Brabus GmbH is a German high-performance automotive aftermarket tuning company founded in 1977 in Bottrop. Brabus specialises mainly in Mercedes-Benz, Maybach and Smart vehicles. They have also modified other vehicles including Porsche.
John Godfrey Parry-Thomas was a Welsh engineer and motor-racing driver who at one time held the land speed record. He was the first driver to be killed in pursuit of the land speed record.
The Mercedes-Benz C111 was a series of experimental automobiles produced by Daimler-Benz in the 1960s and 1970s. The company was experimenting with new engine technologies, including Wankel engines, diesel engines, and turbochargers, and used the basic C111 platform as a testbed. Other experimental features included multi-link rear suspension, gull-wing doors and a luxurious interior with leather trim and air conditioning.
The Mercedes Simplex was an automobile produced from 1902 to 1909 by the Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft. It continued the use of the Mercedes name as the brand of DMG, rather than Daimler.
The Bentley 3 Litre was a car chassis manufactured by Bentley. The company's first, it was developed from 1919 and made available to customers' coachbuilders from 1921 to 1929. The Bentley was very much larger than the 1368 cc Bugattis that dominated racing at the time, but double the size of engine and strength compensated for the extra weight. The 4000 lb (1800 kg) car won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1924, with drivers John Duff and Frank Clement, and again in 1927, this time in Super Sports form, with drivers S. C. H. "Sammy" Davis and Dudley Benjafield. Its weight, size, and speed prompted Ettore Bugatti to call it "the fastest lorry in the world", which was regarded as a compliment. Built in 3 main variants, Blue label, Red Label Speed models all carrying a 5-year warranty, and the coveted and rare Green Label 100 mph cars, which only carried a 12-month warranty reflecting the high state of tune.
The Sunbeam 1000 HP Mystery, or "The Slug", is a land speed record-breaking car built by the Sunbeam car company of Wolverhampton that was powered by two aircraft engines. It was the first car to travel at over 200 mph. The car's last run was a demonstration circuit at Brooklands, running at slow speed on only one engine. It is today on display at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu.
The Sunbeam 350HP is an aero-engined car built by the Sunbeam company in 1920, the first of several land speed record-breaking cars with aircraft engines.
Patrixbourne is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Bekesbourne-with-Patrixbourne, in the Canterbury district in Kent, England. It is 3 miles (5 km) south-east of Canterbury. It is mostly taken up by agricultural hills and along with almost contiguous Bekesbourne. In 1931 the parish had a population of 245.
Louis Vorow Zborowski was a British racing driver and automobile engineer, best known for creating a series of aero-engined racing cars known as the "Chitty-Bang-Bangs", which provided the inspiration for Ian Fleming's children's story, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and culminated in the "Higham Special" which, much modified in the hands of John Godfrey Parry Thomas, broke the World Land Speed Record 18 months after the death of its creator.
The British land speed record is the fastest land speed achieved by a vehicle in the United Kingdom, as opposed to one on water or in the air. It is standardised as the speed over a course of fixed length, averaged over two runs in opposite directions.
Ernest Arthur Douglas Eldridge was a British racing driver who broke the world land speed record in 1924. His was the last land speed record set on an open road.
The Napier-Campbell Blue Bird was a land speed record car driven by Malcolm Campbell. Its designer was C. Amherst Villiers and Campbell's regular mechanic Leo Villa supervised its construction.
Babs was the land speed record car built and driven by John Parry-Thomas. It was powered by a 27-litre Liberty L-12 aero-engine.
Thomson & Taylor were a motor-racing engineering and car-building firm, based within the Brooklands race track. They were active between the wars and built several of the famous land speed record breaking cars of the day.
Colonel Reginald Clive Gallop was a British engineer, racing driver and First World War pilot. He was one of the team which developed their first engine for Bentley Motors.
Higham Park is a Grade II* listed neoclassical style house and gardens, located at Bridge, Kent, 3 miles (4.8 km) south of Canterbury.
Jarvis & Sons Limited were South London-based motor dealers for Morris and MG, and latterly coachworks providing special bodies for various car chassis until after World War II.
An aero-engined car is an automobile powered by an engine designed for aircraft use. Most such cars have been built for racing, and many have attempted to set world land speed records. While the practice of fitting cars with aircraft engines predates World War I by a few years, it was most popular in the interwar period between the world wars when military-surplus aircraft engines were readily available and used to power numerous high-performance racing cars. Initially powered by piston aircraft engines, a number of post-World War II aero-engined cars have been powered by aviation turbine and jet engines instead. Piston-engined, turbine-engined, and jet-engined cars have all set world land speed records. There have also been some non-racing automotive applications for aircraft engines, including production vehicles such as the Tucker 48 and prototypes such as the Chrysler Turbine Car, Fiat Turbina, and General Motors Firebirds. In the late 20th century and into the 21st century, there has also been a revival of interest in piston-powered aero-engined racing cars.
The Mercedes-Benz S-Series (W06) was a successful line of sports cars produced from 1927-33 that bore the nickname, the "white elephants."
Bligh Bros. or Bligh Brothers of Canterbury was a British coachbuilder initially producing carriage and, in the 20th century, bodies for automobiles. Amongst the most famous creations by Bligh Brothers are the unique race cars known as Chitty Bang Bang, which inspired the book Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang by author Ian Fleming and the later film adaptation, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
