Chitty Bang Bang - Zborowsky and J.G Parry-Thomas

[scooters]

Chitty Bang Bang

 

Those of us who dabble in the fascinating world of “chod†(old cars of dubious historical importance to the uninitiated) are instinctively drawn to the earliest days of motoring when the motorist didn't so much as drive but rather operated his car and had to be designer/engineer/mechanic/metallurgist/inventor/driver and lunatic all rolled into one. The period is littered with heros of the time: Malcolm Campbell; Prince Henry of Prussia, Kaiser Bill's younger, and less war like, brother (who established the great Edwardian motorsport trial which shared his name and is where Vauxhall gets its name for the 'Prince Henry' special editions.); The Bentley Boys and there are those who have their lives in the quest for fame and fortune or just because, in an age of rich decadence, it was amusing to risk life and limb at the wheel of some homemade beast. Two legends that fit into the last two categories are Count Louis Zborowski, and J.G. Parry-Thomas.

 

 

The sporting motor car in the post Great War period was going through somewhat of a crisis in Europe. Even in the UK the industry, previously totally geared up for war production, announced their post war programmes and no sporting models were discussed until late in 1919.

 

If you were looking for a fast car you were stuck with either pre-war models or to build one yourself. A 1914 Rolls Royce Continental Tourer cost £1,145 new (£98,000 these days) in 1914 but by 1919 was an eye watering £4,145 (£160,000 – indicates the effect the war had on the value of the pound £4145 in 1914 prices is £360k). Therefore many turned to that good old rather British tradition of if you can't afford it – make it yourself!

 

This gave rise to a new class of car. It was prompted by the problems of engine supply. Post war, the sort of powerful engines needed for automotive use just were not available. However, all the belligerents had been building aeroplane engines by the dozen and a new example could be bought for £30 (about £1100 today) from the Ministry of Munitions

 

the only thing is, they were quite large.

The most commonly available were:

18 lt 225hb V12 Sunbeam,

23 lt 300 hp 6 Cylinder Maybach

275hp V12 Rolls Royce

 

The idea was to get an old touring car chassis, drop in one of these babies and bolting on a four seater touring car body. Thus the penniless former fighter pilot looking to win fame and fortune at Brooklands could cobble together the cash for these bits and with the help of his mechanic, compete with the best.

 

Aussie fighter pilot Harry Hawker was the first to try this taking the 18lt Sunbeam V12 engine and dropping it into a lengthened Mercedes chassis, dropping on a four seater torpedo body the car could easily hit 90mph. It took to the road in 1919 and was soon followed by Col. GH Henderson's Rolls-Royce Napier with a 14lt Falcon engine.

Harry Hawker, later founder of the Hawker Aircraft Company

 

Brooklands reopened in 1920 and this car type of car became natural for the track.

 

It is surprising that, given the general optimism of the world in 1919 that no one tried to make these vehicles commercially, the engines were huge but highly flexible and with great power, cars fitted with them could outperform anything on the roads. The only models which weren't private ventures were sold in the US by Wharton of Dallas and Prado of New York who offered a few cars engined with the Curtis OX-5 aero engine – but that was only a measly 8 lts). However, I am sure that fuel consumption together with the lack of customers willing to risk their lives every time they got behind the wheel (205 Gti anyone?). As the supply of better refined production cars began to kick in in the early 1920's the aero engined monsters were found on the track rather than on the public road.

 

However, some diehards built them for both and no one epitomises the DIY aero engined beast motor better than Count Louis Zborowski.

 

 

 

Count Louis Zborowski

 

Born in 1895, Louis was the son of a Polish count and a loaded American heiress of the Astor Family. His parents emigrated to England around the turn of the century and settled in Kent buying Higham Place , a pile to loaf in. Pops (Count William) Zborowski was clearly a thrill seeker and was one of the first people you could actually call a 'racing driver'. He was killed behind the wheel at a hill climb in 1903, his mechanic, the Marquis of Pollange was thrown free of the wreck and said that William's cufflink had become caught on the hand throttle causing him to lose control of the car. Mother Zborowski died in 1911 so there was no stabilising parental influence when the young, good looking Count came into the family dosh and started to look for something to amuse himself with . It was no surprise he followed in dad's footsteps.

