RUMBLINGS, August 1935

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The M.C. Position LAST month the M.G. Car Company was acquired from Lord Nuffield by Morris Motors Ltd., and following on this came a statement that M.G.’s had decided to retire from the sphere of racing. This decision means a heavy loss to racing in England, but I learnt from Mr. Kimber that things were not nearly so gloomy as the first short announcement suggested. The facts are as follows :

For the present the company is not taking any part in racing, but the three R-type Midgets which formed the official team will probably be taken over by George Eyston, and raced by him. Another driver who is looking out for one is R. J. W. Seaman, who plans to link up next year with the German driver Delius, in running a Midget and his E.R.A. All the twelve ” Rs ” originally laid down will be completed, and the last of these will go to R. T. Horton. No more racing cars will be built this year. Bellevue Buys Magnettes

With the T.T. not far away, and remembering Dodson’s win last. year, I was interested to learn that the three unsupercharg-ed Magnet tes have been acquired by the Bellevue Garage, that enthusiastic band of South London M.G specialists. The cars will run at Ulster again this year, the drivers being Kenneth Evans, Denis Evans and Seaman.

Reverting to the M.G. factory for a moment, Mr. Kimber informs me that the racing department is still in existence to give advice and to tune M.G. racing cars in the possession of private owners. Some of the staff have now been released to help in the development of the sports car range, and I fancy that there will be at least one important addition to the present programme during the course of the next few months. A Big Car Returns Apart from the 40-50 Rolls-Royce, which is in a class by itself, the 41-litre Lagonda is the only sports car of English manufacture with a capacity of over 31-litres. The effortless performance which can be obtained with cars of this type is definitely worth having, and it was good news to learn last month that the Lagonda concern had been bought up by a wealthy financial group, and that the manufacture, servicing,

and the guarantee on cars already built is assured. The splendid performance of Hindmarsh and Fontes at Le Mans could not have been better timed, though the car was entered of course by Mr. Arthur Fox and not by the firm. Two of last year’s team cars have been entered by Fox in the T.T., and will be driven by Hindmarsh and Charlie Dodson. ” WO.’ in His Element

I saw Captain W. 0. Bentley, who is the technical director and designer to the new Company, down at Staines the other day. He was delighted at the prospect of taking up creative work once more. The line of Bentley cars starting with the 3-litre and continuing right on up to the 8-litre, had a real charm and personality of their own, and in the time between the production of that car and his appointment to the Lagonda Company, “W. 0.” has not been idle. He is fully alive to modern developments of engines and chassis, but one of his strongest convictions is that all the advantages of independent springing can be obtained with carefully designed rigid axles. Present Plans

The policy of the Lagonda Company during the next few months will be to concentrate on the 41-litre long-chassis and Rapide models, the 31-litre and the Rapier being dropped. Later on we may see a Bentley-designed car of something like 3-litre capacity, though nothing has yet been decided in this direction.

2?U MBLINGS—continued. Dixon v. Brooklands

The wordy warfare between Freddy Dixon and the B.A.R.C. was carried one stage further the other clay, when the Brooklands Stewards issued a letter written in “words of one syllable,” as someone put it, telling Dixon exactly why he was arraigned. I don’t think they could be accused of exaggerating when they stated that few drivers in Europe and America had difficulty in understanding the significance of the chequered flag.

As regards the alleged baulking of Bertram on Whit Monday, something of the sort was almost bound to happen when the six fastest cars were all allowed to cross the black line at the fork. Dixon’s views on the subject coincided almost exactly with those expressed in the Editorial in last month’s ” Motor Sport.” ” The only way to make Brooklands reasonably safe nowadays,” he said, when we discussed it with him, “is to classify cars according to their lap speed and to hold races for those capable of between z io and 120 m.p.h. 1 20 to 130 and so on, with a penalty if the winning car exceeds its reputed speed say by more than ten per cent.” Something of this sort will be needed very soon. Improving the Track

I feel sure that Percy Bradley and his staff must feel thoroughly tired of the hordes of suggestions, many of them quite unpractical, which pour into the Btooklands letter-box, but I was glad to notice that as a result of the outcry against not being able to see the Moun!ain Races, the ground in the Public Enclosure in front of the Fork Stand is being banked up to give a better view of the Finishing Straight. In the Clubhouse itself a barrel of draught beer made its first appearance on the day of the British Empire Trophy, and undaunted by the intense heat, one of the people who had asked for it for so long drank a ceremonial pint to celebrate the occasion.

Incidentally the few spectators who visited the B.E. Trophy were rewarded by having two excellent viewpoints. From the Fork Stand alongside the Aerodrome they could enjoy an excellent view of cornering at the ” Chicane.” The other end of the Finishing Straight was protected by a double wall of straw bales, and the cars as they took the Paddock hair-pin, were quite as close as one sees them during the course of the average road-race. Towards Four Litres

Although the Alfa-Romeos which ran at the French Grand Prix were only of 3,450 C.C. capacity, the rumour that they were to be 3.8-litres was wellfounded. Shuttleworth has just got a new block for his Monoposto which will allow him to get this higher capacity if he wants it, for the present the capacity will remain at 3,300 C.C., the bore•and stroke in this case being respectively 72 and ioo mm., the same dimensions as those of the ” 3.3 ” Bugattis. In this case the thickness of the liner walls will only be 2 mm., with 5.5 mm. of aluminium outside them, so rather accurate workmanship is called for.

There is just a chance that Harry Rose, who has been driving a 2.3-litre Grand Prix car, will also buy a Monoposto. Another interesting car from, or perhaps one might say via, Italy is Count Trossi’s single-seater Duesenburg, which has been bought by Street and Duller and will be raced in the 500 Miles Race. You will remember that Whitney Straight lapped Brooklands on it at over 138 m.p.h., so it should do well if its suspension will stand up to the rough surface of the track. Sports Car Racing There seems to be quite a revival of interest in sports car racing abroad, during the present season, and though the Belgian Ten-Hour Race was cancelled, sports car races were held over the Grand Prix circeits