A Racing Repair Shop

July 7th 2014

IF anyone were to ask ” Where do the racing cars go in the winter ? ” a correct answer in many cases would be “To Thomson and Taylors.” Their Brooklands workshops are certainly a cheering sight at this time of year, and show that although the winter may be a slack time for spectators, it is not so slack for those who hope to go really quickly next season. It is not surprising that many of the most successful racing drivers get their tuning done by this concern, when the whole re-designing, re-building, and preparation of Malcolm Campbell’s record car has been carried out by them, under the direction of Mr. Railton. However, it is a great mistake to imagine that this

is the only sort of thing they do, as a recent visit to their works showed that a very large number of private owners of both sports and touring vehicles see the wisdom of taking advantage of their experience, and so getting a performance from their every day vehicles which is a considerable improvement on standard. The equipment, as well as a machine shop, and large repair shop space, includes test

benches for both car and aero engines. The latter is the usual outside affair, on which engines after overhaul can pass the requisite Air Ministry tests, while a Heenan and Froude plant is just being added to the car engine testing equipment.

Among the many interesting cars in their shops is a T.T. Arrol-Aster. R. 0. Shuttleworth, who produced several of the old crocks which ran at the track this year, and later in the Brighton run, has acquired two of the Arrol-Asters, and is hoping to enter a team of them for the chief events this year. Evidently the fascination of the antique has not proved sufficient to keep him away from something a bit more lively, and as the Asters are said to handle very nicely on the road he ought to have some amusement.

Another vehicle of astounding performance is Eyston’s 2,300 c.c. Bugatti, a 100% Targa Florio car, which has lapped the track at 126 m.p.h., which for this type of vehicle is really astounding, though possibly less surprising when Thomson, and Taylors have had a hand in its upkeep.