 

 

 

By 1921 he had fallen in with engineer and “Bentley Boy†Captain Clive Gallop. Louis and Clive were obviously not the sort of people to do things by half so they set about squandering the Zborowski millions on building and racing cars – and what cars they were.

 

Louis Zborowski

 

Being a card, Louis named his first attempt as “Chitty Bang Bangâ€Â, his next two cars would be named “Chitty 2†and “Chitty 3â€Â. The film is keen to highlight that the Chitty Bang Bang sound is where the car got it's name However, Louis and Clive were men of the world and Chitty Bang Bang is British Army slang used by officers who would get a leave 'Chit' for a 'cultural' visit to Paris on leave from the front line where they no doubt enjoyed the art galleries and the boulevards and perhaps even the opera which is where the 'Bang Bang' bit comes from, at least – that was the explanation given to wives and sweethearts .

 

His first car, Chitty 1 was initially named 'Cascara Sagrada' – a popular herbal laxative of the time, no doubt it described the sensation of actually driving the thing. Sadly, the Brooklands officials kaiboshed the name so Chitty 1 stuck.

 

Chitty 1, was a 23 liter six cylinder Maybach aero engine with a chain-drive stretched Mercedes chassis. 1921 when on its first day out at the Brooklands it won two races and was second in a race behind another of Zborowski's cars. It was a sensation. In the first win he took the Brooklands Short Handicap at a speed of 100.75 mph.

Obviously a man who had a keen sense of economy, Louis drove Chitty 1 too and from Brooklands on Trade Plates. To bamboozle the crowds and to save his blushes should it fail, Zborowski fitted Chitty 1 initially with a very crude exhaust (you can see the stove pipe end in this photo – probably put there for a joke.

 

Chitty 1

 

 

 

Next time out the exhaust system was properly flowed in. But his previous exhaust caused him to be given a 10 second handicap when he "took to the concrete" as he liked to put it. His major threat, a 350hp Sunbeam was seen off Louis hitting 111.92 mph.Despite the stewards rumbling his exhaust capers in the next race he got nearly 120mph out of Chitty 1.

 

Later in 1921 they started constructing Chitty 2. It was similar design to Chitty 1 but had was shorter and had an 19lt Benz engine on a Merc Chassis with a Bligh tourer body. Chitty 2 only ran at one Brooklands fixture before being converted into a very fast road car for Louis to use. He continued to race Chitty 1.

 

Chitty 2 in racing set up ^

 

Chitty 2 in road car set up v – the bloke with the gray hair is Jay Leno

 

 

Louis used Chitty 2 and the new Chitty 3 (14lts 180h) as his 'daily driver' and most reliable it proved to be, he took both cars a trip to the Sahara Desert with his wive, Captain Clive and two mechanics they completed a route recently travelled by Citroen. It shows the incredible toughness of the design of these cars that they were able to run the same route as an expedition with the industrial might of Citroen behind it with no drama. Desert in 1922 but by Whitsun, Louis was back at Brooklands behind the wheel of Chitty 1 setting a fastest lap of 113.45 mph. However, during the September meeting Louis crashed Chitty 1 in practice, she shed a tyre, left the banking and smashed into the timing box at high speed clipping the unfortunate timer, a Mr Chamberlain, who lost a few fingers in the incident. Louis was remarkably unharmed.

 

Chitty 1 was rebuilt but Louis never raced in it again. It was eventually bought by the Conan Doyle brothers (Sir Arthur's Sons) who raced it in 1930. After it was exhibited Brooklands before being abandoned. Rust set in and eventually someone cut the chassis in half to get the gear box – in true bodger form he discovered that the gear box didn't fit what he intended it for but that was the end of Chitty 1.

