HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1950-11-23, Page 3THESE CARS, S
AND THEIR DRIVERS,
HAVE TO BE REALLY TOUGH
Alt tun day now t:'hatIe4
Cottpel• tttnl his soot John will watch
the hundredth car they have made
being -pushed oat into -the yard tat
their garage n Surrey. That event
will be a turning point itt the story
of an adventure that began as a
hobby, foto' years ago, and has 'de-
veloped into both a new type of
motor industry and a rapidly grow-
ing sport --500 c.c. motor racing.
The story really goes back sev-
eral years before the war, to the
time when Charles, then a racing
mechanic ;0 Kaye Don, trade
miniature racing car in which his
seven-year-idd son John drove up
and down tl cul-de-sac near their
- home.
The plans were: p111 away itt a
drawer in the workshop and for-
gotten through the war until. in
100, 1)1r. Cooper senior picked ftp
a paper and read that a group of
aircraft workers in Bristol had
adapted their knowledge of aircraft
design by budding light car bodies
round orator -cycle engines, and
were haying great fun s.aging hill
clinch trials in them.
Key to New Boom
He thought of the little car he
had designed for his son and sud-
denly realized that he held the key
to what might prove a new outlet
for the speed bug that infes_s most
young Men.
At odd moments between attend-
ing to his garage business, and Inc
info the night, he pored over Itis
drawing board, devising ways of
getting the utmost speed from a
tiny 44 h.p. engine while giving
safety itt steadiness and freedom
from sway.
For months the trolls went 00.
The first Cooper car was ready to
race. But there was -no race for it.
Five -hundred c.c, racing had not yet
become well established .as a class.
The only events open to it were hill
tlimbs attd short speed trials for
light tsars.
They decided to enter a speed
trial for light cars being held on
the front at Brighton. The Cooper
"midget" was easily the smallest
entry. Its appeareuce created more
ammusetitent than genuine interest,
but John Cooper won the race with
it writes Jeffrey Wyndham in "Tit
Bits".
The following week -end he lent
the car to his old school friend, Eric
Brandon, who took it•to a tneeting
in the Midlands, and it won again.
On the Monday morning Brandon
was back at the garage: "Will yott
snake one Inc me?" he asked.
Brandon and Cooper "cleaned up"
in so• nlauy hill climbs and speed
tests that orders began coating itt
for more cars. Other firms began
building car bodies round mottir-
cycle engines, and soon there were
so many 500's in-existance that a
special racing class was formed.
Silvertone Test
There were setbacks, of course.
The tiny engines, driven to excess,
often blew up. It became apparent
that for short sprints of half a mile
or so they were excellent and pro-
vided all the thrills of racing in
min-iature, but distances of five or
seven miles were generally beyond
then(.
In -this respect the Cooper held
a long lead. \Vitlt their extra
knowledge and research, they built
rap a virtual monopoly of first pla-
ces in club events all over the
country-.
The big test came when, to cele-
brate tete opening of the Silverstone
circuit two years ago, a 500 c.c.
Grand Prix was instituted, over the
phenomenal distance of fifty utiles,
The Coopers had a double satis-
faction. They provided the first
four cats home, -and. found justifi-
cation for their policy and belief
that ability to finish was. of even
greater importance than mere
speed.
Enthusiasts had discovered a n'w
FIGHTING A DEADLY
ENEMY
Wm. Russell Stewart, who has
been appointed Field 'Secre-
tary of the Ontario. Division of
the Canadian Cancer Society.
The new field Secretary
tvi=11 work throughout the Piro-
vince of Ontario organizing
new units of the ctf the Cancer
Society, and working with the -
21.1 existing twits in the
Province.
anti :•.datitely cheap way of taking
a practical part in orator -racing.
For .0575 tuayone could be a raring
motorist with a made -to -measure
tar that would clock 108,110 miles
an hour.
Son there were further develop-
ments The Coopers produced a
1,100 c.c. model, substantially the
sante except that two engines were
combined in the form of a"V." The
car was so designed that it could be
run as either a 500 or 1,100 c.c.
model. .\ll that was necessary was
to take out one engine and substi-
tute the other.
