Club Curiosity

Club Librarian Trevor Dunmore presents a mystery.

THE INSCRIPTION ON this cup says: RAC Veteran Car Run, London to Brighton, 1934, Team Prize. Pretty straightforward, you would think: another cup fished out of the Club’s vast collection of trophies along with a clear description of what it was awarded for.

In fact, we have no idea where this cup has been languishing for the past 88 years, and not much of an idea what the recipients did to receive the accolade.

The mystery started with a message posted on the Club’s Facebook page by A J Parkes Ltd, a trophymaking company based in Brisbane, Australia: “About a year ago someone dropped this into our warehouse in a bag – no note, didn’t talk to anyone, just left it and never came back”. The company kindly offered to donate this silver-plated pint tankard, made by Walker and Hall of Sheffield in 1933, to the Club.

According to a report at the time in The Autocar, the winning team was made up of three Panhard Levassor cars driven by J M Turner (an 1899 model), J A Turner (1902) and A C Fairtlough and O Bertram (1904). Two other Panhards completed the Run that year but do not appear to have been part of the team.

However, we don’t know what the prize was awarded for. On 2 November 1934 – just before that year’s Run – The Autocar reported that “some alteration has been made to the team prize, which will no longer be decided on average speed, in fact average speed will be ‘taboo’ altogether”. Tantalizingly, the report doesn’t go on to say what the “alteration” was.

Perhaps the cup was awarded for some form of meritorious performance, such as the fewest mechanical issues? If any reader has the answer, we look forward to hearing from you! We would also be delighted if anyone could shed any light on how the cup made its way to Australia or, indeed, provide any information on where it has been for the past 88 years.