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[Temple Press, Ltd.
MR. T. O. M. SOPWITH, C.B.E., AND HARRY, WITH THE HAWKER TWO-STROKE MOTORCYCLE—A POST-WAR ENTERPRISE OF THE HAWKER ENGINEERING COMPANY.
[Facing p. 312.
Soon the A.C. started to reach the 90 miles per hour mark, and it was then that the single-seater streamline chassis was made in which Mr. Weller gave great care to questions of weight distribution as well as the elimination of any external details which might cause resistance. To this chassis Harry designed and built in his works his now famous streamlined body, and in his able hands the success of the combination exceeded everyone’s expectations from the start, and at its début created a sensation in racing circles.
The car made its first public appearance in its streamlined form at the Easter Meeting of the B.A.R.C., where it caused a great deal of enthusiasm, it being the first really streamlined racing car ever seen at Brooklands. But it was not the first time it had actually been on the track, so although “terrificly fast for a 1½-litre car,” as one current motor paper had it, it was handicapped out of any hope of winning either of the races entered, but succeeded in taking second place in both. In the second race he made a very spectacular run through the whole field, with the exception of the limit man who won the race.
After winning the 1,500 cc. Scratch Race at the Junior Car Club Meeting and also the very interesting short sprint of 250 yards against Captain Fraser Nash’s famous G.N. named Mowgli, he began to really “tune up” for records. He was very anxious for his A.C. to be the first 1,500 cc. car to attain 100 miles an hour, and on June 3rd he gained the coveted distinction on his A.C. under official observation. He attacked the flying and standing half-mile records, which stood to the credit of the G.N., and established world’s light car records by achieving the speed of 105·15 miles per hour for the flying and 61·43 miles per hour for the standing starts. Those records caused a great sensation in the motor world, and even the lay Press showed some sort of enthusiasm for the latest achievement of the world whose efforts are generally ignored.
Harry received many letters of congratulation from the people interested in the first “100 miles an hour light car,” and I think the real sporting atmosphere of Brooklands was conveyed in a genial letter of congratulation from Mr. Lionel Martin, who was not too proud to say he had coveted the distinction for the Aston-Martin car, which I know Harry appreciated very much, as also the hearty grip of Captain Nash who, till then, had swept the board at Brooklands with his G.N., but who now realised he had met his match in the A.C.
In practising for the Midsummer Meeting of the B.A.R.C. on June 25th, he had a very narrow escape from disaster. I was timing his lap speed from the stand, when, as he was about to enter the railway straight at about 100 miles per hour, he suddenly appeared to slide down the banking, and a huge cloud of dust concealed him from view. A man immediately behind me, who had been watching the A.C., exclaimed: “Hawker’s off the track! He’ll need his luck now!” Running down the steps of the stand, the first person I saw in the paddock was Mr. Coatalen just getting into his car. He took me round to the spot, where, as one would quite expect, Harry was standing up by the side of the track, waving his hands to denote his complete fitness. His appearance, however, was terrible, as his whole face was covered with blood, but, rubbing it with his handkerchief, asked for volunteers to help him out with the car, which could not at first be seen. It had completely hopped the three-feet concrete parapet that surrounds the track, and was reposing, right way up, in the long grass.