Beat Big Rivals
A few weeks ago,- Ken Wharton,
drieinsotte of the "twins," easily
(von his class ill the Shelsley Walsh
hill climb. and, itt fact, put ftp third
fastest time of the day in competi-
tion with cars two and three times
the size of his ow•tt. When the
event was over, he took out the en-
gine, installed he smaller single 500
ex. unit, put the car itt a plane for
Rolland, and won a race there the
following afternoon"
Joint Cooper tells an amusing
story of tete time he %vas testing
a car manufactured "for export."
For two or three days he tried it
out on the Kingston by-pass, where
two motor -cycle policeman always
followed to ensure that he did not
get to a dangerous speed.
Ont morning the car and the two
policeman were held up together at
traffic lights: \Vlen the lights
changed there was a cloud of black
smoke caused by the fric,ion of the
tires as the car shot away at high
speed and disappeared in the dis-
tance.
Later, MO mystified policemen
presented themselves at the gar-
age, asking, "What have you put in
that engine of yours this morning?"
Not until they were shown the
works did they realize that there
was a twit engine where a single
unit had reposed before,
On the competitive side. more
and more drivers are being attract-
ed because once the initial expendi-
ture Itas been overcome they cost
little more than motor cycles to
maintain..
At 100 m.p.h., the driver gets
Hatch the sante thrill out of speed
whether he is in a large car or a
small one, Tite Italians have tagged
them as "Juke -boxes," why, no one
seems to know. Because of the
lightness of the.cars, there is rarely
any serious trouble, and any dam-
age can be put right in next to no
time.
At one meeting a 500 c.c. driver
hit a protective straw bale so hard
that he bent his front axle almost
six inches out of true. But he
could still drive it, and the car
looked as good as new two days
later.
Even punctures scent to make
little difference. Stirling Moss, the
well-known 21 -year-old driver, felt
something wrong with one of his
front wheels half -way through a
recent race, but he carrried on and
won. The car lurched badly as he
came to a stop, and only then did
he discover that the valve had been
torn out of the tire. Air pressure
had been maintained by centrifugal
force, which meant that he had been
driving on a puncture at well over
60 m.p.h.!
Have to be Tough
An extraordinary spill occurred
at the Goodwood meeting at Whit -
sun, Three cars going into a bend
together at 90 m.p.h. became inter-
locked, John Cooper was on the
outside, and describes it thus:
"I saw that the machine next to
ale was apparently taking off. Two
wheels carte up and rode over my
wheels, so that .1 could see the
crank -shaft and underparts of the
car 1 thought the best thing I
could do was to tura away in case
be went over, In doing so I went
off the track and hit a concrete
pas 1."
By all the rules there should
have been a bad accident, But there
wasn't, Cars and drivers alike arc
tough, Probably competittg some-
where this week will be a car and
driver that recently were concern-
ed in one of the most spectacular
of ail post-war oto:or-racing crash-
es.
While racing at Biandfortl, a 500
c.c. car flew off the track—liter-
ally. It took to the air and landed
on the roof of a shed!
NEW USE FOR ROADS
Otesids httssia roads are used
for walking or driving, Inside
Russia —now that is a different
story.
Ilere is what the Soviet paper
Sots ialistichskoie %emled elie re-
cently reported:
"'Che broad and even highway
between Mosccow and Raizatt
stretches for many kilometers. For
the second year already the kol-
khozniks of Lukhovitsy use one side
of the asphalt - covered highway
for drying grain. For tens of kilo-
meters the asphalt is covered with a
thin layer of grain."
The paper recommended this
method of drying grain to other
lcollehozes. The only trouble is that
hard -surface roads are extremely
rare in the iJ,S.S.R, Perhaps now,
that a suitable use for them has
been discovered, more will be
trade.
"One -Carrot" Ring—Wayne Wiciclander got a ringer -whets he
dug up this carrot its his garden. The carrot, seen enlarged in
inset, had grown through a badly -tarnished gold ring. The -
stone, possibly a diamond, was missing.
Memorable Sayings
By Bernard Shaw
Success: "Tire secret of success is
to offend the greatest number of
people." •
Art: "Art is the magic mirror you
make to reflect your invisible
• dreams in visible pictures. Tort use
a glass -mirror to see your face;
you use works of art to see your
soul."
