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David Allison
United Kingdom
665 Posts |
 Posted - 01/12/2010 : 13:54:16
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Aware that things were slipping off topic - I thought I would start up a new story here.
The Q Type built for George Harvey-Noble was progressivley modified (I think possibly at Thompson and Taylor) to attack handicap races and also the outer circuit lap record for class H at Brooklands.
An ultra skinny single seat body and K type front axle were the main chassis modifications from standard and the engine did have extensive work done by R C Jackson at Brooklands.
The car did also have some tuning work done at Abingdon too prior to its taking the outer circuit lap record for class H at a lap average of 122 mph and earning the driver a 120 mph star badge.
I think it was the only car under 1000 cc to gain a 120 star and the driver told Dad some years later that he spent most of the race watching the oil pressure gauge like a hawk.
The high speeds and bumpy cicuit gave the poor little engine a hard time and a dip in oil pressure could have caused a catastrophic accident - the drive had a nasty experience in a Singer hence his anxiety.
While in the ownership of Syd Beer and while NA 0307 was being rebuilt - Dad drove the car a number of times (he even won a race in it I think at Thruxton but I might be wide of the mark).
The car was tricky to keep on all 4 cylinders - but when it ran well it was a rocket ship.
The noise was as Colin states "unbelievably loud" and bordered on the un-pleasant.
Malcolm Beer is convinced that the car is the sole reason for his own deafness in the left ear - certianly post war he drove more laps in the car than almost anyone else.
On its day the car was pretty much as quick as the Monaco K3 (K3021) up to 60 mph and only a second or so a lap slower around Silverstone.
However with an oiled plug it misfired and behaved like a bad teenager and barely enough power to drag itself along.
The front cowling of the car and a spare Zoller were recently lent by Malcolm to Brian Moylan for the MG exhibition at the Abingdon museum and the blower is an awesome sight for such a little engine.
Regards David |
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Colin Butchers
United Kingdom
1487 Posts |
Posted - 01/12/2010 : 17:03:43
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Thanks for the additional information David. My understanding is that apart from a possible bit of chassis checking and straightening by Thomson & Taylor, all of the construction and development of the single-seater was done by Robin Jackson's team (that is R R Jackson -not R C Jackson who was your Dad's old boss at Abingdon.)
Also W E Humphreys was another M.G. driver awarded a Brooklands 120 MPH Badge by lapping the Outer Circuit in excess of 120 mph in QA0256 during the Dunlop Jubilee Meeting of September 1938. He achieved a fraction slower than GPH-Ns record speed in a car which still had a standard 2-seater Q Type body - tuned again by R R Jackson.
Colin B. |
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powerplus
United Kingdom
599 Posts |
Posted - 01/12/2010 : 21:23:03
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Interesting to hear that a K type front axle was fitted to the car.
Did this involve widening the chassis to K type width or was the axle cut and welded in a similar manner to that carried out on the MG Bellevue special? Presumably the 3'9" (N) axle and brakes were retained at the rear? Was the purpose of using the K axle to gain a benefit from the larger 13" K brakes?
Powerplus. |
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Ron Grant
United Kingdom
160 Posts |
Posted - 02/12/2010 : 08:12:06
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My understanding, was that the front axle was not cut and welded ( shortened) and I don't think the chassis was widened, it think the front springs were set outside of the chassis rails on some form of special trunnion boxes and front dumb iron castings, I am pretty sure I have seen a picture of it somewhere. The springs are in effect , overhung, which can't be a good design.
Ron Grant |
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Mike Allison
United Kingdom
196 Posts |
Posted - 02/12/2010 : 14:47:42
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Hello everybody:
David, I did not win a race in this car, but think I did win a trophy in it in a sprint at Silverstone: sadly I never kept written records of what I did. My chief memory of the car was that it was a bad tempered machine which was prone to losing a plug! When it picked up the dead one, all hell was let loose and the car would fly!
When it first appeared in the hands on one Alan Statham in 1962, Geoff Monk kept an eye on it, and it was one of the noisiest cars I have ever heard, in those days it had a full measure of Zoller boost, although Alan decimated the supply of Zollers, and I never drove it in this form. I think David Berridge was the next owner, but never got it running, and Syd Beer bought it from him. He fitted a king-sized Marshall blower to the car which gave 18psi boost, and this was the form in which I drove it.
We re-united George Harvey Noble with the car in 1967, and he drove it in a demonstration at Silverstone at the so-called BMC meeting which the Club ran in conjunction with the Austin-Healey Club and the Mini-7 Club. H-N confirmed that Robin Jackson had helped with the development, not Thompson-Taylor.
The front axle was mounted out-board of the chassis, using extended pivot pins at the front end, and the trunnion boxes were also mounted outboard, although I cannot now remember how this was done.
One of many cars I remember driving in those days, and we were lucky to have been around then to do so... even luckier to have someone like Syd who was generous enough to make his collection available to those he considered suitable drivers.
Happy days, and so much more meaningful to actually experience these wonderful cars!
Mike |
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Ray Masters
United Kingdom
568 Posts |
Posted - 02/12/2010 : 17:52:20
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| Just for the sake of historically correct facts I think Colin B.is correct when he lists previous owners of the Harvey-Noble Q-Type under the 'Col. Ronnie Hoare ' thread viz. David Berridge sold the car to Tony (not Alan) Statham rather than the other way round. |
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