Classic & Sports Car - December 2015 UK

December 2015 Classic&SportsCar 113

I liketo thinkthatplanningmeetingsfor the team

• Birkin,Eyston,youngstarHughHamiltonand
  wealthyex-BentleyBoyBernardRubin,together
  with Howe’s loyal topmechanic, Percy ‘Tommy’
  Thomas– happenedat PennHouse,thegravel
  drive packed with grand machines as the ambi-
  tiousgroupstudiedmapsin the drawingroom.
  Howealwaysdid thingsin styleand,as wellas
  the K3,the convoysouthincludedan Alfa 1750
  teamcar andtheex-RudiCaracciolaMercedes
  38/20.TheMGwasso freshthatAbingdon’s
  Reg‘Jacko’Jacksonhadto runin theengineen

routeto Newhaven.All threeexposedsportscars

weretotallyunsuitablefor the mid-wintertrial,

however, as the driversdiscoveredin the Alps.

Despitethetoughconditionsandfreezing

temperatures, it wasan epictripthatincluded

visitsto Bugatti,meetingTa zioNuvolariand

EnzoFerrariin Milan,plusan audiencein Rome

withthe Kingof ItalyandMussolini.Thelatter

wasa realcar enthusiastandwasmuchinspired

by the titledEnglishparty.

TheK3provedveryfast,andgreatlyimp-

ressed Eyston over the passes. Birkin quickly

notedthatthe frontaxlelocationwasweakunder

hardbraking,whilethe problemof rainblowing

overthescuttlewouldbe resolvedwitha neat

gutterfor theMilleMigliateamcars.Lurani

provedto be an essentialteammember, smooth-

ingouthasslesanddramas,andevenFerrari

helpedto arrangehotelbookingsandgaragesfor

the May event. Howe, a Le Mans winner in 1931

withAlfaRomeo,wasa valuedcustomer.

TheMGcouldn’t havehada toughertest,and

thejourneygaveThomasan importantinsight

for planningpitstopsfor fuelandrepairsduring

the race.Threewereorganised – in Siena,Peru-

gia andBologna– butnoneof theteamcould

haveimaginedthedramasthatwouldplayout

duringthe challenging1000-mileevent.

With HoweandHamiltonin K3001,Birkin

andRubinin K3002,andEystonwithLuraniin

K3003,the teamcarswereshippedfromCorn-

wallto Genoabutclearingcustomsprovedto be

thefirstchallengewhena hugesumwas

demandedby the localofficers.Storyhasit that

LuranicontactedMussolinito helpreleasethe

racinggreencargo,andeventuallythe MGswere

driven to a garage in Milan for final preparations.

Clockwise,from main:
purposefulbody with low
seating;Powerplusblower;
workmanlikecockpit;
1087cc‘six’ producedup
to 125bhpin period;team
poseswith K3003;Birkin
and Eystonwere closefor
early stagesof Mille Miglia