AUSTIN 7 ULSTER TWO SEATER REGISTERED GH 23 – 27 AUGUST 1930
Graham Beckett has owned GH23 since 1984, but its early life is what most interests him. ‘In Spring 1930 greengrocer Phillip Marriage bought an Austin 7 to race at Brooklands. His ideal model was a supercharged car at £225, but his budget only stretched to an unblown one. He collected it from Longbridge. It was red and black with touring wings. Over the remainder of 1930 and early 1931 it was prepared for Brooklands. Phillip had the engine reassembled with a works deep sump; this is still with the car. He also removed the front dampers and replaced them with Luvax hydraulics – as on the works cars – and fitted cycle wings.
‘Its first outing was at the March Mountain Speed Handicap at Brooklands. Next was the Double Twelve in May 1931, consisting of two 12-hour sessions with the cars being locked away overnight. Bluemels offered each entrant a steering wheel of a colour of their choice. Phillip chose a red one to match the car, and it’s still on there today. In 1932 he contested six meetings at Brooklands – all the while still using the car as everyday transport. Later that year a visit to the bank resulted in Phillip being advised that motor racing was expensive and outside the scope of a greengrocer!’ GH23 was sold into the trade.
‘No more is known until the car was bought in 1942 by George Gahagan from a Mr Rabin. It was then used as daily transport to and from work at Rolls-royce, 50 miles per day. Following the war, improvements were carried out, including modification of the original exhaust manifold from three-branch to four-branch.
‘Come 1950, George’s first races were at the disused airfield in Gamston, Nottinghamshire; he took two wins and a second place. In 1952 success came in the 750 Motor Club Six-hour Relay Race at Silverstone. The team consisted of six cars with George’s brother Dudley as team manager. From then on GH23 was mainly used in the Fifties in 750MC Races and Hill Climbs.
‘When I bought it from George’s widow in 1984 all the components and bodywork were correct with the exception of the crankcase and exhaust manifold. I received an unexpected phone call offering me an unblown crankcase. On checking the engine number I was amazed to find that it was the original from GH23. I duly bought it and had it expertly repaired, with all the original components reunited. During the coronavirus lockdown I was finally able to put back in the car.
‘I used GH23 mainly for sprints and hill climbs until about 2000; nowadays it’s used sparingly for trips on sunny days.’