It all started with a picture of an unknown racing car. I didn't realise at the time that the story of the builder and racer of the car would be so fascinating...........
The car is the Aberties (Mk2), designed and built and raced by Mr. Bertie Sayers.
Bertie Sayers was born in Chelmsford Essex in 1908, in his early life he was a champion swimmer, a talented artist, and an amateur photographer. In 1933 he moved to Cambridge to find work within the building trade, during the war he worked for Marshall Aerospace where he was employed making wings for Spitfires. It was during a night shift that he saw a way to increase efficiency and therefore production, essential for the war effort, he explained this to the works foreman who very bluntly told him to mind his own business, so Bertie waited until the boss, Mr Archie Marshall was leaving the building and informed him of his idea, a meeting was set up and Bertie's idea was put in place, Bertie and Mr Marshall remained good friends for the rest of their lives.
I'm sure that working in the aircraft industry gave Bertie the skills and ideas that proved invaluable later when he designed and built his racing cars.
Bertie was a car enthusiast, in the 1930's he owned a saloon car that during the war was put on blocks due to petrol rationing, the eldest of his three sons, Peter, a small boy at the time clearly remembers Bertie regularly turning over the engine on the starting handle and checking the immobile vehicle.
After the war, when petrol became easier to obtain (although rationing still continued) Bertie returned to motoring, his local car club, the Cambridge 50 Car Club ran short rallies around the local villages, to begin with these were 'treasure hunt' type events where competitors had to find a clue to the next location, these events soon evolved into time trails where a specified average speed had to be maintained on short stages, Bertie invented a small clockwork device that would enable him to keep a check on his average speed, his idea was later patented and marketed by a car accessories company.
In the early 1950s when petrol rationing ended Bertie entered the 1953 Daily Express National Rally in a Hillman Minx, he was assisted by two colleagues, Harry Norman and Paul Kerridge who took turns navigating, he won first place in the Concours de Elegance.
Hillman Minx driven by Bertie at HastingsBertie found he had a taste for competition and like many other enthusiasts of that period he built a special based on an old Austin Seven clothed in an aluminium body.
Bertie's Austin Seven SpecialThe car was raced by Bertie in trials and later in Autocross events, he realised that to be successful in Autocross he needed more power than the old Austin sidevalve engine could supply so he decided to build a car from scratch utilising the latest ideas. This car, painted yellow, was given the name 'Aberties'. It was soon sold to a friend of his as Bertie had ideas of how things could be improved and soon had his second scratch built Autocross car. The car was built using a spaceframe chassis of Berties own design using steel tube and box section, Triumph (Alford & Alder) front suspension, a mid mounted Cosworth tuned Ford 1340 cc pre-crossflow engine (later increased in capacity to 1498cc), and a VW based Hewland gearbox.
The Second Aberties Autocross carBertie built a third Autocross car for a friend, painted red and white, and a roadster was built for the same friend who had bought his first Autocross car.
The Aberties Road Car pictured restored in the 1980'sBertie had considerable success with his second Autocross car, which was continuously improved throughout its racing career. It was always a front runner in the Autocross events Bertie entered with numerous wins and fastest times. The greatest achievement was winning the 1966 British Autocross Championship, Bertie, aged 58 regularly beat much younger competitors including for the 1966 season Roger Clark who gave him a run for his money in his race prepared Ford Cortina.
Newspaper clipping of Bertie after winning the 1966 British Autocross ChampionshipFor the 1967 season the Aberties was dogged with reliability issues, this led to frustrating races where he would lose power after several laps, the problem was later traced to a very small crack in the cylinder head that would only cause problems when the engine got hot. Bertie raced the car a few more times until he sold it after receiving several offers, the whereabouts of the car is currently unknown.
The Cosworth Modified Ford Engine that Powered the Second Autocross AbertiesBertie then turned his attention to trialling, which he had always competed in but had taken a back seat during the time he was successful in Autocross, he built and successfully raced at least three scratchbuilt cars, these cars were continuously improved with the Berties latest ideas, one featured his own design of wheels, and another used a cable to operate the steering, doing away with conventional and heavy steering components.
Bertie Sayers driving one of his Trial Cars, Note the determination on his face, and the terror of his passenger
A Trialling Aberties
Aberties Trial Car with Bertie's own wheel designThe last trophy that Bertie won was in 1969, it was probably due to his age that he retired from racing, he still worked at Marshalls Aerospace and held a senior position at the company, due to bad health he retired in the early 1980s but was still paid a retainer by Mr Marshall and would return on a monthly basis for a get together.
Bertie's achievements were amazing, his talents as a car designer, builder, and racer are possibly unmatched, which is all the more astonishing when you learn that Bertie had Dyslexia and due to this could not read or write, all his technical knowledge came from observing, he would look at books and magazines studying photographs and technical diagrams of suspension designs, engine modifications, and other mechanisms until he worked out exactly how they worked, he would then utilise these ideas, or more often develop them on his own racing cars.
Bertie Sayers 1908 – 1988
His trophies
1953 Daily Express National Rally Hastings 1st concours de elegance.
1957 Cambridge 50 car club 1st B. Sayers.
1958 Cambridge 50 Car Club clear 0 test run 1st Special cars. B. Sayers.
1961 Henlow Autocross. Fastest time of day. B. Sayers.
1963 H&D.A.C. Autocross. 1st B. Sayers.
1963 P.M.C. Autocross Championship 2nd B. Sayers.
1963 W.E.C.C. Autocross class F 3rd B. Sayers.
1964 July Autocross. Best G.C.C. Member. B. Sayers.
1964 October Autocross. Best G.C.C. Member. B. Sayers
1964 B.T.R.D.A. Silver Jubilee Weekend of Motor Sport. Autocross F.T.D. B. Sayers.
1965 Falcon Motor Club. Autocross. 1st B. Sayers.
1965 B.A.R.C. South East Centre Autocross. Mercury Trophy. B. Sayers.
1965 F.M.C. Autocross. 1st B. Sayers.
1965 Thames Estuary Automobile club Autocross. Peter Styvesant Trophy. B. Sayers.
1965 B.T.R.D.A. Autocross runner up. B. Sayers.
1965 Autocross Team Trophy. B. Sayers.
1965 Association of Eastern Motor Clubs Championships. Special Events. 1st B. Sayers.
1966 Thames Estuary Automobile club autocross class winner. B. Sayers.
1966 W.E.C.C. Autocross Team Award. B. Sayers.
1966 P.M.C. Autocross July. Wood Trophy. B. Sayers.
1966 British Autocross Championship Final. Winner B. Sayers. & F.T.D.
1966 Clee Hill Trial 1st in class B. Sayers.
1967 B.T.R.D.A. Gold star Trials Championship. Sidney Allard Trophy. B. Sayers.
1969 B.T.R.D.A. Trials Championship Kemp – Lewis Maturity cup. B. Sayers.
19?? E.A.M.C. 13th Colchester Autocross. Class 5. B. Sayers.
19?? E.A.M.C. 13th Colchester Autocross. F.T.D. By an E.A.M.C. Member. B. Sayers.
Many thanks to members of Bertie's family for their help, information and pictures.
