Boy's Own feature on the Goodwood 9 Hours race.
The Boy's Own paper was one of several children's comics, magazines and newspapers that could be relied upon to feature motor racing scenes on their covers, and/or articles, on a reasonably regular basis and the August 1953 edition is no exception. This issue of Boy's Own features a brilliant image, portraying three racing sportscars battling wheel-to-wheel during the first of the famous Nine Hours races at Goodwood.
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The article, titled "Night Racing at Goodwood", introduces the reader to long-distance sports-car racing, from the early years where cars and machines competed in city-to-city events, such as the Paris to Bordeaux road race, through to the Double Twelve meetings held at Brooklands in the 1930s, and of course the most famous of them all, Le Mans. The report of the inaugural Nine Hours in 1952 followed, as a precursor to the upcoming meeting for 1953.
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The Nine Hours sports-car event at Goodwood commenced at 3pm and continued until midnight. In order to host the event, a great deal of work was undertaken to the pit area, and marker posts, fitted with red reflectors, were installed around the perimeter of the track, to aid weary racing drivers during the hours of darkness. Extra lighting, and emergency generators, were also acquired prior to the first of these meetings.
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Thirty cars lined up to take the start, their drivers performing a "Le Mans" start by sprinting from the opposite side of the track, leaping into their steeds, before firing up their engines, engaging first gear, and streaking off down to Madgwick, the first corner at the Goodwood circuit. Accompanying the article is a photograph of Stirling Moss, and an image of Duncan Hamilton, Roy Salvadori and John Coombs tackling the clockwise circuit. Car 39, an HRG, is shown in the pits undertaking a pitstop.
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A spectator's account of the exciting race tells the story of the action as darkness fell on the Sussex circuit, where XK120 "C" Jaguars battled with Aston Martins and Ferraris, to uphold the British honour. One of the Astons goes up in smoke during a routine pitstop, three mechanics are burnt and the car is left looking decidedly the worse for its conflagration. Abecassis' Aston suffers gearbox woes, leaving the Jaguars out front, the sole remaining Aston of Collins following in their wake, keeping the Ferraris at bay. Positions changed throughout the remainder of the race, thanks to mechanical gremlins and plucky drives from the teams of drivers. Collins and Whitehead, sharing the remaining Aston, took the chequered flag.
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The 1953 race took place on August 22nd, with the final staging of this nocturnal event occurring in 1955, when the Aston Martin DB3S of Poore and Walker crossed the line in first position.
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Elsewhere in this issue.
The remainder of this issue is packed with inspiring ideas to satisfy the most curious of children. Articles discuss how to go about forming a nature club for instance, a reminder of how children were once encouraged to play outside, climb trees and get their hands dirty. Tips on sailing are also given, as are ideas on how to make hot days more comfortable for the family pet. Young aeromodellers would have been delighted to stumble across a feature starting on page 26, where ideas for control-line model aircraft are discussed, and a full-page advertisement a few pages on describes the range of Keil Kraft model kits that were available. Jetex model aircraft also receive a mention.
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Another article unlikely to be found in a boy's book or magazine today, takes a look at cigarettes, and describes how scientific experiments can be undertaken at home on your father's cigarettes, to analyse the smoke produced by them. Much more wholesome and healthy were the references to cycling, in both articles and in many of the advertisements presented within this copy of Boy's Own. Machines by James, Phillips, and Royal Enfield are advertised, in addition to cycling accessories by firms such as Lucas, Terry's, Miller and Brooks.
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A copy of the Boy's Own Annual for 1965 can be found on one of the children's book pages, again here at oldclassiccar.co.uk
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A number of other children's publications (comics, newspapers etc) with a motoring theme to them, can also be found on the main Motoring Collectables page.
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