HERE AND THERE, January 1934

HERE AND THERE

Mr. Percy Northey Retires. having worked for the

Rolls-Royce Company for a period of 26 years, Mr. Percy Northey has retired at the end of 1933. Mr. Northey will continue to work in the interests of the company privately, and he will also be available in an advisory capacity.

Whitney Straight, Ltd. The formed

Whitney Straight which will operate four Maseratis on the continent next season, is now settled With registered offices at Bush House, Aldwych, London. An interesting addition to the personnel of the concern is Mr. Lambert, the Secretary, who acted for many years in that capacity for the late Sir Henry Birkin.

A Remarkable Debut.

Few drivers, of either sex, have made such a successful debut in reliability trials as Miss Doreen Evans. In the spring of 1933 on her seventeenth birthday, she was presented with a J.2 Midget by her father. Up till that time, of course, she could not drive, but she soon learnt, assisted no doubt by her brothers Denis and Kenneth, both of whom are well known M.G. drivers.

Miss Evans promptly entered for trials, and has so far competed in six. In every case she has gained a Premier Award, and her crowning success was to win the Ladies’ Cup in the recent London to Gloucester, being among the select 21 out of 190 to lose no marks.

In her first year of driving she has become the most successful woman driver in trials, an extraordinarily fine achievement.

John Cobb’s New Car.

John Cobb has acquired the 2seater Alfa Romeo belonging to Noel Rees, and raced by the Hon. Brian Lewis during 1933. Cobb, ot course, has devoted himself almost exclusively to track work since the beginning of his racing career. On one occasion he drove a Riley Nine in the T.T., and it is interesting to speculate on his probable participation in road races during the coming season.

On the other hand, the Alfa Romeo is perfectly suitable for track-racing, and should be capable of lapping Brooklands at a very high speed. The early long chassis ” 2.3″ Alfa owned by the late Sir Henry Birkin once covered a lap at well over 125 m.p.h.

Mrs. Stewart’s New Activities.

Since she deserted motor-cycles for cars, Mrs. Gwenda Stewart has confined herself to record breaking at Montlhery, and to prolonged road tests of new Derby models all over Europe. Now she is carrying this latter work a stage further, and she will drive a Derby in the Monte Carlo Rally. In addition, she has entered a similar car for the Grand Prix d’Endurance at Le Mans.

Racing on a Frozen Lake.

The German Automobile Club (D.D.A.C.) is handling arrangements for the first • time of the popular International Motor Races on the frozen Lake Titisee, near Freiburg, Black Forest. The meeting, at which aeroplanes, racing cars, and motor-cycles will race against each other, will be held on February 4th. It is hoped that British drivers will compete.

Conditions and entry forms are available from the D.D.A.C., Kaiserstrasse 41, Freiburg, Baden.

Unrest on the Continent.

There has been a good deal of dissatisfaction expressed this winter among the lesser known Continental drivers. The trouble is that during 1933 the system of running road races with selected fields has become almost universal.

The drivers say, that as licenceholders they are entitled to run in any race held under A.I.A.C.R. rules. They say that in many cases the organisers do not encourage the 1,500 c.c. category, and that they should not be excluded just because they have not the experience of a Chiron. In any case, they add, how are they to gain experience if their entries are always refused ? The organisers’ argument is that only a certain number of cars can

run in a race, and to ensure an adequate gate to pay expenses they are forced to limit the entries to the finest and most renowned drivers. English drivers, incidentally, even though inexperienced, are always welcome because they give the race an international flavour.

A suggestion has been put forward by the French newspaper” L’Auto ” that special races for beginners and second-class drivers should be held, either as preliminaries to real Grand Prix events, or as separate races.

A Coveted Record.

A record which ranks among the most sought-after achievements in motoring is that for the one hour, and this record is likely to be the subject of serious onslaughts during the coming season.

The One Hour is held by the late Count CzaikoWski’s 4.9 Bugatti, at 132.87 m.p.h. but G. E. T. Eyston has hopes of improving on this figure shortly with the 8 litre Panhard et Levassor. A brief history of the record since the War is not without interest. The first man to beat Chassagne’s old record was the late J. G. Parry Thomas, who averaged 109.727 for one hour at Brooklands on November 17th, 1924, with his Leyland-Thomas. On July 14th, 1925, he raised this to 111.34 m.p.h. with the same car on the same track. Six weeks later, on August 31st, Charles Ortmans captured the record at Montlhery at a speed of 116.08 m.p.h., driving the razor-blade 4.8 litre Panhard et Leyassor. Following the example of Parry Thomas, Ortmans beat his own record in the following Spring, on March 25th, 1926. This time he used the same 8 litre Panhard et Leavssor with which Eyston is shortly to make an attempt, and his speed: was 120.942 m.p.h. Once again Parry Thomas retaliated, and on October 21st, 1926, he averaged 122.453 m.p.h. at

B rookl ands . Then a new comer arrived on the scene, E. A. D. Eldridge, driving a very different car. His mount was a 2 litre Miller, and on December 31st, 1926, Eldridge took the record

at Montlhery with a speed of 127.328 m.p.h. Five months later, on May 27th, 1927, Cesar Marchand entered the lists with the 8 litre Voisin, and set up a new mark with a speed of 129.069 m.p.h.

This figure stood for five years, and it was not until April 6th, 1932, that G. E. T. Eyston broke the record with the old 8 litre Panhard et Levassor at a speed of 130.73 m.p.h. Then, on May 5th, 1933, the late Count Czaikowski set up the existing speed of 132.87 m.p.h. at Avus.

Airman’s World. Fast motoring is in many ways akin to flying, and this urge to fly cannot fail to be increased by a

fascinating book recently published. The title is “Airman’s World,” the author is a German named Peter Supf, the publisher is Routledge, and the price is 10s. 6d. In the text-matter (there are also 103 illustrations), the author sets out to describe, if description is possible of scenes unlike any on earth, of the airman’s world, storms, cloud effects, fog, the face of the earth, cities, forests, deserts and seas. At times Supf becomes a little ebullient, and we rather doubt whether many airman have consciously experienced the god-like emotions he describes. In spite of this over-enthusiasm, however, the author has succeeded in bringing home the wonder of flight and

the extent of Man’s conquest of the unaccustpmed element.

The book gains strength enormously by reason of its illustrations, which amplify the writer’s verbal pictures without referring to precisely similar scenes to those described in the text. Every one of the 103 aerial photographs is a masterpiece of its kind, and among so much excellence it is difficult to single out individual ones for praise. MOTOR SPORT readers will like the view of Avus Track, while “Modern City,” “City by Night,” “Tower in Fog,” “Shadow 01 Aeroplane,” “Boats on a Lake,” “Beer Garden,” “Glacier,” “Mountain Chain in Mist,” and ” Worshippers ” are magnificent.