12-03-2019, 10:59 AM
The missus is away at a conference, the dog refuses to set foot outside the back door into the torrential rain, and the Met Office has issued a warning not to attempt to enter one's workshop for fear of strong winds. So the anorak can sit at the keyboard and prowl the bookshelves in search of further information about Dudley Beck.
I have thumbed through Boddy's magisterial but sadly index free History of Brooklands, but can find no mention of Beck. WB in 1968 writes of him buying a car from Gordon England, "A keen private-owner, Dudley Beck, who bought his Super Sports model in March 1924, spoke of 30-32, 58-62 and 80-83 m.p.h. in the gears, stripped (these may have been speedometer readings), and a top speed, fully equipped, of 70 m.p.h.. He used his car for speed events and touring, and after about eight months it had cost him 3d. on repairs, for a valve pad!"
Beck was to be seen on hills, beaches and sprint courses in 1924, as Ruairidh's notes show. At Llagar, organised by the Chester Club but over the border near Mostyn, Beck took a 1st in class, which he did again later in the season at Madresfield. Looking through reports remind us of the brief period when Anniesland challenged Molsheim, Portello or Cricklewood, with Cyril Paul's Beardmore managing FTD on a number of occasions.
The Austin times up Angel Bank are puzzling, Mays had also entered his Bugatti, getting up much faster in 31.8s, whilst Cyril Paul got FTD with 29.8s in the Beardmore!
There is one image of Beck at Shelsley in 1924 in the LAT/Austin Harris archive, are we allowed to use this on the forum?
I have thumbed through Boddy's magisterial but sadly index free History of Brooklands, but can find no mention of Beck. WB in 1968 writes of him buying a car from Gordon England, "A keen private-owner, Dudley Beck, who bought his Super Sports model in March 1924, spoke of 30-32, 58-62 and 80-83 m.p.h. in the gears, stripped (these may have been speedometer readings), and a top speed, fully equipped, of 70 m.p.h.. He used his car for speed events and touring, and after about eight months it had cost him 3d. on repairs, for a valve pad!"
Beck was to be seen on hills, beaches and sprint courses in 1924, as Ruairidh's notes show. At Llagar, organised by the Chester Club but over the border near Mostyn, Beck took a 1st in class, which he did again later in the season at Madresfield. Looking through reports remind us of the brief period when Anniesland challenged Molsheim, Portello or Cricklewood, with Cyril Paul's Beardmore managing FTD on a number of occasions.
The Austin times up Angel Bank are puzzling, Mays had also entered his Bugatti, getting up much faster in 31.8s, whilst Cyril Paul got FTD with 29.8s in the Beardmore!
There is one image of Beck at Shelsley in 1924 in the LAT/Austin Harris archive, are we allowed to use this on the forum?