It was a practice firing range, its probably still owned by the MOD because the local authority wouldn't want the chance of unexploded munitions being found and the subsequent liability. As you say, the beach is more famous for early speed records, Malcolm Campbell went 146mph there in 1924 One of the better known stories was that of "Babs". It starts with a guy called Count Louis Zborowski, although born in London he had wealthy American parents (his Mother was from the Astor family). His father was also a racer. Zborowski built a car called the "Higham special" after the house he lived in (Higham Park), the car was built in the stables and featured a Liberty L-12 aero engine. Zborowski died in 1924 at the Monza Grand Prix in a Mercedes. After his death, the car was bought by J. G. Parry Thomas, a welshman who quit his job as an vehicle engineer to race cars, he was based at Brooklands. He renamed the car "Babs" and made numerous changes. In 1926 he and Babs ran 170mph at Pendine. Parry was killed on the sands in 1927 in a rollover. The car was buried at the sands. Fast forward to 1967, another welshman, Owen Wyn Owen set out to unearth Babs and after some time got permission from the MOD and the blessing of Parry's descendants to dig up the car, he then spent several years restoring the car, including making a new body which had been badly damaged and then corroded. Footage from 1927: There's quite a bit of footage of Babs over the years: The car is now driven by Owen's son and is seen fairly often at heritage events. Pendine is still relevant - maybe 5 or 6 years ago actor Idris Elba set a new speed record at Pendine, driving a 6 litre W12 Bentley, he went 180mph.
Thank you japchris and Crafty. Good info. When I hear of common connections between racing cars and military history and installations it somehow validates my love of racing cars. I like to see that land being put to peaceful use. P.S. I've driven a W-12 Bentley. Did 0-100 in about a block which, for a 5000 lb car, impressed me.
Jamie and the others are continuing the motorsport legacy there certainly! Much of WW2 military activity on beaches/coasts was based in the south east corner of England for obvious reasons. Although there was a concern that the axis could attempt an invasion via the Bristol Channel and up through the Severn Estuary, meaning the invasion would have to sail up the stretch of water that Pendine looks out on.
The aircraft on the right appears to be Grumman F4F Wildcat's or Martlet to the RAF and not sure of the one next to it as the undercarriage is not the same, the other one facing the Dunes is a F4U Corsair, Not sure of the one at left, maybe a Beech Craft. JW
Well I thought I'd do a litle update on the tank progress, or lack of lately, I worked like a nutter leading up to Pendine to get it race ready so its been nice relax a bit and spend a bit of time away from the workshop catching up with friends and doing general summer things, oh yeah and catching and recovering from a mild dose of the Covid. Next job on the tank is to finish of the body work, main thing to do is make the cowl section for over the engine, so far I've cut out a buck and about to start work with the english wheel, its quite a compex shape so there may be a bit of scap metal generated in the process. I recently paid a vist to my good friend Bob aka Tommy Toolbox and cant resist posting a quick picture of his impressive shed....
I'd suggest making it in two halves, or even three strips. Here's one I did for my champ car - similar.
Nice bit of metal work there. Very similar shape, I'm planning on doing it in quarters, two half's looks like it would work fine as well.
Yes they are ,I have the first one made after Sebastian`s(Basty) I took it to Bonneville in 2017 and raced it in AVG500 class.Hand made frame -and I mean hand made , every joint hand made and ground to shape.I think there are possibly 4 in the UK ( 5 if you count my other unbuilt one in the crate)
Well after a summer of great events my enthusiasm is on full throttle for getting more work done on the belly tank. This week I've been working on a new set of rear wheels, I have tryed to order these from the states before but after they had been on back order for two years I gave up and set about building a pair. Inspiration and how to for these wheels came from an old HAMB thread www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/cheap-homemade-18-x6-5-on-5-5-bolt-early-ford-steelies-how-to-with-photos.263768/#post-2798964 Im not going to go into step by step detail as its all in the above thread, only thing i've done different is using a pair of space savers for the outer rim instead of model A wires. So this is what I started with Knocked up a quick spindle that will take a F100 hub and bolt to the bench Out with the plasma cutter Tacking all the bits together ready to finish weld The finished wheels will be 18 x 6 with 5 x 5 1/2" bolt patern, should be perfect for running a set of Dunlop racing 700 x 18's
Grinder with the wheel spining on the hub the tricky bit is tacking it all up so it runs true, I used a pointer on the outside and side edge, there not prefect but within a 1/16"
Finaly got my rear wheels finished, got them sandblasted, painted and a very tasty set of 700 x 18 Dunlop racing tyres/tires fitted. Almost a shame to cover them up with racing discs but they do look good.
I like those tires. Is that a model from their Grandtrek series? I do not see that specific design on the U.S. website. They would look good on my champ car.
Here is a link for a UK supplier https://www.longstonetyres.co.uk/700x18-r1-dunlop-racing.html Probably not much use for ordering but gives you all the spec, I think they are used quite a bit at Bonneville, sure I've seen them on Bobby Greens belly tank so might be available in the US.
Here is a source to check for what you want http://www.sascosports.com/tires_se...re_size=700-18 R1&std_rim=5.0&rim_diameter=18
Anymore news or updates, this thread had been a pleasure to go through. I’m almost at the point of creating mine using a radial motor (I’m very bias to a flathead) but heck why not? Can’t wait to see more on this.
The Jalopy Journal
