DOWN THE WORKSHOP
1913 CHALMERS
It is pretty unusual “It is a four-cylinder, five-litre, 36hp car from Detroit. Hugh Chalmers was the man behind NCR, National Cash Registers, and made a lot of money in the 1890s. The new technology was automobiles, so he bought a company called ThomasDetroit and the engine in this is derived from a Thomas design.”
There are not many left “The Chalmers was a mid-range car and they got a reputation for building good solid cars. In 1908, he invested six million dollars, which was a lot of money, and built a million square foot factory. Everything was done in-house and they probably built 70,000 to 80,000. There are only about 40 left and the ones that are left were put away and forgotten.”
It came to the UK “This was found by a chap from Nottingham and brought into the UK in the 1990s. He used it as a roadster and I bought it six years ago as a chassis, two axles and an engine, to build for VSCC speed events.”
It is also a road car “I found pictures of original racing Chalmers in 1909 and 1910 and it’s the greatest thing I’ve ever driven. It is just fantastic and I’ve been competing with the VSCC for six years. But I also drive it on the road and I’ve done over 3000 miles this year. We did a lap of the Lake District in it!”
There are no front brakes “It’s got brakes on the back, the handbrake is a drum, the footbrake is a band and I can lock the wheels up virtually anywhere. There are no brakes on the front and we don’t have shock absorbers. There is a great big back axle like something off a lorry and it has a four-speed crash gearbox, which was very advanced at the time.”
Maximum speed is 53mph “There is a wooden steering wheel with controls for ignition and mixture. The engine doesn’t have any oil pressure, it just runs on splash. It revs to about 2000 maximum and 53mph is about flat out. I only sold my ex-dick Johnson Group A Sierra RS500 touring car a year ago and I have no regrets. I raced it for two years and went to some of the best events and then it gave me a pension.”