As is the case with so many drivers who died behind the wheel, J G Parry-Thomas will forever be associated with 'Babs', the 27-litre V-12 monster in which he lost his life at Pendine Sands in 1927. Before his short career in that car, Parry-Thomas had been busily competing in a mighty Leyland Eight-engined car known as the Leyland-Thomas No 1. As chief engineer at Leyland Motors, Parry-Thomas was the man behind the money-no-object straight-eight luxury car launched in the aftermath of World War One. The so-called 'Lion of Olympia' was a technological 'tour de force', but its huge purchase price put off buyers and very few were sold. In an attempt to boost the car's reputation, Parry-Thomas took a stripped-down Eight to the track. He fell for the racing life, and began modifying the car to become more competitive, eventually arriving at the re-bodied, re-engineered version you see here. Thomas soon abandoned his post at Leyland and dedicated himself to racing full-time, but the lure of more power was always present – and that's where 'Babs' comes in.
The Leyland-Thomas special's competition career continued after Thomas's death, and was breaking records well into the 1930s. It, and its sister car, were destroyed in a wartime air raid and that's where the story ended... Until 2014, when David Haywood unveiled his reborn Leyland-Thomas special. Built around a collection of original components, this inspired recreation has been making a splash wherever it appears, and recently made the trip to Brooklands for some demonstration runs on the banking. The Automobile magazine was there to record the event, and have published the full story of both the original car and this sympathetic evocation in the November issue, which is out now.