 You may know that we are campaigning this year to encourage a new generation to get involved in this old man's hobby. Giving them a ride and let them experience that what old cars is about is one thing. Stewart Wilkie chose for another route when he gave this historically important clock to his grandson. It is a clock bearing the statement "officially used at the Gordon Bennet Cup 1903 ". It is a clock that can show time and make you think. First thought is the fact that the timekeeping was done rather in minutes and possibly a rough estimate of seconds. And not milli or 'nano' seconds or whatever we do in today's F1. Racing was more like arriving one cup of tea earlier than the competition. Jenatsky on Mercedes arrived 11 minutes before de Knyff on Panhard. A second more trivial thought is, was the 'official' text added to the dial before or after the 2nd July 1903? In other words was the text meant to show this is an offical timekeeping instrument meant to the users of that time? Or was the text added after the race to add value to the otherwise rather straightforwad clock? Maybe the historical significance of the clock will not be fully understood by Stewart's son at this stage of life. But we are sure it will make him start thinking about it. Stewart added: "The 1903 Gordon Bennett was held in Ireland. The Gordon Bennett referred to is in fact Gordon Bennett Jnr, the son of the founder of the New York Herald, after whom the famous phrase was coined. Gordon Bennett Junior was also, like his father, a very successful publicist and in this vane was a prolific promoter and patron of sports. This was alongside his role at the New York Herald. He was a renowned raconteur and led a playboy lifestyle. In some ways, he may be likened to Richard Branson, who himself has undertaken many daring sporting races. The Gordon Bennett cup was presented to The Automobile Club to France in 1899 for nations to compete against each other annually. The winning country hosting the following years race. So the first race was held in France in 1900 and the races only continued until 1905 when they were replaced by what we now know as ‘Grand Prix races’ This clock was the official time keeping clock for the 1903 Gordon Bennett cup, held in Ireland. It was in this race that the colour of ‘British Racing Green’ was first adopted by the British team of drivers. Previously, British cars were in a red livery. It was really a concession to Ireland, by the British government, as racing was illegal on British public roads. The 328-mile race was won by the German Mercedes team." |
↧
It's time to get the kids involved
↧