The Fenton Special

This project grew out of a desire to own and race a pre-war sports-racing car such as would have been seen at Brooklands in the Double-Twelve or at hill climbs such as Shelsey Walsh.

As these cars are now scarce and costly I determined I would find a car that would provide the right bits that would allow me to build a Special in the true tradition of British enthusiasts of that era. They also faced the same dilemma, an urge to go fast and competitively but without the necessary funds to buy an exotic competitive car.

Like many before me, I thought of MG and Riley immediately. I had years of experience racing a 1934 6 cylinder MG Magnette so that was my first choice, but none turned up at that time. However, I was offered a Riley Nine Special that had been made from a 1933 Monaco by the simple expedient of cutting off the roof and cladding in the sides to get rid of the doors.

As the body was already destroyed I was free to do what I liked without the undesirable implications of ruining a restorable original. All the bits were right; a hemi-head crossflow twin cam engine, roller bearing 4 speed box with good ratios, torque tube drive train, nice big brake drums, a chassis that would modify well to my underslung design, a very pretty radiator, good ratio steering and a nice big four spoke steering wheel. The only preferences would have been centre knock-off hubs and a three bearing crankshaft. The massive custom made racing crank and rods by Gordon Allen in the U.K. took care of the latter and I now rather like the five-bolt wire wheels, they're very period.

I was very lucky in acquiring an original Marshall 75 supercharger which is right for 1100 c.c. My experience with superchargers on the MG gave me confidence that this was the way to go, all I had to do was make all the manifolding and drive mechanism.

All the design was done on the drawing board before any work was done on the actual bits. I wanted the finished Special to reflect my view of what was 'right' about pre-war competition cars. The aesthetics involved in the overall project were as important as the ultimate performance.
The project has taken about six years, due mainly to house moving, which meant getting a garage built, and the inevitable wait for frame welding, engine modification and other bits which I had to have worked on by professionals.

Now, apart from the evident need for a 4.7/1 approx. CWP instead of the existing 5.3/1 and some real track time for tuning, the car goes marvelously well, corners even better than I had hoped, is very predictable yet very quick and has only 500 miles on the clock.

FOR SALE

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