Aikens (racing car)
The Aikens was a British Formula 3 racing car from the 1940s.
history
Frank Aikens built one of the first British vehicles for Formula 3 in 1946, after the Second World War . The car had a Triumph two-cylinder engine with a displacement of 500 cc, a Norton gearbox and was based on a Fiat chassis that Aikens imported from Italy. The rear axle was modified for a chain drive. Aikens still used the vehicle in club races in England in 1948.
constructor
Aikens was a former RAF pilot whose only employee was a German prisoner of war who worked as a racing mechanic in his home country before World War II. The two turned the small Triumph engine into a usable and powerful machine. However, the cockpit was so small that the driver had his knees under his chin. The car, like many of its time, suffered from a lack of spare parts and was never reliable. Aikens started from 1949 to 1951 on vehicles from other manufacturers.
literature
- David Hodges: Racing Cars from A – Z after 1945. Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-613-01477-7 , p. 10.