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1950's Jaguar Sports and Racing Cars
Contents
1. VDU 881 and 881 VDU
2. Further reading: Jaguar XK140 Explored
3. Further reading: The Jaguar XK120 in the Southern Hemisphere
an artist's rendering of VDU 881 by David Cleary
"VDU carried a small blue enamel TT Garage St Christopher badge on the glove compartment. I remember Brit Pearce's quip that when Hawthorn got in the car, St Christopher put his hands over his eyes!"
Brian Taylor from the Tourist Trophy Garage
The Car
In the late 1950s there wasn't anything much quicker on British roads than a 3.4 Jaguar saloon. At a time when the typical four-door car struggled to better 85mph, the 3.4 would top 120mph and reach 60mph faster than most sports cars. That was as stock. Tune the engine and chassis for performance and it would, up to 100mph, have given an E-type a run for its money except that, back in 1957 when the 3.4 made its entrance, the E-type was four years away from launch — which gives you an idea of the superiority of a modified 3.4 over almost anything else it might meet.
An ideal racing-driver's car, you could say, and you'd be right. It was certainly a favourite with Mike Hawthorn, our 1958 World Champion driver, who was loaned VDU 881 in the autumn of 1957 while he was racing for Jaguar. 'Lofty' England, also allowing him to continue using it afterwards. Chassis number S970806DN, it was the 806th right hand drive 3.4 saloon built, British Racing Green with a suede green interior and first registered on October 3rd 1957 by Jaguar Cars Ltd.
It appears to have started life as a perfectly normal car with overdrive and pressed steel wheels but possibly without disc brakes — a vital option which had been offered by Jaguar from September 1957. Not even the optional high ratio steering featured, Lofty recording that Hawthorn didn't want the heavier steering as he intended to "steer it on the throttle".
Unfortunately, no works records survive which pin down VDU 881's specification at any stage of its life, but if it left the factory as a virtually standard car that is a little strange, as 'sister' 3.4 saloons supplied a month earlier to Duncan Hamilton and Ivor Bueb (VDU 384 and VDU 385) had special 9:1 compression engines.
However it was originally supplied by Jaguar though, VDU 881 does not seem to have remained standard for very long, with the first round of modifications almost certainly being carried out by Ted Papsch at the TT Garage.
Ted Papsch was by that time joint works foreman at the TT Garage and many years later recorded what he did to VDU 881 in a letter to Paul Roach: "We set about stripping the Jaguar down almost as soon as Michael received her. I made a special carrier and shifted the battery from the engine bay to the boot for better weight distribution. I removed and stripped the engine and replaced the standard 8:1 pistons with 9:1s. Two-inch C-type sand-cast carbs and competition clutch replaced the standard factory parts. No work was carried out to the cylinder head. Heavy-duty front and rear springs, together with the competition shock absorbers, completed the suspension work. Ordinary wire wheels replaced the steels on the front axle and bigger competition wires were fitted to the rear. This increased the track by two inches but unfortunately the wheels fouled the spats. Subsequently Michael had a local bodyshop modify them to suit."
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No original images of VDU's engine bay exist, so here is what it would have looked like, as seen in Nigel Web''s replica Mk1 Photo: Tony Bailey |
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Brian Taylor, as a lad in the workshop, was involved in some of these alterations, and recalls that making up the exhaust system was tricky. "When I helped Bill Field do the exhaust for VDU, we had to put it up, tack it, up again, tack again and so on. For the last bends, Hawthorn was there all the time watching me, and we had a job doing it—I think Mike was worried that we'd set the car on fire. I had to use a flattened oil can that I held up under the body to shield it and Bill did a bit of welding and so on until it was done. When we started it up, Mike just stood there, 'Crap,' he said. He did not like the sound of it!"
Asked how they cured it, Brian says: "We didn't — he got used to it. The 2.4 he used before had a really crisp note to it. VDU didn't have a straight through exhaust; initially it had XK120 silencers on it. But the note was very distinctive — where we lived down below his cottage at the top of Folly Hill in Farnham, I would lay in bed and I could hear every gear change as Mike drove back late at night from the Frensham Ponds Hotel, which was a fair bit away, and on through Farnham until it died down. Then up Castle Street I could hear him accelerate and I knew exactly where he was on each bend, from the note of the Jaguar. He would scream along..."
