21 Feb

Email Received: Finding Old Cars

by admin

We received the email below and thought we should share this fascinating info with you!

Dear Sir / Madam

I am trying to locate a car my grandfather built from scratch in 1947/49, for sporting trials and some circuit racing in southern England until the mid 1950's . The registration was RPA 539, and was named the  M&H special (after Murcutt and Harris), and was registered we believe the following year with the DVLA, although they have been unable to find any record of it so far. My grandfathers name was Charles Henry Harris, although he was known as Harry, or CH to close friends.

There are some photos and more information on the facebook page for the RPA 539 on the link below

https://www.facebook.com/Sporting-Trials-Cars-264646986636/

He would more than likely have competed in trials run by the Kentish Borders Motor Club event in Wrotham in the early 1950's. Would you know if the Tulleys farm trial just outside of Crawley west Sussex would have been running in the 1950's? Or if there there trials in Chobham or other areas closeby to Surrey 

My grandfather lived in Caterham Surrey, with the PA part of the registration signifying Surrey.

I hope you don't mind my emailing you regarding this, and if it wouldn't be too much trouble to ask, please could you forward this email on to someone / a group who would have known more about Sporting trials cars in surrey in the 1950's. I have attached some photos to perhaps prompt someones memory, as I know that you have an extensive history in motor sport from the 1950's onwards. 

At an airfield sprint event, my grandfather and uncle started talking with a gentleman who had a car which looked very similar, he and my grandfather chatted, he turned out to be Colin Chapman of Lotus. It was the lotus mark 2. 

History:           

The engine was retrieved from a sunken boat in Chichester harbour, which took 2-3 visits including being hauled up from the boat below using a winch, and then a full rebuild was done, to obviously include drying out and removing any rust etc from the engine. The chassis was from a pre war Austin 7 straight from a scrap yard, and was also modified to suit the car and style of driving. The car was made for car trials in Kent Surrey and Sussex, in events that were known as “mud plugging”, which you can see from a couple of the pictures where the mud must have been close to a metre deep, unlike some of the trials today. The car was  at times known to be used in local circuit racing aswell.
  

          The  M&h special,  with its 1172 cc sidevalve Ford engine on an aquaplane head,  twin SU's were  mated to a  Wolsey 4 speed gearbox. My grandfather competed with the likes of  Bernard Dees of Croydon, and Percy Barden to name a couple of people of that time. Percy Barden was a well known  Builder who owned a large estate in Maidstone, which was also used for car trials before it was  developed it into the massive housing estate.

            Another name that comes to mind is Rex Chapple, who was an undertaker, Rex drove  with his glamorous wife as passenger.  Rex  from Bromley in Kent, was like many others drivers from that period, from Kent Surrey and Sussex who gave up their Sunday for pleasure after such a hard War

            After the War my grandfather won a Engineering scholarship to study at Walthamstow College, and then as a young man later served his apprenticeship at AMC in Plumstead,   and like many after the war started his own car business (in Redhill). He  was soon working for Rob Walker of Pipbrook Garage Dorking repairing the race cars that had been damaged either the week before or during practice, including Rob Walker's stable of race cars. In later years he worked with Alf Francis who was head mechanic at Rob Walkers Pipbrook garage, in Dorking. 

            This brings me onto the M & H special,  which was a very well designed car for all intents and purposes. All of the chalk technical drawings were on the workshop doors and looked as if they had come straight out of a Ford factory. 

Charles Henry Harris, or Harry, was born in 1908, and lived in London until his family was  bombed out in 39, then moving to Redhill in Surrey, and lived to the ripe old age of 86.  He was also a member of the 750 motor Club.

It would mean a great deal to me and my family if we could find this car, or any news about it. anything  would be very gratefully received.

If you don't know yourself anything about this specials car would you please mind kindly forwarding this email onto your contracts within the sporting trials world who may know? 

Yours faithfully

Nick Harris

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