Humber Date

Humber Date

WE RECOUNTED last month how the Bentley DC honoured Miss Marjorie Burgess, daughter of Fred Burgess, designer of the 1914 TT Humber team-cars and who helped materially with the engine and chassis of the 3-litre Bentley, at their Silverstone race meeting, when the Chairman, Ray Wiltshire, presented her with a silver Bentley brooch and Billy Rockell with a framed photograph of a TT Humber donated by Kenneth Neve. Another celebration was in store, when Miss Burgess drove the 400-mile return journey to Mr Neve’s house and was taken out in his Humber, seeing her father’s creation for the first time, as she was not born at the time of the 1914 U. Mr Neve had invited my wife and I to join in. Although it had been idle since the loM lappary, two pull-ups on the handle were all that were needed before the old motor car woke its garage with its loud and

vibrant exhaust cry. It is kept permanently taxed, so no problems arose over a ride for the lady, along the lanes of Cheshire. Afterwards, as Miss Burgess looked at Neve’s albums and he studied her old Humber photographs, a few more connumdrums surrounding these cars were added to those I referred to in the October MOTOR SPORT. Such as, why the two tall breathers appear to have been cut down on the prototype engine, why only Burgess’ car had a quite elaborate scuttle-cowl in the race, and who fitted the large bore camshafts oil drain pipes to the engine of Neve’s Humber. However, the main thing is that Marjorie Burgess was obviously delighted to have had a run in the car her father designed, a remarkable Edwardian which out of more than 250 starts in vintage events has retired only three times, which Neve generously admits was his fault -see Chapter IX of A Bit Behind The Times (Grenville-1988). WB