Topic: Solved NIC#1059 - Martin-Arab Brooklands aero-engined special

[nicanary]

What is this car? Please tell me its name, the chassis and engine, and a point is yours.

[Lavrakas]

This is one of the Burgess-designed 1914 TT Humbers running at what looks like Brooklands in the 1920s when it was fitted with a Sunbeam aero engine.

[nicanary]

This is one of the Burgess-designed 1914 TT Humbers running at what looks like Brooklands in the 1920s when it was fitted with a Sunbeam aero engine.

Yes! I thought it was more difficult than that!

LOCKED for you - what was it called?

[Lavrakas]

More difficult than it appears! It presumably is the WG Tuck/Philip Rampon Humber, later known as the Martin-Arab, but it doesn't have the original engine (exhaust on the wrong side), which blew up spectacularly in 1920; not does it appear to have a big V8 Sunbeam Arab engine, which presumably would have had a pipe on either side. Bill Boddy suggested that it was briefly fitted with a third engine originally intended for the 1913 GP Vauxhall but never used (it didn't last long, blowing up in even more spectacular fashion in 1921).

[nicanary]

More difficult than it appears! It presumably is the WG Tuck/Philip Rampon Humber, later known as the Martin-Arab, but it doesn't have the original engine (exhaust on the wrong side), which blew up spectacularly in 1920; not does it appear to have a big V8 Sunbeam Arab engine, which presumably would have had a pipe on either side. Bill Boddy suggested that it was briefly fitted with a third engine originally intended for the 1913 GP Vauxhall but never used (it didn't last long, blowing up in even more spectacular fashion in 1921).

I'm not even going to bother with dissecting your very full description of the car. You've hit the nail on the head, it's the Martin-Arab  owned by Rampon and put together by his mechanic Martin. I don't have complete information about the puzzle photo and its place in the car's history - it was taken from Boddy's history of Brooklands, but he could sometimes be wrong and would obstinately refuse to change his mind. I'll stick with my version of events, but thanks for providing so much more. It's good for AP to have as much info as possible

PS the photo is supposedly from 1921. The caption mentions an engine size of 11750cc yet Boddy reckons the Arab motor was more like 14477cc. He contradicts himself which suggests that you are correct in your belief that another engine had been fitted.