 

In 1923 he became a patron of Aston Martin and raced for them art Brooklands and in the 1923 French Grand Prix. That year he also travelled to Indianapolis where he raced for Bugatti in the Indy 500 that year.

 

In 1924 he drove his latest Chitty 3 – a 180 hp 14lt monster called the 'White Mercedes' to Stuttgart to negociate jining the Mercedes racing team. However, he was hedging his bets because whilst he was racing for them, he was also designing and constructing his largest car yet, The Higham Special.

He was never to see it completed as he was tragically killed behind the wheel hitting a tree at the 1924 Italian Grand Prix. It is said that he was weaning the same cufflinks that his father was wearing when he was killed in 1903.

 

It is ironic that he was killed driving a works car rather than one of his own, insane, designs.

This from The BMM website:

“Chitty 2 was bought by Bill Hollis of Temple Ewell from a motor dealer for £300 and a Hillman Aero Minx. Hollis ran a fleet of motor coaches from his Orange Motors business in Dover and Chitty II was kept at his market Square premises. He used it regularly until the outbreak of war. During the war the car was moved to a barn on Hollis' farm at nearby Sutton but was later stored outside under a tarpaulin.

 

An American collector bought Chitty II in the 1960's for £16,500 and it eventually went on display at the Western Reserve Historical Society museum in Cleveland Ohio. Lord Montague of Beaulieu arranged for it to be loaned to The National Motor Museum in Hampshire and had Chitty II shipped to the UK in 1992. It was displayed alongside one of the 1968 Ford powered film cars that had been built by Alan Mann of Surrey.

 

The author Ian Fleming was inspired by the Count and his cars to write the children's novel "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" which was made into a successful film by MGM in 1968.â€Â

 

Fleming stayed at Higham Park as he was friends with the new owner, here he heard the story and was inspired to write the novel. Poor old Hollis is pictured in the film as the stingy farmer who won't sell the kids his car as he's scrapping it (a bit like a few sellers the modern enthusiast might encounter!)

 

.

 

The Higham Special Lives

 

 

The incomplete Higham Special (sometimes known as Chtty 4_ was eventually bought by the Welsh driver J.G. Parry-Thomas for £125 (£5,800) in 1924. Chitty 4 was the largest and most powerful car designed by Zborowsky yet, a 450 HP V12 Liberty Aero Engine of 27 Lt capacity was mated to the gear box and twin drive chains of the 1909 Blitzen Benz that Victor Hemery set the 126mph land speed record. ((in 1911 Bob Burman recorded an average speed of 141.7 MPH in the Blitzen Benz, at Daytona Beach – a record that stood until 1919. The car was broken up in 1923, the gearbox and chains bought by J.G.)

J.G. Parry Thomas^

Parry-Thomas renamed the car 'Babs' and added four Zenith Carbs and redesigned the pistons. 'Babs' was the largest capacity racing car to ever run at Brookands..

 

The Land Speed Record

Parry-Thomas realised that true fame and fortune would only come from the Land Speed Record however, he lacked the money and prestige of Campbell or Segrave to secure a Napier Lion the usual weapon of choice so instead he put his faith in “Babsâ€Â.

“Babsâ€Â†Cockpit

On 28th of April 1926 on Pendine Sands he took the LSR at over 170mph – a record that stood for nearly a year before Malcolm Campbell broke it in February 1927. On 3rd March 1927 he returned to Pendine Sands. Apparently he had the flu but jauntily turned down a lucky charm offered by a little girl saying he'd put his trust in his maker.

To encase the huge engine, “Babs†had a raised engine cowl forcing J.G to crane his neck to the side to see where he was going. The Blitzen Benz drive chains were exposed at the side of the car taking the huge torque to the rear axel.

At over 170mph the right hand chain broke, instantly almost decapitating Parry-Thomas. However, some controversy lies around whether it was a wheel failure. Either way, it was a fatal result for J.G. Parry-Thomas and “Babsâ€Â.

