Austin
Racers
The
Grasshoppers
Barry Lovelock
Why
were these cars given the nickname “Grasshopper” which has stayed
with it over the years. It is believed that Bill Sewell, Lord
Austin's personal aide, was the author of the name, inspired no
doubt by the well known Austin Seven reaction to the initial
transmission of power from engine to axle!
It
was in the Easter of 1935 that the company announced it would be
entering the MCC Lands End Trial, with a team of three “Special
Austin Sevens”. At the time they were described as Austin Seven
“Speedy” sports car with a body similar to the Singer of the day.
competing in the hands of Messrs. Orford, Milton and Richardson.
Mechanically the cars differed very little from the Speedy. They
had two-bearing pressure lubricated engines and as the competition
dept. extracted more and more power out of them they experienced a
great deal of crankshaft trouble. Eventually Laystall Engineering
made a special 1 1/2inch cranks which helped, but was not a
complete cure. The inlet manifold and carburretor was "Speedy" as
was the exhaust arrangement which ran under the chassis to the rear
of the car. The petrol tank which was immediately behind the seats
and held 6 gallons incorporating a quick action filler cap, to the
rear of this was two spare wheels. One of the main distinguishing
features was the radiator cowling which was very modern and clean
looking.
Barry Lovelock
The
dash consisted of a match pair of 5 inch diameter instruments for
the speedo which shown a max speed of 120 MPH and the tachometer
that went up to 8,000 RPM. Small instruments included an ammeter,
oil pressure gauge, water temperature gauge and an ordinary time
clock. Gear changing was by means of a nice remote arrangement.
Visibility was through a fold flat rather shallow
windscreen.
It
was quite normal in those days to register racing variants of
models, so the first three cars were registered AOV 343 (25.3.35),
AOX 3 and AOX 4 (4.4.35). Below is AOX 3 competing in a reliability
trial doing a stop and restart in around 1935-6. The driver is a Mr
W.J.Millton who was a Dental Surgeon in Welbeck Street in the West
End of London. It appears that he used to use Douglas motor bikes
for trials, but became a friend of Herbert Austin who persuaded him
that he should have a Grasshopper.
Soon
after a further four cars were built so as to compete in the Le
Mans 24 Hour Race. The bodywork of the Le Mans cars was very
similar to the original three, but cycle type wings were fitted
front and rear. Quick action fillers were used on the radiators.
They did, however, have the benefit of a Murray Jamieson designed
aluminium cylinder head with a long water take off running almost
the full length of the head to aid cooling and fitted with 14 mm.
plugs. These cars were all registered on 24th May, 1935, with the
registration numbers BOA 57 – 58 – 59 – 60. The Le Mans competition
numbers allocated to the team were 59, 60, 61 and 62. which must
have caused some confusion because of the registration numbers. In
the Race the team had mixed fortunes, as two retired and two
finished in 27th and 28th places out of 28 finishers.
1937
Trials
On
returning back to Longbridge they were fitted out to complete in
Reliability Trials , these events were similar to the current
Production Car Trials and many manufactures took part as a good way
of publicising their products. The cars performed well but really
needed more power, so for the 1936 Colmore Trial one of the cars
was fitted with a "Blower" and the modification proved to be a
great success. All the remaining cars were then modified using a
Centric Type 125 supercharger. The blower which was driven by a
V-belt from the fan pulley, sat on the forward end of a very neat
aluminium manifold which replaced the "Speedy" manifold previously
used. On the rear of this manifold was a blow-off valve which was
preset to 6 lbs./sq. in., but later increased to nine. The blown
two-bearing engine would rev at 7,000 r.p.m. although most torque
was developed low down. The cars had a top speed of around 80
m.p.h., achieving 60 in third. The SU (1 3/8ins) carburettor used
in downdraught form with the dashpot lying horizontal was mounted
directly on the blower port, it was the fitting of this SU which
caused the rather inelegant bulges that appeared on the bonnets of
the Grasshoppers when in Trials trim. Supercharging was never used
when the cars were raced.
The
Company decided to build a further four cars for the 1936 Le Mans.
The four cars were registered on 12th May 1936 as COA 118 – 119 –
120 – 121 and were soon down at Brooklands testing. Very few
alterations to the bodywork were made as compared with the 1935 Le
Mans cars, although to save weight the doors were omitted, the
10-gallon fuel tank was used and once again cycle type wings. The
engine was now in three-bearing form and had a crankshaft with
fully circular webs. The oil feed to the centre main bearing was
via a copper pipe delivery direct from the main oil gallery which
later turned out to be a major problem. Shell bearings were used on
the big-ends and the con-rods were fully machined all over. The
cylinder block had larger water passages around the valves and
ports, the connecting water passages between block and head were
elongated slots, and the internal sweep of the inlet ports was
different from other Austin Sevens. The block was attached to the
crankcase by 10 x 3/8th studs. The block was also "taller" than
standard in order to accommodate unusually long valves. Very
powerful double valve springs were used to partner a fairly
ferocious cam profile. Tappet blocks were short and adjustment of
clearance was effected by grinding tappet "buttons" to the correct
thickness. "Speedy" manifolds were used as the engine was run
without a supercharger. The wheel and tyre size remained at 19 inch
x 3.50
Because
of industrial unrest in France in 1936 the 24-hour race was
cancelled, so the cars were mothballed to await the 1937 race. In
1937 they decided to only enter three cars. Again little
modification was carried out, but one of the changes was going down
from 19in wheels to 17in. but with larger section 4.00 tyres, which
only reduced the rolling radius slightly, so that the gearbox
ratios could remain the same but they greatly improved the road
holding. Disaster struck again as all three retired when the copper
oil pipe supplying oil to the centre main bearing fractured.
After Le Mans the engines were rebuilt and three cars were entered
for the 12-hour sports car race at Donnington. Reliability was
restored and they finished 2nd Dodson/Hadley with Goodacre/Buckley
in 3rd and 5th place taken by Kay Petre/Stevenson in their class.
The distance covered was some 1,800 miles. Soon after with moral
high one car was entered for the Paris-Nice Rally in September,
1937, driven by Kay Petre and Mme Itier.
If you know the position it finished at etc, please let me
know.
We
now return to the Trials scene as after Donnington the three cars
were stripped down at Longbridge and rebuilt for use in Trials.
Experience had shown that the earlier Grass-hoppers had suffered a
great deal of underneath damage, particularly to the brake fulcrum,
on account of the rocky hills tackled on these Trials. The cars
were therefore rebuilt with straight front axles and used springs
on front and rear which conformed to the Army Scout car
specification. Like the earlier cars they were fitted with Centric
125 superchargers and although the final result looked a bit odd,
with a racy body perched high on a WD-like chassis, they became
very effective Trials cars.
One
more Grasshopper was built but not registered in England, it came
to light in Londonderry in December 1937 with a registration number
UI 3345. It is unclear where the vehicle was built or its history
prior to registration, but was sold to a Mrs Gladys Watts by J
Watson an agent.
If
anybody out there can shed some light on this mystery,
please let me
know.
It
is amazing that of the twelve Grasshopper made including the above,
that seven are still around, although not necessary in original
form as shown below.
AOV 343: - AOX 3: - BOA 59: - COA 118: - 119 - 121. UI 3345:
Barry Lovelock
75th
Anniversary of the 7 in 1997 at Gaydon
Information
supplied by Barry Lovelock
If
you own a Gresshopper or Austin Racer please send me pictures and a
short history on the vehicle so that I may add it to this
page.
Not Completed