BABS the famous car driven in a world land speed record-breaking attempt more than 80 years ago has returned again to the site of her glory and her downfall.
The vehicle steered by John Parry Thomas during a fatal crash in 1927 is back at Pendine Museum of Speed for her annual summer visit.
The racing car is on show in the museum, which overlooks Pendine’s magnificent beach.
Babs is a Higham Special, which was adapted by the land-speed hopeful John Godfrey Thomas for his first attempt at the record in 1926.
Parry Thomas broke the land-speed record driving Babs in April of the same year on Pendine sands.
The record was broken again at Pendine, in February 1927 by Malcolm Campbell, who achieved 174.883 mph.
However, Parry Thomas’s subsequent attempt on March 3, 1927, ended in disaster. Towards the end of the measured mile, Babs skidded and rolled over. The crash killed Parry Thomas.
The tragedy marked the end of land speed racing at Pendine and Babs was buried in the dunes where she lay for 42 years until 1969, when Owen Wyn Owen, a Bangor engineer, decided to dig her up and restore her to her former glory.
His painstaking restoration work took 16 years to complete and Babs is now preserved as a landmark of motoring history for the benefit of Welsh and international visitors.
The car comes to Pendine each summer for display in the county council’s specially built museum.
Executive board member for heritage Cllr Meryl Gravell said: “Babs and Pendine Beach are very well known and I hope people take the opportunity this summer to visit the Museum of Speed to see Babs and the many other attractions.”
Entry to the Museum of Speed is free.
Technical data Babs
- Built as the ‘Higham Special’ by Clive Gallop for Count Zborowski in 1923.
- The car was subsequently rebuilt by John Godfrey Parry Thomas from 1925 – 1926. It has a V12 Liberty aero-engine; 27,030 cc and about 550bhp.
- Thomas clutch; Benz gearbox
- Rubery Owen chassis
- Ridge-Whitworth wire wheels;
- 33 x 5 Dunlop tyres
- Weight 1 ton 14.5cwt (1,750kg)
- Fuel 60% Shell Aviation spirit and 40% Benzole
- Its highest recorded speed was 171.02 mph (275.22 kph)
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