Austin 7 Twin Cam.
This old photograph, printed on Velox paper but sadly undated, shows a single seater, twin-cam, Austin racing car parked up, I believe, at Crystal Palace in London during the late 1930s.
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Built in 1935, the twin cam single seat racing cars were Austin's attempt to compete with the diminutive MG Midgets, cars that can trace their lineage
back to humble Morris road cars, Herbert Austin's key competition in the affordable-car market at the time. Much of the development work
done on the Austin twin cams was done at Donington Park during 1935 and 1936. The design was originally drawn up by T. Murray-Jamieson,
along with W.V. Appleby and T. Brown.
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| The supercharged 747cc twin cam Austin engine. |
With early reliability niggles sorted, the cars competed successfully for a number of years, thwarted in the end by the outbreak of war, and a growing
resistance to a competition programme within the hierarchy at Longbridge, home of Austin motorcars. Three drivers are best
remembered for competing in the punchy little twin cam, 747cc, Austins - L.P. Driscoll, C.L. Goodacre and perhaps best known of all, 'Bert' Hadley and Kay Petre. The cars were entered in speed trials, hillclimbs, and full-blown races at venues such as Crystal Palace (pictured), Donington, and of course
the Brooklands circuit at Weybridge. Donington has the two twin cam racers on display at the Grand Prix museum, pictures of both are shown below, although which of the cars is the one shown above, I don't know. Note how the fuel filler cap arrangement differs on the car shown in the '30s photograph, to how the cars are now.
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Return to Old Vehicle Photos Page 7.
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Links to other items about motor racing on the site can be found here, including more old motorsport photographs. An Ulster/Chummy-based Austin 7 I once owned can be seen here, and a photo of an Austin 7 EB 65 or Nippy can be found on this page. The outline of the twin-cam went on to inspire Austin's Pathfinder Special pedal racing car, of 1949.
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