Chitty Bang Bang

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Land speed record 1926 with the Chitty IV, driver JG Parry-Thomas

Chitty Bang Bang is the name of a series of racing cars owned by Count Louis Zborowski .

Zborowski built the race cars on his property Higham Park near Canterbury , Kent, on the basis of Mercedes - chassis with Maybach - Mercedes or aircraft engines .

Models

Chitty I

Louis Zborowski in Chitty I in 1921

The first model had a Mercedes chassis and a 23-liter six-cylinder Maybach engine. The power was transmitted by chain and the maximum speed of the four-seater was 162.14 km / h in a race in Brooklands . After being converted into a two-seater, the car reached a top speed of around 190 km / h, but had an accident and was destroyed. The vehicle was rebuilt and then sold to Arthur Conan Doyle . Later it came into the possession of his sons.

Chitty II

The Chitty II was built on a chassis designed by Zborowski himself and was powered by a Mercedes 18.8 liter six-cylinder in-line engine with 220 hp. The body came from the local bodybuilder Bligh Bros. The vehicle drove several races before it was sold to the Crawford Auto Aviation Museum in Cleveland . Today it is part of a private collection.

Chitty III

The Chitty III was rebuilt on a Mercedes chassis. However, this was modified and powered by a Mercedes six-cylinder engine that had been upgraded to 180 hp. The car reached a top speed of 181.34 km / h in Brooklands. In January 1922, Zborowski, his wife Vi, his friend and mechanic Clive Gallop and Pixi Marix and a few other mechanics took part in a Sahara crossing with the Chitty III . The vehicle initially remained in the possession of Zborowski and was later brought to Stuttgart, as Zborowski wanted to join a Mercedes racing team with it.

Chitty IV

The rebuilt Higham Special at the 2005 Goodwood Festival of Speed

The Higham Special was based on the Blitzen-Benz , but was equipped with a 450-hp, twelve-cylinder V-engine with a displacement of 27 liters from Liberty . The vehicle could not be completely completed by the death of Zborowski in 1924 and was later acquired by the racing driver and chief engineer of Leyland Motors , JG Parry-Thomas .

Parry-Thomas christened the vehicle " Babs ", made some changes and modifications and set a land speed record of 273.6 km / h in Pendine Sands in 1926 . After the vehicle was destroyed and later rebuilt, it is now on display at the Museum of Speed in Pendine .

Trivia

Due to the noise of the vehicles, legal regulations prohibit starting the engines within the city limits of Canterbury.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ What Would Bond, James Bond, Drive? on roadandtrack.com