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The Brooklands
Motorcycle Centenary Meeting The world’s first purpose-built motor vehicle race track had celebrated its centenary last year. And, a most enjoyable if somewhat expensive event - at £35.00 a head - it was too. Today it is the turn of the motorcyclists. The 20th April 2008 marks one hundred years to the day of the track’s first public motor cycle race - a race won by Will Cook's Peugeot-NLG which was scheduled to be present today. Unlike last year, today’s event is based wholly within the Brooklands Museum site rather than including the modern track that now sits within the original circuit, out front of the futuristic 'Mercedes World' building.
As expected, there is quite a queue but despite the 20 minute wait this entails, it is good-natured. Once through the turnstile we head to the paddock where mechanical delights await us in the shadow of the iconic Brooklands Club house building. A quick scan through the programme reveals that amongst the 200-plus, mostly pre-war motor cycles included in the programme there are some fine pedigree racing Sunbeams.
In terms of Marston rarities, the 1925 overhead cam machines (OHC) are right up there on the list (photos above and below). Robert Cordon Champ in his history of the company refers to only a handful having been built - four or five 500cc machines, a single 350cc machine and a single 588cc machine. Four were used in the Senior TT of 1925, and Champ writes of one ending up in a George Dance Sprint bike used at the last public road sprint near Hereford on 4th April 1925. The factory machines for the 1925 racing season did not go into volume production. Various reasons have been put forward why. They were not successful and needed development but this never occurred – was it Sunbeam’s innate conservatism; the investment needed to develop the engine; the complexity of production that would have meant an end to Marston’s ‘race what we sell’ ethos. Whatever, only a handful were produced and here was one of them, drawing the crowds.
Many of those approaching knowingly referred to ‘the crocodile’ – the machines’ nickname coined by Sunbeam staff as a reference to their mechanically noisy engines. It has been suggested it is a reference to the crocodile in Peter Pan that swallowed a clock whose ticking audibly announced his presence. We looked forward to seeing it in action later in the day and listening out to see if the legend is true! Literally in turning around, a second Sunbeam presents itself. This one is an early 350cc overhead valve (OHV) model from 1926 – the Parallel 8 Model, so called to differentiate it from the Sprint version which did not have parallel frame tubes above and below the petrol tank (photo below).
The front down-tube has the distinct bifurcated bars of the early OHV machines that enable the exhaust pipe to project directly forward. This allows straight through ‘breathing’ from carburettor to exhaust port, which was considered to increase power and efficiency of the engine. On the negative side, it also supposedly gave the machine quite a flexible frame! Standing in tandem just to the side of the Club House is a pair of very much welcomed late entries (especially for Sunbeam aficionados!). The rear-most is a 1922 Longstroke racing machine (photo below). It looks pretty much un-restored, which adds to the delight. This is the same machine that in the hands of Alec Bennett was the last side-valve machine to win a TT in 1922.
The front down-tube has the distinct bifurcated bars of the early OHV machines that enable the exhaust pipe to project directly forward. This allows straight through ‘breathing’ from carburettor to exhaust port, which was considered to increase power and efficiency of the engine. On the negative side, it also supposedly gave the machine quite a flexible frame! Standing in tandem just to the side of the Club House is a pair of very much welcomed late entries (especially for Sunbeam aficionados!). The rear-most is a 1922 Longstroke racing machine (photo below). It looks pretty much un-restored, which adds to the delight. This is the same machine that in the hands of Alec Bennett was the last side-valve machine to win a TT in 1922.
And, not to forget the Longstroke's companion, this machine was a fine example of a 'parallel' Model 9 of c.1926. Its silencer appeared to be a rare survival of the bulky type used by Marston in the late 1920s.
Moving on around the paddock, we next come across the round ‘bullnose’ tank that denotes the OHV Model 90 with its racing pedigree from 1927-28 (photos below). This particular ‘Beam came with a résumé of its provenance and history.
It was purchased by the Scottish racer R D Dunlop from Marston for the 1927 season, complete with George Dance tuning! It saw success at the St Andrew's Scottish Speed Championship (making the motorcycling press at the time). In 1929 Leslie Stiles of Middlesex acquired it and used it successfully in local events. It was bought by Arthur 'Torrens' Bourne in 1932 who kept it until 1975, having dismantled it for restoration. The bike was subsequently restored and became part of the John Blight collection until the early1990s.
On the edge of the paddock, tucked to one side is an earlier Model 90 of c.1926 with a ‘UK’ plate, denoting a Wolverhampton-registered machine from the period spanning the mid 1920s to early 1930s (photo below). The plate hints at factory association.
