Babs car of records
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Babs: The record car buried on a beach

Babs is one of the most famous speed record cars of the 20s. A historical piece that now looks recovered after years buried on the beach.

We have all seen almost impossible restoration projects. The Alpine A108 inhabited by rats in a farmhouse in Ronda. The Dino 246GTS buried in a California garden. More recently the Maserati 3500 GT by Fangio abandoned for decades in an Italian garage ... As you can see, there is no doubt that lovers of cleaning rust and restoring engines can always find guaranteed entertainment.

However, of all the cases we have seen, there is one that takes the cake. It's about the restoration of Babs. A car with an airplane engine that, after suffering an accident trying to revalidate the world speed record, ended buried for 42 years on the Welsh beach of Pendine Sands.

Anyway, they call it for a reason "Buried alive". Although that yes, beyond its bizarre coastal history, the story of Babs tells us about the time in which the obsession with reaching the highest speed produced real rockets with wheels and even the occasional beheaded pilot. A fictional plot for a car that came to be, for a few months, the fastest car on the face of the Earth.

TWO DRIVERS WITH DIOROUS DESTINIES: ZBOROWSKI AND PARRY-THOMAS

Babs's story is one of permanent change. In fact, he was even born under that name. Far from it this car It was one of the four Chitty Bang Bang built by the earl, engineer and pilot Louis zborowski before dying at the 1924 Italian Grand Prix as a member of the official Mercedes team. A disastrous fate that would be shared just three years later by its next owner: the pilot John G. Parry-Thomas.

A seasoned chief engineer for the Leyland Motor Corporation, Parry-Thomas left his workbench in 1922 to take to the circuits as a test and competition driver. A risky decision, even more so having designed such incredible cars as the Leyland Eight. But anyway, that happened in the Happy Twenties. A time when the "Gentleman drivers" they dominated the English car scene with impudence and ease.

babs world speed record

However, in the case of Parry-Thomas we are far from the happy and carefree way of life of aristocrats like the Bentley Boys. Far from it, our protagonist lived austerely in a house entirely dedicated to his passion for speed. Something like a San Juan de la Cruz of gasoline, which had to manage to achieve a car capable of breaking world records starting from a low budget.

FROM CHITTY 4 TO BABS: TOWARDS THE SPEED RECORD

Just when Parry-Thomas was thinking about how to get a car to break the world land speed record, Louis Zborowski passed away. A misfortune that, however, provided Parry-Thomas with the possibility of acquiring Chity 4. Although it posed many problems as it was still in the development phase, the truth is that the only 125 pounds sold for they weighed far more than any future mechanical difficulties.

babs world speed record

In fact, this price thing was almost miraculous. The only way that Parry-Thomas could find to get hold of such a racing car, even more so considering that Other record hunters of the time like the Bluebird cost around £ 10.000. With the Chitty 4 already in his garage, our sagacious driver began a series of modifications that even ended up changing the car's name.

babs world speed record

Thus was born Babs, the evolution of the Chitty 4 with which Parry-Thomas improved the performance of the 12-liter Liberty L-27 engine thanks to a new piston design and four Zenith carburettors. A beast with more than 450CV capable of taking Babs to heart attack speeds. So the only thing left was to try the record, right? The setting would be the beach at Pendine Sands. 11 kilometers of straight with a huge strip of sand compacted thanks to the action of the tides.

BEHEADED BY HIS OWN GLORY: RECORD AND DEATH

In 1925 Parry-Thomas made the first attempt for the world speed record at the controls of Babs. No luck. However, the following year he returned to the same place ready for anything. And boy did it succeed! He managed to get the best world brand thanks to its 276'46 kms / h, improved the next day with a point of 275 ′ 2.

babs world speed record

In full technological effervescence the Bluebird broke the Babs record reaching 313'8 on the same beach at Pendine Sands. Something that did not sit well with Parry-Thomas, who returned to the place a year later trying to reappropriate the title. However, the Babs technology was already starting to get out of date. Especially with regard to the transmission, which was still made with an external chain covered by a fairing.

babs world speed record

In fact, it is speculated that the rupture of this one beheaded Parry-Thomas when he was circulating at almost 290 km / h. Other theories point to a problem with the rear axle. Be that as it may, the fact is that our protagonist met his death in the sands of Pendine that March 3, 1927. A tragedy that ended with the car buried on the beach. Something that we do not know if it was the work of neglect produced by sadness, lack of means or simple carelessness.

BABS, THE UNEATHERED

Forgotten by time and the lack of heirs, Babs remained buried for 42 years until in 1969 enthusiast Owen Wyn got permits to locate the car and unearth it. Of those, the idea was, simply, to rescue the remains and expose them in a museum. However, the condition of the car encouraged a complete restoration to get it going again.

babs world speed record

Well, let's see ... The truth is that seeing the photos of the unearthing that had to be an act of faith. However, although the bodywork had completely rusted the mechanics were in relatively good condition. All this thanks to the fact that the saltpeter had preserved the pieces made of steel very well thanks to the aluminum. Restoring these and rebuilding others (such as the bodywork, although the original is kept in a museum in Wales) Babs started up again in the early 70s.

A most meritorious restoration, which has given a second life to this vehicle that we can now enjoy at events like the last Goodwood. A whole historical piece happily recovered.

Goodwood Road & Racing photos / Babs Parry Thomas's 1926 Land Speed ​​Record Car.

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Written by Miguel Sánchez

Through the news from La Escudería, we will travel the winding roads of Maranello listening to the roar of the Italian V12; We will travel Route66 in search of the power of the great American engines; we will get lost in the narrow English lanes tracking the elegance of their sports cars; We will speed up the braking in the curves of the Monte Carlo Rally and we will even get dusty in a garage while rescuing lost jewels.

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