 

“Babs†after the 170 MPH chain faliure that decapitated J.G. Parry-Thomas, the car was buried where she came to rest.

J.G. Parry-Thomas's grave.

In the 1960's, car restoring legend Owen Wyn Owen recovered “Babs†and restored her where she can now be seen occasionally terrifying the crowds at a Brooklands Society day, that is, when someone mad enough to drive her can be found!.

“Babs at Brooklands

 

“Babs†today

 

 

 

The Chitty Bang Bangs were unique – we will never see such motoring madness again. They were a freak of the times and a reminder of how courage and innovation were needed in equal spades by these uncompromising pioneers of the supercar.

 

By, R Palmer, November 2011

Sources and further reading:

G.N Georgano, A History of Sports Cars, London 1970

Elizabeth Nagle: The Other Bentley Boys, London 1961

 

With thanks to the following websites:

 

http://www.britishmm.co.uk – The British Motor Manufacturers Website

http://www.brooklands.org.uk –

[Shep Shepherd]

I bet that the £16,500 Bill Hollis got when he sold Chitty 2 in the 1960s came in handy when he established his Dover-based VW dealership in 1965

[morris_ital_lover]

Epic read, thanks!

[Justin Case]

Fabulous cars and a great write-up, many thanks for it. The spirit of these aero-engined monsters lives on and at least a couple of modern recreations are regularly campaigned in VSCC events.

 

Most spectacular is probably the tyre-shredding Napier-Bentley with a Napier Sea-Lion W-12 seaplane engine in a vintage Bentley 8-litre chassis:

 

Chris Williams Napier Bentley at Precott 2007 by 66Alpine, on Flickr

 

 

But even larger is this Hispano-Delage. It was built by an old college friend from the remains of a 1930 Delage limousine and a 1926 27-litre V-12 Hispano-Suiza aircraft engine (I think that the years were that way round,) but it now seems to be owned by someone else:

 

291 Hipano/Delage (Spcl) (1926/30) by robertknight16, on Flickr

 

However this is Autoshite, so I will leave you with this GN with 5.1 litre JAP aero engine:

 

La Vie en Bleu 2009 by Darren_Curtis, on Flickr

 

(cue for a thread on Shelsley Specials )

[DSdriver]

Great stuff, an interesting read.

We happened to be in Pendine in August on the weekend that there was an attempt on the electric car land speed record. I think they failed because they did not realise that the beach was so long and they didn't bring enough extension lead for the leccy. We visited the Land Speed museum to thaw out a bit as it was a bit parky down on the beach waiting while nothing happened and saw the Babs car. Lunchtime refreshment was taken in the Beach Hotel where they have an incredible carpet with these motifs all over the place.

Here is a bit of video taken by Mrs DS on her phone of the leccy Bluebird

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dsdriver/6390998373/in/photostream

 

Edit because I got the link wrong

[scooters]

Seth on Retro Rides added this article to the post:

 

Mestopheles - the beast of a Fiat which took the 1924 LSR -

 

 

here's a link to the article

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/mot ... turns.html

[andrew e]

Alledgedly Ian Fleming got the 007 bus to Brooklands as a small boy.

[garethj]

Excellent post, thank you!

 

On the subject of Ian Flemming's story, it was a favourite of mine as a kid and it's completely different to the over-sweet film. The family chase gangsters and show a grimy side of Paris but it manages to be quite funny as well as exciting.

 

And the car is miles better than the Edwardian style one in the film; it's supposed to be an 8 litre, 12 cylinder, supercharged monster called the Paragon Panther which was a one-off racing car made in the late 1920s. I'm not sure if it's based on one of the real Chitty cars or something like an 8 litre Bentley, Flemming was rather fond of Bentleys.

 

Here's how it looks in the storybook, there's a great few paragraphs about their first test drive down the new M20 motorway getting up to 100mph