Competition run for record car

A recreation of the LeylandThomas speed record car of the 1920s will make its competition debut at the Chateau Impney hillclimb in July.

Built by JG Parry-thomas around a 7.3-litre Leyland engine, the car set 16 speed records in 1922. Seventy years later David Haywood acquired the engine and part of the chassis and, once he discovered the engine’s history, set about faithfully recreating the car.

Haywood spent more than 25 years on the project and has run it at several recent events, but will now take it into competition.

“All sorts of things didn’t work and there was a lot of heartache,” said Haywood. “But now it’s running, it’s going, and it’s a lot of fun!”