Although extensive, none of these changes was extreme and most parts used were of a type later catalogued by Jaguar as options for the 3.4 saloon. They also closely match the modifications described by David Phipps in his road test of the car and indeed seem to be credited by him not to Jaguar but to the Tourist Trophy Garage.
However, while not denying the possibility, Lofty England told Paul Skilleter that he did not remember Mike Hawthorn telling him about such work and considered it unlikely that he wouldn't have mentioned it. However, although Lofty normally had an extremely accurate memory, no one has total recall and he might simply have forgotten about the TT Garage work. Tom Sopwith, Mike's 3.4 sparring partner at Silverstone, certainly considers that Lofty would have known. "I doubt if any modifications were carried out without Lofty's consent as the car was never Michael's in the first place."
The Radiator Blind
One further change that was made to the car in due course was the addition of a radiator blind by TT mechanic Roy Monk to help warm-up on cold days. This caused some confusion after Mike died in the car in 1959, with some reports that the control that had been fitted for the blind was actually a 'hand throttle'. TT Garage mechanic Bill Field dismissed the entire story as complete rubbish: he said there was never a hand-throttle fitted to VDU881!
VDU vanishes...
That the 3.4 went to Jaguar for work at the time of the May 1958 Daily Express event is also supported by Brian Taylor's recollections: "Just before the time of the Silverstone race, VDU disappeared for about two weeks around that weekend, and I remember asking Bill Field about it when it went away. He said it had 'gone to the factory to be got ready as they could not race it as it was, since there were a lot of things to take off it that should not be there."
Brian took this to mean that VDU had some modifications which would not have conformed to the Appendix J rules the production cars ran to — possibly, he speculates, even a 3.8-litre engine. "I have believed for the last 50 years, possibly erroneously, that VDU had what was in effect an American-type Briggs Cunningham 3.8-litre lump under the bonnet.
As Brian appreciates, it is not possible to substantiate his belief at this moment, but the possibility of VDU 881 having at some stage in its life a 3.8-litre, triple-carburettor engine cannot be dismissed. Factory records show that a 3.8-litre engine was fitted to Briggs Cunningham's 'Special Category' 3.4 saloon, but probably in 1959. Interestingly, Douglas Brazier, one of the policeman attending Mike's fatal accident in January 1959, was puzzled that VDU's engine block carried no casting mark indicating its capacity — as was normal on both 3.4 and the later 3.8-litre engines.
VDU's only 'official' race
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Mike powers VDU 881 along at Silverstone in 1958 Photo: Paul Skilleter Collection |
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While VDU may or may not have at one time used a 3.8- litre engine, for the 1958 Daily Express meeting it would have conformed to Appendix J and run with a 3.4 unit —probably works-prepared and fitted specifically for this one event, then removed afterwards. Jaguars had always dominated the production car events at this major annual event and the 1958 meeting is remembered for, as much as anything, the highly entertaining production saloon car race — the stars of which were Mike Hawthorn and Tommy Sopwith, both in 3.4 saloons. It was the only occasion on which Mike raced VDU 881 —on the track, at least — and it is worth remembering that he raced Jaguar saloons only four times in his career, all at Silverstone: he won in 1955 (Mk VII), failed to finish with the new 2.4 saloon in 1956, but won in 1957 with the new 3.4 and again in 1958 with VDU 881. It was certainly an epic duel and, even though there was probably only ever going to be one winner, Mike made sure he made a race of it, swapping the lead with Tom Sopwith — who was no fool behind the wheel of his 3.4 (EN 400), which had been raced since Boxing Day Brands in 1957 (which it had won), and so was well sorted. For the first three of the 20 laps Sopwith was in front, with Mike getting VDU 881's nose ahead on lap four, only for EN 400 to retake the lead and keep it until lap 16.
Sopwith was back in front again on lap 17, but for the final three laps, Mike was firmly in control and took the chequered flag — just; his race average was 84.22mph against Sopwith's 84.19mph. Ron Flockhart in another 3.4 came third.
