Percy Lambert in his Vauxhall at the 1912 French Grand Prix at Dieppe (cropped)

Percy Edgar Lambert (1881 – 31 October 1913) was the first person to drive an automobile a hundred miles in an hour.

Early life

Percy Lambert was born in 1881, the son of Charles and Sarah Lambert. He entered

Westminster City School Westminster City School is a state-funded secondary academy for boys, with a mixed sixth form, in Westminster, London. The school educates over 800 students, with links to more than 100 different cultures, in a central London location. The sch ...

in 1892 and lived in the Westminster area between 1893 and 1898. He later worked with his older brother, Harold Charles Lambert, in the motor trade. They sold Austin and later

Singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

cars in Westminster. Percy first raced at

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 airfie ...

motor racing circuit (near

Weybridge Weybridge () is a town in the Borough of Elmbridge in Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. The settlement is recorded as ''Waigebrugge'' and ''Weibrugge'' in the 7th century and the name derives from a crossing point of the ...

, Surrey) in 1910 aged 29. He drove a streamlined Austin called "Pearly III". This is sometimes said to have been the source of his nickname, "Pearly Lambert"; but it is more likely that he acquired the nickname at school, in allusion to his "pearly white" teeth. In his short career he became a popular driver, winning seven races and being placed in six more. He drove a range of vehicles including Austin, Singer,

Talbot Talbot was an automobile marque introduced in 1902 by English-French company Clément-Talbot. The founders, Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, 20th Earl of Shrewsbury and Adolphe Clément-Bayard, reduced their financial interests in their Clément-Talbot ...

and

Vauxhall Vauxhall ( ) is a district in South West London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. Vauxhall was part of Surrey until 1889 when the County of London was created. Named after a medieval manor, "Fox Hall", it became well known for ...

marques. As well as being a successful racing driver, he also enjoyed winter sports. Percy and Harold decided to enter vehicle manufacturing and jointly formed the Lambert-Herbert Light Car Company. Their first vehicle was a 10HP 4 Cylinder, that sold for £225.

World record

Lambert became the first person to cover a hundred miles in an hour. He set the record at Brooklands on 15 February 1913 in his 4.5 litre side-valve Talbot. He actually covered 103 miles and 1470 yards in sixty minutes. There is a film of his exploits at the Brooklands Museum which was made on that day. The record was a huge publicity coup for Clément-Talbot (manufacturers of Talbot cars), and generated much public interest. It was achieved in a car with a fairly standard chassis and an engine of only 4.5 litres

displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and Physics * Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

, whereas the only other attempts on the record that had come close were in monster racing cars of 9.1 and 15 litres.

Death

Lambert was killed at Brooklands on 31 October 1913, while trying to regain his land speed record from Peugeot. He averaged over 110 mph for the first 20 laps, but a rear tyre disintegrated on the 21st lap and the car overturned. Lambert died on the way to the Weybridge Cottage Hospital. This occurred two weeks before he was due to marry his fiancée, having promised to give up racing thereafter.

Burial

Lambert's funeral service was held at St Peters, Eaton Square. He was buried at

Brompton Cemetery Brompton Cemetery (originally the West of London and Westminster Cemetery) is a London cemetery, managed by The Royal Parks, in West Brompton in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is one of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries. Establ ...

, London, in a streamlined coffin to match his car. The epitaph on his monument reads: His ghost has reportedly been seen in locations around the club house at Brooklands.

Notes

References

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External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lambert, Percy E 1881 births 1913 deaths Brooklands people Burials at Brompton Cemetery Racing drivers who died while racing Sport deaths in England