DOWN THE WORKSHOP
AMILCAR Aero-engined VSCC special Based on 1929 chassis Current driver: Tom Walker
It’s a recent build “Robin Baker started building it about 15 years ago, starting with a 1929 Amilcar CGSS chassis, front axle and brakes,” says Walker. “I’ve owned it for 18 months. Robin never raced it and, in fact, he told me I shouldn’t race it because it was designed for sprinting. But I have found that it is an exceedingly good racing car.”
He’s already had some success “The win at the VSCC Oulton Park meeting in July was the best racing day of my life so far. It was awesome to be out with four or five cars of similar performance. The weight distribution is absolutely perfect with the driver onboard and the car is a bit like a Frazer Nash at the back.”
The engine is very special “In period, the chassis would have had a 1500cc engine fitted, but Robin installed the remarkably light Hispano V8. At just under 12 litres, the 1915 design was ahead of its time. There are one or two other cars with the Hispano V8 engine, but they tend to be Edwardian cars, because it is an Edwardian engine but in a vintage chassis. I’ve probably got one of the earlier engines with between 150 and 180bhp. The power is sufficient! It would be very difficult to replace the engine. There aren’t many left in the world and I certainly don’t want to damage it.”
It’s low-revving “The engine would have originally been installed in a SPAD, a French fighter biplane, or a British Royal Aircraft Factory SE5. My engine was made under licence by the Wright Company in New York. The prime rev range is 1800 to 2000 and it doesn’t want to rev over that. That is similar to the speed they were run at in the period aeroplanes. It was a very high-tech engine for the period and produced about 200bhp. It is all aluminium with screwed in steel liners.”
It has two speeds “The car uses a two-speed bevel gearbox with chain drive transmission to the back axle. It is such a light car with a relatively low revving, very torquey engine. It is absolutely fine with two speeds. You don’t need more than two gears and they’d get in the way if you had more gears. It is amazing.”