Charles Leith Ltd
Fordingbridge Hampshire
1939 Raymond Mays V8 Sports Prototype For Sale
Please see our website at
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More information on the ERA website :-
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This Raymond Mays sportscar was to be the sister sports car production model to the 1930s E. R. A. voiturette racing car.
Shelsley Motors Ltd was newly formed alongside E. R. A. & was based at Bourne to produce and market the car as the Raymond Mays Sports. The engine was a modified Standard Flying V-8 of 2. 7 Litres.
However, the hostilities of WWII started shortly after its launch and plans for quantity production had to be postponed.
This car, along with 2 other early examples, was entered for the 1939 RAC rally and driven by S. C. H. Davis (Ex Bentley Le Mans winner) who finished 12th in class behind the SS Jaguars and the 328 BMWs.
ERA press officer A. F. 'Rivers' Fletcher and his wife Penny both managed to exceed 100 mph (109 in Rivers's case) around Brooklands circuit at Weybridge shortly after the RAC Rally. The handling was described from several eminent drivers as "... the best handling sportscar in its class." It would be a wonderful handling car as the chassis, suspension and brakes were modified by the ERA guru & Director, Peter Berthon. Sadly No. 2 car in the RAC Rally, driven by Raymond Mays himself, broke down while on the Rally, and has since disappeared. No. 3 car was written off in the RAC Rally by Dick Anthony.
A. F. Rivers-Fletcher describes testing the prototype rolling chassis, equipped with merely a bench seat strapped onto it, and straight-through exhausts and is quoted as saying it sounded like an ERA on full song. He declared the acceleration to be “quite startling, smooth up to 5, 000 rpm with lots of low-down torque and REAL coachworks of Ealing produced the three roadster bodies and Rivers-Fletcher managed to achieve 109 mph and his wife Penny is recorded as achieving 100 mph around Brooklands just after the RAC rally in one of the roadsters FLN 386.
In 1946 the Berkshire Police purchased the car as a fast pursuit vehicle - keeping the car until 1956. Not many cars of the period could reach 100mph and so the Raymond Mays Sportscar was the ideal Police chase car.
Freshly restored after many years in hiding, this unique car would readily be welcomed at many shows, rallies & competitions
Cream with finest Cambridge blue leather interior and blue duck hood.
Please enquire
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MORE ABOUT RAYMOND MAYS
Raymond Mays of ERA fame was one of the world's most famous racing drivers, breaking records from the 1920s in his Bugatti, Vauxhall Villiers, Hillman, Invicta, Riley and a works Mercedes Benz Targa Florio factory team car (!) at his favourite hill climb venue Shelsley Walsh.
He then developed and competed with various E. R. A. s from 1934 to numerous victories, later in the most highly developed (today 300bhp) ERA R4D in prestigious international events , suceeding to beat the Hitler's German State-sponsored Mercedes and Auto Union racing cars at several race and UK hillclimb events. Along with the world's top racing drivers, the ERA team included Prince Bira of Siam. Between them and many other privateers, ERAs took honours wherever they competed.
After the war, back by the Alfred Owen Organisation, he was responsible for the BRM V16 1 1/ 2-litre Formula 1 car which gained international interest, producing around 600bhp from the tiny engine which made a unique sound forever memorable in motor racing history
Raymond Mays was finally appointed CBE by HM the Queen in 1978 for services to British Motor Sport
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