The Carson Special

Sir,
Mr. Samson’s letter is most interesting but if the car described by him and pictured in the November issue is the special built by Mr. Carson in 1934 it has obviously been extensively modified. He states that Mr. Wilson has made it into a recognisable 30/98, which it certainly was not in 1934 when Motor Sport failed to identify it at first meeting, but gives the erroneous impression that the cowls date from the original construction.

In 1934 the chassis was fully reversed but has apparently since been cut through and the front half returned to normal. The front axle came from a 3-litre T.T. car and had smaller brakes and different hub caps from the present one. A Rover radiator was mounted ahead of the axle, and the bonnet and scuttle were perfectly flat with only a small aero-screen in front of the driver. The car was described and illustrated in Motor Sport for September, 1934, in an article which also told of a Trikappa-engined Lambda built for Mr. R.A. Samuel. Does anyone know what has become of this car ?

May I quote the opening sentence on that article as an example of the change of outlook that has taken place in the past thirty years :— “Half the fun of possessing an old car, especially one of the sporting type. is that the chassis and body may be modified to suit the owner’s requirements on quite a small expenditure, for bits, which will fit in, can be bought very cheaply from a car-breaker, or picked up for a mere song at a local auction.” Imagine the uproar if Motor Sport were to express such sentiments today !

Billericay. W.B. HatfieldI