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Purpose of test

Time evaluation for slow down, pit entry, turn around, re-join track and return speed. The car speed before and after was 135m.p.h.

Note

The first attempt at high speed resulted in missing the track exit and therefore continuing to do another couple of laps before another attempt.

Video shown with thanks to Millbrook Proving Ground

Points to note

Click image to view video

The Healey endurance car completed its second day of tests at Millbrook on Aug 12th 2008. The test results at the track in Bedfordshire have proved just how difficult achieving a new record can be, with the car running just 2 mph below its target speed. A small difference but one that the team feel is critical to achieving its desire of beating the record set in 1954.

First track tests achieved 133 mph, further work was then conducted on carburetion and gearing before the second test. The 4 drivers planning to attempt the 1000Km and 24 hour records easily achieved maximum speed of 138mph within 5 laps, proving the outright speed and stability of the car. However that final 2% extra speed proved elusive and with a blustery day interspersed with showers, time ran out to finalise the car prior the record attempt planned for Aug 16th.

The Millbrook track is noted for scrubbing off speed some reckon by as much as 7mph. At such high speeds the tight 2 mile circle produces distinct tyre scrub which together with aerodynamic drag was holding the car back from its record breaking potential.
It has been decided to suspend the attempt until a more suitable venue can been found which may mean travelling outside the UK. This is a grave disappointment to the team who want to make the attempt in 2008 but with the British weather and FIA time keepers availability, this might not be achievable.

This project has been developed by Classic car Expert Jeremy Welch from his business Denis Welch Motorsport in Yoxall, Near Burton on Trent, and has been recreated in memory of a previous record-breaking car that took the 24 hour record in 1954.
The past few weeks have seen frenetic efforts from all involved with the FIA sealing the engine before the dynamometer set up was conducted on what seemed to be the hottest day of the year when the exhausts glowed cherry red.

“ This car was a faithful recreation of the original car with no modern technology included, it has matched the original in all respects. However trying to go faster than the original and not having the benefit of still air and a 10 mile track, the car is struggling to find that final speed. You cannot prove all these factors on a drawing board and in the end the drag on the car is proving difficult to overcome. We will just have to keep on working hard to achieve our dream”
commented Jeremy Welch after the test day

Click the thumbnail below to view a video of the Endurance Car road test:

Roy Jackson Moore visited the premises of Denis Welch Motorsport on the 7th May 2008. This was a historic visit to celebrate an historic event, the official launch of the Healey Endurance car to the public.
Roy was the North American sales Director for the Healey works and went on to be a major part of the North American sales effort for British sportscars with names such as Aston Martin. Perhaps his most notable achievement was to introduce Carrol Shelby to AC which resulted in the creation of the legendary Cobra car.

His talents didn’t stop there though, he was a very competent driver in his own right competing at Sebring in long distance races. He joined the 1954 Healey endurance team partnering names such as Donald Healey, George Eyston, Carroll Shelby and Mort Goodall.

On Aug 23rd 1954 at Bonneville salt flats, supervised by the American Automobile club the Healey Endurance car set 83 National and International Class D records. A 24-hour average speed of 132.29 mph was achieved and Roy was the one to bring the car over the finishing line.
Denis Welch Motorsport of Yoxall have been recreating this very famous car with a view to challenging the record in August 2008 at Millbrook in the UK. Having got the car to rolling chassis stage with a lot of research into original drawings and configuration, they wanted to have someone with authority to view their work. Martyn Corfield who owns the car thought why not ask one of the original drivers his opinion and contacted Roy to look the car over.

As you can imagine after such a long time there are many things that get re-interpreted and there is nothing like the original on the spot, point of view to verify the real facts. This meeting produced a series of anecdotes that went some way to verifying a lot of details and scotched some rumours in the process. For instance there had been some talk of the car using a David Brown gearbox but Roy confirmed that this was not the case (this is vital information if the re-creation is to be accurate).

