Lot details Registration No: PK 7930 Chassis No: ARAB5 Mot Expiry: Sept 2012
The naturally talented British design engineer Reid Railton was born in 1895, the son of a Manchester stockbroker. He joined Leyland Motors in 1917, where he worked with J.G Parry-Thomas on the luxury Leyland Eight. In 1922 he left Leyland to establish the Arab Motor Company in Letchworth, Hertfordshire. Two members of the Spurrier family, Leyland's founders, were directors of Arab Motors. The Arab's 2.0-litre overhead-camshaft four-cylinder engine was a further link with Leyland, for its valves were closed by leaf springs, just like those of the Parry-Thomas-designed Eight unit. However, the Arab set-up was a considerable improvement over the Leyland one, using two cams per cylinder to the Eight's one which, together with offset rockers enabled valve overlap and therefore greater power. Railton's innovative engine was proven in various racing prototypes prior to the formation of Arab Motors. The production Low Chassis Super Sports was introduced in 1926, priced at £550 and guaranteed by the factory to achieve a top speed of 90mph. The two-seater High Chassis model could be purchased for £525 and had a terminal velocity of nearer 80mph.
After the death of his friend Parry-Thomas in 1927 (killed driving the 'Babs' Land Speed Record car at Pendine Sands), Railton closed the Arab factory and went to work for Thomson & Taylor at Brooklands - Parry-Thomas had been Major Ken Thomson's partner in Thomson Inventions Development Co Ltd, which became Thomson & Taylor after his death. Railton took over as the company's technical director with responsibility for John Cobb's Napier-Railton that took the Brooklands Outer Circuit record in 1933, as well as Sir Malcolm Campbell's Bluebird Land Speed Record cars of 1931 to 1935. While at Thomson & Taylor he also designed the chassis of the ERA and, after the war, was responsible for the Railton Mobil Special with which John Cobb set a new Land Speed record of 394.7mph in 1947.
The car being offered is the first Arab Low Chassis model which was assembled at Thomson & Taylor's Brooklands premises following the closure of Arab's Letchworth factory. It was originally fitted with engine number EA12, but in 1936 acquired EA20 from one of Railton's earlier racers. Known as the 'Spurrier Railton', the latter had been campaigned by Railton, Sir Henry Spurrier and Messrs Parker and Shorrock. Railton himself competed with it in the 75mph Short Handicap and 90mph Long Handicap events at the Brooklands Easter Meeting in 1924; the car also raced at Southport and elsewhere. The engine's casting date of 1923 and a contemporary photograph from the late Sir Henry Spurrier's albums apparently both confirm its origins.
Between 1941 and 1974 'PK 7930' passed through various hands, including those of the Stratford-upon-Avon Museum, before being acquired by the renowned motoring historian and author, Brian Demaus. During Brian Demaus' ownership it was restored as closely as possible to its specification when first registered for the road in March 1929. Thomson & Taylor's original coachwork was retained, while the engine was overhauled by Ron Foottit of Cleobury Garages Ltd and the gearbox refurbished using new components manufactured by Templeton Engineering of Woodmancote, Cheltenham. Since completion the Arab has participated in various vintage motoring events, competed at a VSCC meeting and attended three Brooklands Reunions, covering some 6,000 to 7,000 miles in the process.
The vendor currently regards the bodywork, paintwork, interior trim, engine and gearbox of 'PK 7930' as being in "very good" order and "remarkably original". The bodywork is finished in Grey and the interior in Grey leather. The Super Sports is MOT'd to the end of September 2012. Of the 6 or 7 Arabs thought to have been manufactured, only two examples are known to have survived; both Low Chassis models, of which 'PK 7930' is the only original one currently complete and running. It has been the subject of numerous magazine features over the years and, in view of Reid Railton's enormous contribution to Britain's World Land and Water Speed record history, remains of abiding interest and importance, and rightly so.
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