The racing Earl

I was interested to read Mick Walshʼs From the cockpit in the February issue, in which he eulogised about the motor racing at Dublinʼs Phoenix Park (above) in the period between the wars.

Two names caught my eye, one being Sir Henry ʻTimʼ Birkin and the other being Francis Curzon, the fifth Earl Howe. I recently had the pleasure of meeting Frederick Curzon, the seventh Earl, when he showed a small group of us around his country seat, Penn House, near

Beaconsfield, Bucks. Although his family enjoys a long and distinguished naval tradition (Richard Howe, the first Earl, was First Lord of the Admiralty in 1783), we were told of one of his illustrious relatives who chose to indulge a passion for motor racing.

In 1931, with Birkin as co-driver, Earl Howe won the 3-litre class at Le Mans in his Alfa Romeo 8C-2300 LM. The actual car has been in the Alfa Romeo museum since 1966. In 1933, with a view to ending the Italian dominance, Earl Howe funded MGʼS development of the K3 Magnette racers, which had supercharged 1086cc six-cylinder engines. That year, three K3s competed in the 1100cc class at the seventh Mille Miglia. The MGS came home in first and second, with Earl Howe and his co-driver

Hugh ʻHammyʼ Hamilton second. Sadly, Hamilton was killed the following year while competing in the Swiss Grand Prix.

A serious accident while racing at Brooklands in 1937 put paid to the Earlʼs own track career, but he kept motorsport issues alive with his numerous speeches delivered in the House of Lords.

Rupert Anson

Bierton, Bucks