Clamping up

Sir,

I was the mechanic for the US importer of Hawke cars from 1974-78, and Derek Warwick’s story reminds me that the first three DL17s we brought over suffered the same problem he describes. An hour’s track time would fracture the rear brake pipe at the union — the result of vibration, not sabotage. We fixed the situation by clamping the offending pipe to the lower frame rail.

As to the missing bevel on Derek’s car, one can only speculate.

I AM, YOURS ETC,

Gary Bell, via E-mail