Frank Newton | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | c.1868 |
| Died | 1963 Gerard's Cross, Buckinghamshire, England |
| Occupation(s) | Engineer, gold prospector, and racing driver |
| Spouse | Margaret |
| Children | 4, including Peter Newton and Kenneth Newton |
Frank Newton (c.1868-1963) was a British racing driver and engineer.
Frank Newton was a gold prospector during Canada's Klondike Gold Rush era. He worked in the Yukon Territory of Alaska in circa 1895. Later Newton worked as an engineer, circa 1900, he designed and built the Trans-Andean railway which at the time was the world's highest elevation railroad. At the beginning of the 20th century, Newton returned to England to become a motor racing driver back home. [1]
In July 1907, Newton won the Century Stakes at the first meeting ever held at Brooklands, attended by 13,500 people. [2]
On 23 September 1908, he won the Monatgu Cup at Brooklands, driving a Napier motor car nicknamed 'The Meteor', after having fought "a terrific duel" with Dario Resta, where their cars "banged wheels at top speed". [1] [3] [4] "For a moment, it looked bad, but both drivers regained control." [4] After the race The Brooklands Automobile Racing Club awarded Frank the Monatgu cup and was given a certificate authenticating that he drove 1 complete lap at an average speed of 113.01 MPH.
In 1908, also at Brooklands, Newton drove a 90 hp Napier for its Australian owner Selwyn Edge, who had a £500 bet with D'Arcy Baker that his car could go faster than Felice Nazzaro's Fiat, but the Napier suffered from mechanical trouble. [5]
Newton was married to Margaret, a keen gardener, and they had four children, Brenda Newton, Dudley Newton, Peter Newton and Kenneth Newton (in that order), when he was in his 50s and 60s. [1]
Brooklands was a 2.767-mile (4.453 km) motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England, United Kingdom. It opened in 1907 and was the world's first purpose-built 'banked' motor racing circuit as well as one of Britain's first airfields, which also became Britain's largest aircraft manufacturing centre by 1918, producing military aircraft such as the Wellington and civil airliners like the Viscount and VC-10.
D. Napier & Son Limited was a British engineering company best known for its luxury motor cars in the Edwardian era and for its aero engines throughout the early to mid-20th century.
Major Sir Malcolm Campbell was a British racing motorist and motoring journalist. He gained the world speed record on land and on water at various times, using vehicles called Blue Bird, including a 1921 Grand Prix Sunbeam. His son, Donald Campbell, carried on the family tradition by holding both land speed and water speed records.
The British Racing Drivers' Club (BRDC) is an exclusive invitation-only members club for racecar drivers who are judged to have achieved success in the upper levels of motor sport for a number of seasons. Except under exceptional circumstances, members must have been born in the United Kingdom or Commonwealth. The BRDC owns and operates Silverstone Circuit in the United Kingdom.
Sydney Charles Houghton "Sammy" Davis was a British racing motorist, journalist, graphic artist and clubman.
Selwyn Francis Edge (1868–1940) was a British businessman, racing driver, cyclist and record-breaker. He is principally associated with selling and racing De Dion-Bouton, Gladiator; Clemént-Panhard, Napier and AC cars.
Sir Henry Ralph Stanley Birkin, 3rd Baronet, known as Tim Birkin, was a British racing driver, one of the "Bentley Boys" of the 1920s.
Itala was a car manufacturer based in Turin, Italy, from 1904 to 1934, started by Matteo Ceirano and five partners in 1903.
Percy Edgar Lambert was the first person to drive an automobile a hundred miles in an hour.
John Francis Duff was a Canadian racecar driver who won many races and has been inducted in the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame. He was one of only two Canadians who raced and won on England’s famous Brooklands Motor Course. The other, Kay Petre, is already an honoured member of the CMHF. Duff was the first Canadian to race in the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans. To date, he is the only Canadian to win the overall classification at Le Mans.
Dorothy Elizabeth Levitt was a British racing driver and journalist. She was the first British woman racing driver, holder of the world's first water speed record, the women's world land speed record holder, and an author. She was a pioneer of female independence and female motoring, and taught Queen Alexandra and the Royal Princesses how to drive. In 1905 she established the record for the longest drive achieved by a lady driver by driving a De Dion-Bouton from London to Liverpool and back over two days, receiving the soubriquets in the press of the Fastest Girl on Earth, and the Champion Lady Motorist of the World.
Walter Thomas Clifford Earp (1879–1921) was a British pioneer racing motorist.
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.
William Watson was a Liverpool-born racing driver and motoring pioneer. A champion cyclist as a young man, he founded W Watson & Co, cycle and motorcar manufacturer, in 1901. He won the epic 1908 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy Race driving a Hutton-Napier named Little Dorrit. He also raced in Berliet, Vauxhall and Essex cars. He expanded Watson & Co from Liverpool to Chester, Colwyn Bay, London, Birkenhead and Crewe, creating the largest car distributing organisation in the North of England, specialising in Morris and Rolls-Royce cars.
Violette Cordery was a British racing driver and long distance record breaker.
Muriel Thompson was a decorated Scottish World War I ambulance driver, racing driver and suffragist.
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.
Auto racing began in the mid-19th century. It became an organized sport in the early 20th century and has grown in popularity ever since.
D'Arcy Richard Baker (1877-1932) was a British businessman and racing driver.
Elizabeth Haig (1905–1987) was a British racing driver who competed in rallying, hill climbs and historic racing. She won the 1936 Olympic Rally, the first and last time after 1900 that an automobile race was part of the Olympic Games.
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