Even if VDU 881 ran with a specially prepared works engine that day at Silverstone, that it was an extremely fast car with the TT Garage's power unit is proved by David Phipps's road test for Motor Racing magazine. This contains a number of observations that have much bearing on Mike's fatal accident in VDU 881, which took place in between the test being conducted and its appearance in the February 1959 issue of the magazine.
Things inside VDU...
Brian Taylor's familiarity with the 3.4 when Mike wasn't driving it was more intimate than perhaps almost anyone else experienced, as it was his duty to keep it looking good. Sometimes this task was quite revealing…"I cleaned VDU inside and out for Michael as one of my jobs, and I often had to remove various women's bits and pieces from the car. There was nothing too exciting, often just a few hair clips, although I found a few suspender belt clips too (those were the days).
"On two occasions I found an earring, which I handed in discreetly to the girl in the office. And just the one time, a rolled up stocking right under the front passenger seat. I was a bit embarrassed by that, so kept quiet and put it in the bin!"
Brian also recalls fellow TT Garage employee Alec Levison-Gower undergoing the VDU experience. "On one occasion I remember I had taken over the pumps and was in the kiosk, and Alec was sitting in VDU, which was parked opposite to me. He was going to London airport with Michael so he could drive VDU back. Michael was obviously delayed, and I remember Alec looking across to me with a wry smile, tapping his wristwatch and putting his hand over his eyes......
"When Alec arrived back he came across to me and said that it was the fastest he had ever got to London airport, and commented: 'I do not know why Michael bothers to take a plane — he could fit wings on that bloody thing and get there a darn sight quicker.'"
Mikes last drive in VDU 881
VDU 881 was the last car Mike Hawthorn ever drove, when on 22 January 1959 he left the Tourist Trophy Garage on a journey to London which he would never complete. Shortly after joining the A3, the Jaguar went out of control, spun, left the road and almost broke itself in two, slamming at high speed sideways against one of the few trees in the area and virtually breaking the car in half. Mike died almost at once. He is buried in Farnham in a very well kept grave and headstone and many fans visit him on the anniversaries of his death.
Replicas
Accurate replicas of Mike's Mk1 have been built by two devoted fans – Nigel Webb and Paul Roach – and both attempt to recreate the car in as much detail as possible. A couple of pictures are shown below
Paul in fact has started producing replicas to order using donor Mk1s if you fancy owning one!
Visit Pauls website, below, if you are interested.
Nigel tried to get the original registration plate reissued by the DVLA but had to make do with '881 VDU' after failing to get the original plate reissued by the DVLA - it is their policy not to do this for cars that have been destroyed. The full story on Nigel's car will follow in our next issue!
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Murray Walker marvels at the interior of Nigel Webb's replica of Mike Hawthorn's Jaguar, while Nigel looks on. Photo: Tony Bailey |
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The full story of all the above and what happened on 22nd January 1959 and the subsequent fate of VDU 881, plus much, much more can be found in 'Mike Hawthorn – Golden Boy' by Tony Bailey and Paul Skilleter. It's available at a discount directly from Paul Skilleter Books
Tony Bailey also maintains The Mike Hawthorn Tribute Site
which offers a wealth of information on Mike Hawthorn.
Visit Mike Hawthorn Tribute Site
written by Bernard Viart and edited by Roger Payne
Jaguar XK140 Explored - full dust jacket shown
Finally, due in on 23rd November! The few advance copies we had flown in for review and promotional purposes have evoked hugely enthusiastic comments, with most people being simply amazed at the quality and the detail included. "The best book you have produced so far" said one regular purchaser of PJ Publishing books. Typical of the response is that of XK140 owner Eric Capron who has kindly allowed me to quote from his post on the Jag-lovers website XK list:-
"(My copy of this book) arrived a couple of days ago and I haven't been able to put it down. Rather than using photographs the book includes thousands of absolutely superb drawings. The detailed information that goes with the drawings is incredible and the amount of research that will have been necessary to collect this information together defies belief. The use of drawings is very clever because there is so much more clarity in a drawing but the work involved is enormous."
