Racing Cars on Public Roads

[markjtaylor]

As a boy I grew up in Dorking, home to Rob Walker's garage and racing operations. Leaving an aunt's house with my mum, I was 6, what was going past her front door. Jo Siffert's Cooper Maserati, being towed along the road. If I had been older i would have needed a change of pants, can you imagine, what a site, all those curly exhausts etc. Simply Awesome

[markjtaylor]

Just thought of another one, while queing, as you allways do, to enter Lemans, probably in the 80's. Minding our own business, terrific noise from nowhere, we looked up thinking is must be an aerial display, wrong. John Chatham in DD300 healey, the noise of that beast was amazing. Sadly I understand he had a nasty stroke in later life, though still is around. As a fellow stroke sufferer, best wishes for him.

[terence]

Pleased to say that John is doing OK,same old John but still full of life and fun!

[Al Weyman]

My old accountant Jack LeForte used to drive a Lola T70 on the road.

[markjtaylor]

I bet the Inland Thiefs did not like that as a company car, expensed by the business, if an accountant can not get away with it, who could. Bet he allways smelt of a mixtureof exhaust fumes, petrol and oil. Great as it must have been, it must have been a pig on the road, however given the opportunity, I would be first in the queue to try it.

[Al Weyman]

Only trouble was everytime I went to see him all he wanted to talk about was race cars and I wanted to talk my accounts especially at the price he was charging me.

[rbs]

These are really sports cars and legally roa registered, how about real racing cars, single seaters, on the road. I remember Denis Jenkinson testing one on the road one christmas, and Tom Wheatcroft makes reference to driving one on the road in his book "Thunder in the Park". I have also heard stories of Alain de Cadenet testing one of his Le Mans cars on the M4.

[markjtaylor]

Al, getting chatty with your accountant, reminds me of a visit to a solicitor regarding a crap non paying client I had some years back. The solicitors pen ran out, we were in a pretty bare meeting room, no other peans, so he went off to get another. I reckon that Biro cost me about £80!!!!!

[chunterer]

Like Al's comment there about his old accountant, highly amusing!!

Does the Alan Mann run Shelby Cobra Coupe's running up and down the M1 at 170 mph count as race cars on the road?

These cars were responsible for the 70mph speed limit being introduced i'm told!!!!

[Steven Humphrey]

Not quite on the road but my Dad used to work for Marlboro in the 70's and he managed to borrow McLaren F1 show car one weekend. I remember waking up in the morning & seeing it on the drive (on a trailer as it had no engine)! He had arranged with my school to put it on display at the summer fete & charge 50p for a polaroid of kids sitting in the car and I had the great job of sitting in it as he towed it through the village to the school!

[Thundersports]

Didn't the Van Dieman FF team get caught in the early 90s on a public road?

[Mike Bell]

Originally Posted by chunterer

Does the Alan Mann run Shelby Cobra Coupe's running up and down the M1 at 170 mph count as race cars on the road? These cars were responsible for the 70mph speed limit being introduced i'm told!!!!

I love this story, and if you want it from the horses mouth read Jack Sears biog, as he was one of the drivers. All a bit hyped up by the media, so no change there! The car was the UK built Cobra Le Mans Coupe which Jack and Peter Bolton were to race at the 24hrs that year. (Not sure if AC, Willment or Alan Mann entered.)

Of course, this was still in a period when a lot of sports racers and GTs were road registered and driven to meetings, sometimes on tradeplates. Oh to have been a mechanic then!

[Al Weyman]

I was and remember the incident, the only thing I got to drive on the road on tradeplates was the Hillman Imps though! I had a nice little circuit round the back of Fortis Green I used to take them round. I did once sit in Paul Hawkins Le Mans GT40 and drove it a few yards at the back of the workshop and was sorely tempted to turn out on to the Fortis Green Road and go for it but I was under threat of instant death on return from his South African mechanic (Ritchie?) who had only let me sit in the car as I was helping him set the ignition timing out in the yard and to drive it a few yards was my reward.

[Alan Raine]

John Jordan was known to have tested his McLaren M8 on the country roads around Biggleswade. There is a story that Bill Creasey ran in some parts on an F2 Brabham by driving it up the M1 on his way to Silverstone.

I came across the Etretat Hillclimb in France last year. Scrutineering took place in the car park outside the Town Hall and when finished the cars drove off, up the High Street to the Hillclimb a few miles away. It didn't seem a problem for the French

[Cameron Winton]

Not cars but bikes. Used to live in the West End of Glasgow. Great Western Road had a number of bike dealers with a lane running along behind the shops where they had workshops. Walking round at around 8pm one lovely summers evening and heard a nice loud noise. A 600 Supersports bike appears, ridden by a mechanic, tradeplate strapped to his back. After going out onto Gt Western Road, he opened up the bike and sounded like he redlined it in every gear until he got onto the M8.
No little country lanes. Middle of a city! And only 15 yrs ago.

[Graz]

The late Dunlop Brothers, Joey and Robert, were legendary for testing their bikes on the roads where they lived.

[mikestow]

If anyone out there lived in Tylers Green Penn,during the 67-69 period when Mike Ticehurst and Gerrard McCaffrey ran Motor Racing Enterprises from "Tanglewood",St Johns Road,Tylers Green,They should remember several instances of Single Seaters being towed by a Red Transit then started and running on own power,up and down the side roads.Also They were run up to Len and Bluebells Gibbs's Slade Garage,where Bluebell would run her Elva Climax,or Len would fire up his Ex Mike Knight BT21.Several Times I was ushered into a Seat to run up a BT 18 or Lotus 27 Twin Cam,the exproperty of Peter Sadler ,Hinchcliff Racing.To loud chortles of laughter,the events were then celebrated at the Crown,and the local "Cop" used to actually warn other motorists when these antics were performed,so as not to alarm them if they came across something!!!.Also at the same time in Turville Heath,Hambledon,on the last Thursday in the month,Jim, the Landlord of the" Bull And Butcher", used to have a "Race" night,where intrepids drove "C" Types ,"D" Types,Chris Long with his GT40,Hamish Moffat with a Bugatti,and several others with interesting motors,such as the "Farrellac".Then they were all driven home to various parts of Oxfordshire,and I dont think any were stopped by the law in those days,Such was a very enjoyable life,never to be repeated.These evenings became the meeting place for the local Jaguar Drivers Club.

[GORDON STREETER]

When I worked for Alan Fraser most of the race cars were tested up the old A21. And some were taken home by the mechanics to run them in.

[zefarelly]

My Dad used to tell me about a mate who had a GT40 in his workshops, they used to test it on the 'new' M4 or somewhere thereabouts . . . I have a photo somewhere, I guess he was late teens/early 20's, GT40 was near new, must have been an awesome drive, he always used to blame the thin patch on top on the door shut line!

[SAMD]

I remember about 1975 a friend towing his stock/rallycross car to Boyds Quarry when the tow car broke down. So the stock car was removed from the trailer and the tow car put on the trailer with a 'Heath Robinson' hitch rigged up on the stock car it then continued down the M2 and duly arrived at Boyds on time for Scrutiny, complete with tow car on the trailer!

[bdwoody]

my dad used to test austin cambridges up the M27 before it was opened , if it went ok then we would strip it ready for aldershot .