Writing: "journalism can claim
to be the highest forms of literature;
for all the highest literature is
jottrnalisttt."
Praise: "Woe unto the when all
men praise ate!"
England: "It takes an Irishman
years Of residence in England to
learn to respect and like a block-
head. An Englishman will not
respect nor like anyone else."
Truth: "The truth is the one
thing nobody will believe."
Christmas: "When you find some
country gentleman keeping up the
old English custotns at Christmas
and so forth, who is he? An
American wito has bought the
place."
Laughter: "Oh, do not make ate
laugh, Laughter dissolves too many
resenttnents, pardons too many sins
and saves the world a many thou-
sand murders."
Love: "Sir: there are two trage-
dies its life. One is to lose your
heart's desire, The other is to gaits
it."
Marriage: "Every Luau is fright-
ened of marriage when it conies to
tate point; but it often turns out
very comfortable, very enjoyable
and happy indeed, sir—front time
to title." -
Progreas: "All progress is initi-
ated by challenging current con-
ceptlous, and executed by supplant-
ing existing institutions,"
Poverty: "\1'e, after the terrible
experience we have had of the ef-
fects of poverty on the whole na-
• tion, richt or poor, ntttst go further
and say that nobody ntttst he poor."
Doctors: "Is it possible for a ratan
to go through a medical training
and retain a spark of common
sense?"
;,ltidicr: "Soldiering, itty dear
madam, is the coward's art of at-
tacking mercilessly when you are
strongand keeping out of harm's
way when you are weak."
Conversation: "The ablest and
most highly cultivated people
continually discuss religion, politics
and set"
Experience: "t\'e learn from ex-
perience that men never learn any-
thing front experience."
G, B. S.: "Shaw is an incorrig-
ible and continuous actor. using
his skill as deliberately in his social
life as in his pt'ofessiottal work in
the production of his own Plays.
He does not deny this 'G. B. S.'
he says "is not a real person: be
is a legend created by myself.' "
ent31hts C mgt
111 Why I(t Is
t ttp;raplter looking at tete
tttap of !,;drape is baffled by the old
gues'iiott 7 Why do nett who loop
act the sea differ so much front
meat vvitt., look on the land? Net's
la Wee+u ret k:urnpe, with the sea
every where present attd all coat, •
tries maritime countries, Here is
Fasters. Europe, a vast plait.
stretching eastward it the shores of
the Pacific.
"\t'itp should the monotonous,
infinite gray line of the lttirizon at -
sea suggest different trends of
thought to the human mind that(
the iattlloekod Jamison?" asks Jean
Gttttataain in his recently published
"A Geography of Europe." Perhaps
it is because tits• sea offers so lututy
opporttiuities for trade not only
with neighbors but wi'h distant and
different civilization.. Western .Eur.
opt discovered the world - and
planted it, enlii:a:iott- eterywhere.
"Thegral,l:y. of Europe,"Gott.
star adds. "is largely conditioned
by hi -tory, but this geography also
conditions to a large extent the
future of our world." -
* 1 e.
The geographer finds no plty;.ical
barriers that %Sohl(' account for the
present division of Europe. The
barriers are spiritual. Differences
- of -religion and language, memories
of old oars and fear of future wars,
a complex of emotions and amid -
tions inheritt.d front "tire dark back-
ward and abysm of time" keep the
barriers in place. Race is no longer
important dud. in fait, the races -
of Europe can no longer be clearly
defined.
I.ant,uage plus religion equals
race, as the geographer sees it. Yet
the sharp divitiou between East
and West Europe has existed for
centuries and scents • destined to
continue. Whitt has happened in
our time is that Eastern Europe
has reached out and drawn large
areas ofCentral Europe behind its
Iran' Curtain. Spiritual barriers,
which have always existed hate
been increased to almost impene-
trable strength by the great East-
ern I•:uropean Power. The barrier
has also been moved far to the
west, so that on the Wrap Western
Europe looks like a small broken
peninsula attached to a huge5solid
continent.
t: t e:
The geographer recognizes but
does nor fully explain the divisions
of Europe. The historian can ex-
plain more. He talks of the Graeco-
Rontan heritage of the \Vest and
the Byzantilie heritage of Russia,
of the long struggle of the Empire
and the Papacy, the Renaissance
and the Reformation, the French
Revolution and the Rights of Mao.
