SILVERSTONED

SILVERSTONED

Algy in his Lotus 7 overtaking the 3 litre Healey of John Gott
on his way to winning his class in the 1962 Clubman’s Championship
Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit.

The recent death of Stirling Moss has prompted some more memories from keeper Algy. He is pictured above overtaking the 3 litre Austin Healey driven by John Gott, then Chief Constable of Northampton, England. About two weeks later John was killed in a freak road accident. It reduced Algy’s satisfaction generated by overtaking the Police.

Algy remembers he also beat the 3.8 litre E-type Jaguar of Lord Denbigh. His Lordship was not amused to be shamed by this Lotus, consisting of some welded tubing, and running gear from a Standard Triumph saloon car. The engine was a 997cc Cosworth modified Ford 105E. It was one of Keith Duckworth and Mike Costin’s first “Cosworth” racing engines. The whole concept of the car was created by Colin Chapman, the genius behind the Lotus Car Company.

Keith Duckworth, second from left, Mike Costin on his left in white coat.
They are standing with the later Ford DFV Formula 1 engine, which dominated
Grand Prix racing for many years. They are flanked by two mechanics

Algy’s Lotus Seven could easily outrun cars of much greater expense and power output, because it had superior road holding abilities, it was very light and had a tremendous power to weight ratio. It could accelerate from zero to sixty mph in less than 6 seconds. The handling was incredible, he says.

The Silverstone track is now unrecognisable, it has been made into a glitzy circuit catering to the modern multi-million dollar Formula One circus. Algy’s average speed, in winning that race, was faster than the speed at which Froilan Gonzalez won the 1951 British Grand Prix at Silverstone in his Ferrari. Such is “progress”.

Froilan Gonzalez, the Argentinian, winning the 1951 British GP at Silverstone

Algy remembers Silverstone as a windswept former Royal Air Force aerodrome, with a rather spartan atmosphere. The heading picture shows Stirling Moss with Lewis Hamilton and the old W 196 Mercedes alongside today’s F1 car. In the Background is the new grandstand and pit complex now located down at Abbey bend, instead of at the now “emasculated” Woodcote (I wonder whether it glorifies God, or Mammon?)

Gibber! Gibber!

Chugley

The Locked-Down Chimp

9 thoughts on “SILVERSTONED”

  1. Those were the days. Open, exposed, no traction control and special aids, no roll cages or fire suppression or fancy neck-braced helmets. What a visceral experience it must have been for Algy. Feeling the drift, the G-forces, the acceleration, the brake fade, the fumes the open air and the adrenaline pumping rush.
    I’m glad Algy made it out the other side, and found faith in the One who created him with all his unique skills and passions. Thank for the memories and the pictures.

    1. I think Algy is pretty happy also! By the way, there were no seat belts either, he tells me. Stirling Moss remarked that drifting a car through a corner, on the limit, with a brick wall on one side and a 500 foot drop on the other, was an achievement. To do it with wide open gravel run offs either side is just clever. Maybe he had something there that is lost to Lewis Hamilton. Algy wondered if God gave Stirling a speeding ticket on arrival in the next world? Gibber! Gibber! Chugley

  2. Algy beat an E-type Jag in a race!!? My estimation of him has risen (again!!) considerably!
    In the late 1960’s, E-type Jags and Chev Corvette Stingrays were the top teenage boys’ dream cars for their looks, speed and acceleration. Still, Lotus cars were up there too…just a close second.
    Well done to Algy…not only for his skill and courage on the racetrack, but for the courage he showed when he stepped out in faith to become part of a different sort of “race” that was worth pursuing…and with a prize at the end that won’t rust or decay.

    1. He tells me that Lotus were miles ahead in chassis design and power to weight ratios. But he says it is all dung compared to knowing the truth of the Gospel! Gibber! Gibber! Chugley

  3. Dear Chugley. Great story and thank Algy. I have never seen Silverstone, but I have sat in a Silverstone (Riley) Healey. In my earlier life in the bush, I knew a fellow who had a Healey. Did quite well in hill climbs at Mt Druitt and on the Gnooblas circuit at Orange. Tommy and his brother also had a TR2 and a ‘grey fergy’. Both had a Vanguard motor, and one quiet wet winter day they wondered how the Fergy tractor would go with the TR 2 head and carbys, so they swapped them. But the experiment was a flop. The tractor would not do 75m.p.h., in fact did not do much at all. Could only happen in the bush! I remember the Healey with the spare tucked sideways at the rear. Their success faded when the Austin Healeys came on the scene. Their Silverstone became unreliable in their pursuit for performance. I don’t know what became of the car, I can’t imagine they got the $s that they bring today. But no matter the value, it cant’ match the race that we believers are in, and we know we are on a winner, because the ‘Timekeeper’ has promised us a prize, that can’t be bought with silver or gold.

    1. This seems to be a correct analysis from where this monkey sits, you Mandrill’s seem to be quite on the ball, if I might say so! Gibber! Gibber! Chugley

  4. Love the spectator safety rail in the pic with Algy overtaking.
    I think that the two spectators had extreme faith. Hopefully in God!

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