The Arab was a high-performance English automobile designed by

Reid Railton Reid A. Railton (1895–1977) was a British automotive engineer, and designer of land and water speed record vehicles. Biography Reid Antony Railton was the son of a Manchester stockbroker: Charles Withingon Railton and his wife Charlotte Eliza ...

and manufactured in

Letchworth Letchworth Garden City, commonly known as Letchworth, is a town in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. It is noted for being the first garden city. The population at the time of the 2011 census was 33,249. Letchworth ...

, Hertfordshire, between 1926 and 1928. The factory had previously been used by the

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

car company.

History

The car came about following discussions between

J. G. Parry-Thomas John Godfrey Parry-Thomas (6 April 1884 – 3 March 1927) was a Welsh people, Welsh engineer and motor-racing driver who at one time held the land speed record. He was the first driver to be killed in pursuit of the land speed record. Ear ...

, design engineer at

Leyland Motors Leyland Motors Limited (later known as the Leyland Motor Corporation) was a British vehicle manufacturer of lorries, buses and trolleybuses. The company diversified into car manufacturing with its acquisitions of Triumph and Rover in 1960 and 1 ...

, Reid Railton, his assistant and

Henry Spurrier Sir Henry Spurrier (16 June 1898 – 17 June 1964) was a British engineer and industrialist, and the third generation of the Spurrier family to head Leyland Motors.Trevor Boyns, 'Spurrier, Sir Henry (1898–1964)', Oxford Dictionary of National ...

, chairman of Leyland Motors. Leyland had made 50 four-cylinder engine blocks intended to be used in fast delivery vans, but the project was not proceeded with. The three discussed what to do with the blocks, and the building of a 2-litre sporting car was agreed. A prototype was built to test the new engine using an

Enfield-Allday The Enfield-Allday was an English car manufactured in Sparkbrook, Birmingham, from 1919 to 1924. The marque was created from the merged ranges of Alldays & Onions and Enfield and the Enfield Autocar Co Ltd. History Prior to World War I Alldays ...

chassis and the car taken to

Brooklands Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England, United Kingdom. It opened in 1907 and was the world's first purpose-built 'banked' motor racing circuit as well as one of Britain's first airfields, ...

for the 1924 Easter Meeting. The engine had an overhead camshaft with the same unusual valve springing using leaf springs as those found on Parry Thomas's

Leyland Eight The Leyland Eight was a luxury car produced by Leyland Motors from 1920 to 1923. The car was designed by the chief engineer of Leyland Motors, J.G. Parry-Thomas and his assistant Reid Railton, and was intended to be the finest car available. I ...

. Drive was to the rear wheels via a Moss 4-speed gearbox and ENV spiral-bevel rear axle. It was one of the first English cars to use an electric fuel pump. Production of two variants was started in 1926 at the Letchworth works, a low-chassis sporting model and a high-chassis touring type. Two and four-seater bodies were available on the high-chassis at £525 and probably only the two-seater on the low-chassis at £550. Parry Thomas died in March 1927 attempting to break the

World Land Speed Record The land speed record (or absolute land speed record) is the highest speed achieved by a person using a vehicle on land. There is no single body for validation and regulation; in practice the Category C ("Special Vehicles") flying start regula ...

in his car

Babs Babs or BABS may refer to: People * Nickname of Barbara Windsor (1937-2020), British actress * Babs McMillan, Australian actress * Babs Olusanmokun, American actor * Babs Reingold, American artist * Babs Fafunwa (1923-2010), Nigerian educationist ...

, and with his death Railton lost interest in the Arab and the Letchworth works closed after only about 6 or 7 cars were made. The remaining components were bought by

Thomson & Taylor Thomson & Taylor were a motor-racing engineering and car-building firm, based within the Brooklands race track. They were active between the wars and built several of the famous land speed record breaking cars of the day. Thomas Inventions Devel ...

, where Railton was working, based at Brooklands and a few more cars were assembled. This was something of a pity, as the car was an impressive performer with the two-seater high chassis good for 80 mph, and the Super Sports was said to have been capable of going . One high chassis is known to have been supercharged and is said to have achieved . Two cars are known to survive, both low chassis.

Specification

Engine

*1960 cc four-cylinder water-cooled monobloc. *Two bearing crankshaft *70 mm bore 127 mm stroke *Single overhead cam, leaf spring controlled valves with positive closing. *Single

Claudel-Hobson Claudel-Hobson was a series of British carburettors manufactured by H. M. Hobson Ltd. Introduced in 1908, they were widely used on British car and aircraft engines in the early 20th century. Applications included Sunbeam automobiles as well as ...

carburettor *65 bhp at 4000 rpm

Gearbox

*Moss 4-speed

Chassis

*Wheelbase , track , overall length *Half-elliptical springs front and rear *Four wheel brakes (Perrot System)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arab (Automobile) Vintage vehicles Cars introduced in 1926