“The car had a Taxi gearbox on the 1953 attempt which was ok, in 1954 we didn’t use the David Brown gearbox (which was a horrible box anyway; you had to use two hands to change gear) instead we used an early BN2 box”.
Commented Roy at his recent visit

“The two piece instrument binnacle is absolutely right, why they changed to a one piece I don’t know, some chap at Austin probably worked out that they could save six-pence in the build cost!”
Commented Roy on seeing the two tone instrument cluster at his recent visit

“The colour is right, just a much better finished than the original car. The paint was metallic but appeared matt as it had been painted in a rush”

“Tonneau and head faring are in proportion to how I remember them, the seat is very comfortable (as it was in 1954) although it could do with moving back a couple of inches”

Commented Roy about the bodywork and colour scheme
“We were advised not to hold the car at 4600rpm as this created a harmonic in the engine that may cause problems; 4500 and 4700 were ok though.”

Commented Roy on the engine performance over 24 hours

The car was released to the Healey fraternity at Goodwood May 16th this year and is on track to complete speed trials in July ready for the August record attempt.

“This car is going to have some serious work to do once its out there on the track. We are looking at speeds in excess of 150 mph for 24 hours as a target so its vital that we are able to get the specification right as well as historically accurate. Roys input was invaluable in getting first hand comments on our work and having the ability to consult with him on some of the unrecorded detail was an opportunity that you get very limited chances to benefit from. We are deeply indebted to him for his help and sparing us the time”

Commented Jeremy Welch

The original car became the prototype for the Austin Healey 100s of which only 50 were made and each one had a plaque on the passenger dash board commemorating the original event.

In 1953 Donald Healey had an ambition to take the 200mph production car speed record, and the 24-hour endurance record. He had built one of the most iconic sports cars of the Fifties and teamed up with Austin to produce it in volume. The car had wowed the public at Earls Court motor show but it was felt that record breaking would prove both the design and the integrity of the Austin Healey and its components. Consequently in 1953 standard production cars were used to take the production car records covering 3100 miles in 30 hours at an average speed of 104.3 mph.

This success spurred the team on to look at an outright production sports car record for 24-hour endurance running, so the following year in 1954 a standard chassis was prepared with a modified Weslake designed cylinder head, 16 inch Dunlop peg drive wheels and Dunlop disc brakes (a first in production sports cars). There were a small number of aerodynamic modifications with a small aero screen and head fairing plus an air-cooled battery compartment in the right hand passenger compartment.

In due course the car was transported to Bonneville in Utah for the record attempt. There on Aug 23rd 1954, supervised by the American Automobile club the car set 83 National and International Class D records driven by Donald Healey, George Eyston, Carroll Shelby, Mort Goodall and Roy Jackson-Moore. A 24-hour average speed of 132.29 mph was set giving the equivalence of driving from New York to San Francisco in a day!
Now some 54 years later the feat is being attempted again. Unfortunately the original car together with its Streamliner sister car were scrapped shortly after the records in the fifties as salt had taken its toll and made them unsafe.

However an early lightweight factory chassis has been discovered by Martyn Corfield. Together with Healey expert Jeremy Welch the car is being recreated from the ground up, with a view to attempting the same feat in 2008.

The Welch family are no strangers to achievement on the World record stage. Their involvement dates back to 1906 and achievements have included the World Water Speed Record with a boat called ‘Bulldog’, The European FIA championships with their own Healey also the rebuilding of the 1965 Le Mans Austin Healey sprite and its sister car, plus building cars for such luminaries as Stirling Moss and Mark Knopfler.
“ We have had a lot of success in the past, based on our ability to design and manufacture solutions to performance problems ranging from high speed cars to rally cars.

This project is a particularly interesting challenge, as I don’t think that anyone has run a Healey at this speed and distance for quite some time. It’s imperative that we conduct our research in depth and facilitate as authentic a reconstruction as possible. For instance we have had to re-manufacture the peg drive hubs from the original drawings. The integrity of our work will be tested to the limit so we have got to get it right” says Jeremy Welch MD of Denis Welch Motorsport.

If all goes to plan there will be an attempt on the Record in 2008 with the FIA officiating to make sure the facts are recorded.
There is every chance that the new car will take a record with its pedigree and the prospects of a long distance award beckon perhaps the team can surpass the original figures. It’s a very exciting project with huge interest, which is being watched across the globe.