"Often on this list there are questions on topics such as how the wiring harness is routed, what the differences are in the individual parts between early and late cars, colour schemes, decals, pedal shapes and many many other things. It's all there in the book as well as chapters on production, competition and so on and some period photographs that I haven't seen before. This is a fantastic piece of work and a restorer's dream....."
"...I have no connection other than having just bought a copy and I can tell you that if you have an XK 140 and you are the slightest bit interested in originality or how it should be put together then you must get this book."
Details: 446 pages
Price: £55 (UK - inc p&p Overseas - plus p&p)
For more information, or to order a copy, please visit the website below
by John Elmgreen and Terry McGrath
The featured book this month is an absolutely enormous tome compiled by two of the world's most knowledgeable XK enthusiasts, both Australians. John Elmgreen is in Sydney (memorably, I once drove his XK120 roadster across the famous Sydney Harbour bridge) and Terry McGrath is near Perth, Western Australia. Back in 1985 they published a book called The Jaguar XK in Australia, a true labour of love which they did not think would appeal beyond a very small group of the most dedicated XK enthusiasts. But it eventually sold out and if you want to get one today, you'll have to be prepared to pay a good few hundred pounds.
The two never stopped collecting information, though, having always intended to produce a second edition. This finally appeared a few weeks ago as The Jaguar XK120 in the Southern Hemisphere, and even more than the first, it is an astonishing book, covering XK120s not only in Australia but also New Zealand, Asia including Japan, Northern Africa and South America. Every possible XK120 sold in or reaching these countries have been identified and recorded as far as the authors could, and their stories told. In fact some 925 individual cars are featured, the great majority with the help of period photographs, some taken when the car was new or nearly new, and some even in colour.
This aspect of the book is one of its greatest attractions, as the photographs (and there are over 1,000!) are mostly not the usual somewhat staid factory or press pictures, but were taken by the owners of the cars or their friends, and show the XK120 concerned in context at the time - outside the owner's house, with his wife, family or girlfriend, after an accident, in a race or hill-climb, or later in their lives, abandoned, stripped or awaiting restoration. Wherever possible the authors have sought to include pictures which also feature people along with the car, which really brings to life the fact that these machines were bought and enjoyed by real people.
The book also lists the cars by chassis number, registration number where appropriate, when and where exported when new and by which distributor, and by current or last known owner. There are 11 chapters, which are: Chap 1, Export of the XK120; Chap 2, XK enthusiasts in Australia; Chap 3, Import and sale of the XK120 in Australia; Chap 4, Australia XK120 histories; Chap 5, New Zealand; Chap 6, Asia; Chap 7, The Middle East; Chap 8, Northern Africa; Chap 9, Southern Africa; Chap 10, South America; Chap 11, car and owner index, addenda etc.
Within the chapters there is also a vast amount of general information on the XK120 so all in all, this is a book whose appeal extends way beyond those living in the territories covered. Yes, it's expensive, but the cost will soon be forgotten in view of the many hours of enjoyable browsing it will give - and who knows, as only 750 of the limited edition of 1,000 have been printed, it could itself become a collector's piece in the years to come.
The basic data is as below. If you are interested in purchasing the book contact the authors via JT Publications. If you are in the UK and Europe, my company (Paul Skilleter Books/PJ Publishing) will send you the book from stocks held in the UK (Terry McGrath reciprocates by mailing our books in Australia). Full purchase details on the JT Publications' website.
The Jaguar XK120 in the Southern Hemisphere,
published by JT Publications, 8 Milner Street, Mosman,, NSW 2088, Australia,
website www.jtpublications.com.au, e-mail mail@jtpublications.com.au
ISBN: 978-0-9591070-2-9
Hard bound with dust jacket (standard edition)
Size 250mm x 345mm
488 pages
1,000 + illustrations
Price: A$375 (approx.£220.00) delivered worldwide
Also Limited Edition leather-bound slip-case with reproduction XK120 bonnet badge containing standard edition signed by the authors, A$550 (approx.£325.00) delivered worldwide.
To order, visit www.jtpublications.com.au.
Distributed in UK/Europe by Paul Skilleter Books – please see website below
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