The Dawn of Motoring Sale 2023 4th August 2023

60 The Dawn of Motoring Sale 2023 - Cars One has only to read Charles Jarrott’s memoirs or study the paintings of F. Gordon Crosby to appreciate why the early years of motor-racing were known as the Heroic Age. Cars which dwarfed their drivers, spat fire and snorted smoke were raced hell-for-leather on crude, often unsurfaced roads all for the sake of glory, the love of ‘The Sport’ and the improvement of the breed. In the quest for greater speed, it was not unheard of for racing cars to be built with engines originally intended for aircraft. Those days, which gave rise to so many legends and fables, may be dim and distant, but they are not entirely lost. Thanks to the efforts of passionate enthusiasts, a lot of Edwardian racing titans, including original survivors and period-correct recreations, are still in use today and are put through their paces in competition several times a year. The Fáfnir was a dragon in Germanic legend, but it lent its name to a car-maker from Aachen which existed between 1908 and 1926. Although obscure today, Fafnir was not an insignificant marque in period. It fielded its own racing team, which was most notable for starting the career of German ace, Rudolf Caracciola, one of the greatest drivers of the pre-war period. Hall-Scott was an engine-maker established in 1910 in San Francisco, and was one of America’s leading makers of water-cooled aero engines in the period leading up to the Great War. It might never have been uttered in the same breath as Fafnir had it not been for Hall- Scott’s A-7 engine, a four-cylinder, 10-litre unit producing 90-100bhp. A few decades ago, enthusiasts realised the potential for saving incomplete or derelict Edwardian cars by restoring the chassis and installing period-appropriate aero engines to create racing cars in the spirit of the Heroic Age. With plenty of A-7 engines still in existence, they were a natural choice for some of these new specials. One of the most active and respected special builders of our times is Oliver Way, and it was he who was responsible for introducing a 1918 Hall-Scott engine to a 1914 Fafnir chassis in 2009 and also putting a Hall-Scott-engined 1911 Austin racer together around the same time. Having been sold by Way on its completion, the Fafnir has changed hands a few times and has become a familiar sight in Edwardian racing circles. In the hands of Guy Lachlan of Classic Oils, it has twice competed in the S. F. Edge Trophy ‘for Edwardian specials of a type that raced up to 1923’ at the Goodwood Members’ Meeting. It has appeared at a number of other popular events including the Vintage Sports-Car Club hill-climb at Prescott, the Château Impney Hill Climb, Bicester Heritage’s Scrambles and, in the present ownership, Shuttleworth Race Day and the London Classic Car Show. Needless to say that wherever it goes, it is always extremely well-received and never short of admirers. If you’d like to try a kind of racing unlike any other, spend time with a host of colourful characters and be invited of some of the most prestigious motoring events, you need an aero-engined Edwardian. Place a bid or two on this Fafnir and, when you’ve come to the end of your first race, soaked in oil and glory, you’ll be grinning from ear to ear. Lot 280 1914/18 Fafnir Hall-Scott Aero Engined Special Exceptionally well-known, the 10-litre, fire-breathing Fafnir has raced with success in the S.F. Edge Trophy at Goodwood and with the VSCC - road-registered & ready to go. Registration: BF 5520 Chassis No.: F054055 Estimate: £120,000 - £150,000 Consignor: Rob Hubbard Telephone No: 07775 511825 More Details Lot 280 Bid On Lot 280