprite team of T. H. Wisdom, Ed. Leavens and Carroll Shelby will make their runs first, at the beginning of September.