Brooklands Notes

Some 12 days before the Brooklands Society held its annual reunion, with runs up the test hill and sprints along the runway, the Brooklands Museum Trust had a sober, black-tie, evening, also to celebrate the track’s 85th year. HRH Prince Michael of Kent, the museum’s patron, announced that Nigel Mansell has associated himself with the cause, and that the executor of Hugh Hunter’s estate had donated £20,000 and the cost of restoring the 1903 Siddeley to the museum, money that will go towards the £250,000 needed for renovation of the Campbell sheds and other projects.

Cars representative of the racing days were present, including the famous Bentley-Jackson ‘Mother Gun’, although it did not run, as stated, in the very last race ever to be held at Brooklands. That was won by GL Baker’s 5.3-litre Graham Paige from B Burton’s Talbot and RCK Money’s MG, the other runners being two more MGs, two Lagondas, a Frazer Nash, an FN-BMW, two Aston Martins, a Riley, an Alta and an Alvis. It was in the previous race that the Bentley-Jackson competed, driven by the enthusiastic and skilful GP Harvey-Noble, giving him the last-ever 130 mph BARC badge. W B