With so many flat tank machines on show it is the saddle tank Model 90 from 1931 that stands out as unusual on the day (photos below). It's normally the other way around at Sunbeam events. A real beauty it is too, with George Dance style knee grips, oil tank with the correct 'pit side' filler and open primary drive case ... not to mention those twin muted pipes.
Sunbeams aside, Wolverhampton's other marques are also well in evidence. There are some fine AJS machines - an over-head cam racer of 1929 shown below, along with one of former Sunbeam rider, Howard Davies's JAP-engined HRDs from 1930 just about the era Phil Vincent had purchased the company ... the rest of which is history.
All that running around the various paddocks gives us quite an appetite. No burger and chips van for us. Lunch is being served in the Sunbeam Tea Rooms at the Club House. We find space on the upper floor to polish off our big feed of veg and pasta in tomato sauce. And, indulge in celebrity spotting as 'Hairy Bikers' Dave Myers and Si King join the queue for lunch - 'though we were polite enough to avoid pointing our cameras at them, so here's a shot of the club house minus celebrities.
Heading through the Club House museum, one of the exhibits on show is a side-valve Sunbeam Model 5 from the 1927 season. This is the year the Longstroke engine replaced the old, pre-First World War, 3½ horse power engine in the touring side-valve Model 5. This particular bike, registration OT 4907 was one of the first off the production line (photo below). The info board says it appeared on the Marston stand at the 1926 Olympia Show from where it was purchased by its first owner.
We have a quick look in the Barbara Cartland and time keeper’s rooms at the Club House before emerging to re-enter the fray. First stop is to pick up a signed copy of ‘All the years at Brooklands’ by Gerry Belton. He confided that on this momentous occasion, a century to the day from the first race, he had actually dated one of the first copies he had signed incorrectly! That one will be the real rarity in future!
There is a growing rumble of engines. The afternoon entertainment begins … with machines making preparations in the Members' Paddock for the challenge of Test Hill.
Gathered behind the barriers at the start line, we are able to smell the aroma of ancient engines. The sound of about a dozen gathering at a time to line up for Test Hill is pleasing. The ground begins to vibrate in the way it does at as horses gallop past on a track – something that modern high-revving machines just don’t do. Much push-starting is in evidence too, which along with some period outfits adds to the marvellous theatrical effect of the event.
Behind the start line, machines and riders prepare themselves for their attempt at Test Hill. The scene could be a pre-war race meeting from Brooklands' heyday!
A pall of exhaust fumes descends at one point as machines line up for their ascent of Test Hill, amongst them the 'bullnose' Model 90 we had seen at rest earlier (photo below). The drama of the start is great to watch, with several temperamental machines failing to start – thankfully, the push start for the day's star, the 1908 NLG, finally pays off.
The most irritating machine by far is some modern highly tuned racing machine. Its high pitched whine marks it out as an intruder! It couldn't hold a tick-over so we are inflicted with bouts of screaming revs followed by short periods of silence as it is warmed up in the paddock. Its subsequent attempt at starting-up for Test Hill proves just as futile but thankfully is over much more quickly as its team call it a day and get out of everyone's way. But that unseemly noisy intrusion didn't diminish the absolute and sheer enjoyment of the day. Especially when the OHC Sunbeam appears to make its attempt on the hill. Not often you get to see these machines in action some 70-odd years after their calamitous showing in the 1925 TT (photo below).
But, the 'crocodile' is not the only 'Beam having a crack at the hill. The nippy OHV 'Parallel 8' 350cc machine is a delight to watch (blurry photo below). The 'junior' Sunbeam is quite a rarity itself and this was a lovely example - light and sporty looking.
A couple of saddle tank OHV Model 9s appear. No. 188 nonchalantly heads for the hill, finding his way to a place in the melee preparing to tackle the climb (photos below).
The second saddle tank Model 9 to appear dates from 1929 (No. 068) and partners up with an AJS of 1931 (No. 087) - and returns from Test Hill triumphant (photos below).
We don't get to see the 1922 Longstroke in action - more is the pity - but its fellow late-comer, the 1926-ish 'Parallel' Model 9 makes a good showing on the hill (photo below).
As the event moves on to more modern machines, we move on to the Sunbeam Tea Rooms in the Club House to wind down with a late-afternoon pot of tea. That , we figure, leaves us just enough time for a quick stroll around the static aircraft exhibition before heading home
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