On the other ]land, he talks of the
peculiar Byzantine attitude toward
the Wast width Mascot usfttritetl
while claiming to be s rli rel
Rome. Professor Toynbee e' td;snit,
Ilia Byzantine attitude as -a kcal,
of inferiority complex, the resets
of :the Roman conquest t,t the uhf
(ilr-al; states, If this cameo, of twa—
sorting_.. is correct true aright s:tv'
that the policies of tete Kremlin aen
the unfortunate t"otlsttptcileo of Gtr
fact that the ltontans natures tt-
o
have administered a tfcc:fsat: deeat
to the Macedonian avoir. at ties
Mattie of I'ydua, 168
Next Thing Will Be
Atomic Submarines
I'.L't'dt though a tultmtar: a cat: Sc•
main submerged with the sttotke1
breathiml tube for fat' longer periods
-titan frrnaerl:y, it is still tied to the
surface b••estese its diesel engines
mint be supplied with air. The
atomic submarine. could arrive com-
pletely salt, erged for 'periods limit.
ed oily by the air requirements
of the crct'z. If the buil tbt:igtt bad
the right characteristics, the sub-
marine speed would be et -tri greater
than the surface speed for the sante
amount of power. Full -speed tutdcr,-
water operation would be possible
for days. and not for minutes, as
at preent. All surface vessels would
be within range.
The suhutarine of (oda; is a spider
waiting for the approaching victim;;
an atomic subtnariuc is a wolf that.
that tyould pursue its pros.
Reduction in We:ght
Instead ui increasing the amount
of ntachittery, atonlic power may
reduce it, with a consequent reduc-
tion in weight. 1'he dead weight
of atomic fuel for an extended
cruise would be negligible. Ever,
the heavy shielding needed around
the atomic reactor for protectiot,
of the crew might be less that: the
heavy fuel tanks and batteries it..
conventional subutarines.
The ratio of time on patrol to
time in the water is so high at
present that fewer subotarincs
driven by atomic power could take
the place of a large number of the
diesel type. This is important when
we remember that the U.S. snit -
marine fleet comprises 171) vessels,
that of Soviet Russia at least 550.
Moreover, it takes an average of
tsvo years to build a fleet -type
submarine.
The reactor that is now being
developed by the 'knolls Labora-
tory will operate at high tempera-
ture. The heat generated will be
transferred front the "fuel" to a
liquid metal in a closed low-pressure
system, thea to a boiler. where
steam will be generated to drive
steam turbines. More power will be
delivered to the shafts .than is now
possible for fleet -type units. No
tangible products of colmbustior, wilt
he released.
NEW SURPRISES IN SANTA'S BAG OF TOYS —
Santa—working closely with the toy manufacturers—goes all out to keep abreast of the kiddies and tint, ahead of the times..
Here are some of the shiny new items that the old gent will leave under Yule trees of good little boys and girls come Dec. 25.
"rA
The 1951 bicycles are as shiny as next year's autos. It's import-
ant to get the right size, ranging from the 16 -inch junior (for
age 4 to 6) at left, to the 26-incher "for 10 to 100." Tnset shows
detachable balance wheels for tiny tots.)
Fire
When
Ready
The six-foot
telescopic
ladder of a new
tractor -trailer
fire truck
fascinates
Peter Vega, 7.
It's a
new item for
Santa's pack,
guaranteed to
make any
juvenile fire
departtnent
into a first-class
fighting outlt.
A junior atomic scientist oufit will appeal to the young genius
in the fancily. It conies complete with Geiger counter, cloud
chamber and a fluorescent screen to show radioactive material
disintegrating. No . , , fro H-bomb yet
New twist its saving is this three-way bubble guar -basketball
game batik combination. Put a penny in the slot, ball of guru
rolls onto a spring shooter inside the bank. Make the basket
send the gaol rolls out for chewing,