Rolt's Wheels

Sir,

Your article about the highly accomplished driverTony Rolt whetted my appetite for more information about some of the cars he drove in particular three rather special cars, his Dixon-prepared ERA, the Alfa-Aitken, and the ERA-Delage.

When Freddie Dixon prepared the ERA he replaced the pre-selector gearbox with a crash box which appeared to have come from a Riley (presumably from one of Dixon’s 2-litre cars). The short gear lever was between the driver’s legs and can be seen in the photo on page 72.

Dixon also added made modifications to the front axle apparently to resist the effect of brake torque. One wonders how advantageous these modifications were in practice (and, incidentally, what happened to them subsequently). The Alfa-Aitken was also prepared and modified by Dixon. And always a stirring sight was Rolt driving Rob Walker’s ERA-Delages.

I AM, YOURS, ETC

Bob Hodgson, via E-mail