Best of Show at Prescott Hill (UPDATE IV: V8 JAP Airship !)

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The VSCC weekend at Prescott Hill is not a concourse. Here you will not find glitzy cars surrounded by eloquently whispering men with fine Italian shoes and ladies in designer dresses on a meticulously cut lawn. This is an estate plus steep driveway in the countryside. Location of THE Insiders Event of the UK vintage car calendar: the VSCC Prescott Speed Hillclimb. This is for a crowd of ultimately fine taste... for specials and even more special specials. Cars for tarmac eaters and castrol drinkers. Please do not think with the word Specials of bitsa's. True Specials make a higher form of British automotive art. A movement which probably started back in the early twenties. A true special is made of vintage components, it can be made 70 years back, but also over the last few years. The car we see here may be 'new' or old, we don't know its history. We can only tell you what we know, and the very first fact is that this car stopped us in awe for over an hour... The VSCC program says the owner/driver of car #258 is Richard Scaldwell. The car is described as a GN GN/JAP Grand Prix, year 1908/1919. The low car seems equally flimsy and scruffy at first sight, but when you are getting closer you see a grand piece of art in which thousands of hours and tons of creativity have been invested. The detailing is incredible and gives an overall impression the car has escaped from Harry Potter's latest... Here some specs: modified wooden chassis in GN style. Air cooled 5 litre V8 engine ( aero JAP ?) with everything exposed. The alloy coachwork organically evolves from the radiator shell along the cowl and unfolds into two staggered seats. The driver and co-driver are squeezed into something like a miniature steam loc engine room. From there we proceed to the back of the car, a kind of rivettted 'goats' rear end which accommodates to carry two saddle bags. Applause! (photos by editor)
UPDATE IV by Robin Batchelor:"The engine of this car is of the type used by E.T.Willows in his Airship. See pictures on this website."
UPDATE III by D.A. Johnson: "The car has an actual V8 Jap engine not 4 V twins."
UPDATE II by top vintage engineer form the US, David Greenlees:" Thanks for the great photos of the special, best car on the site this year."
UPDATE by Alex Norman (UK) with the interesting thought: "I think (but may be wrong) that the JAP V8 is simply the result of laying four JAP V-twin engines end-to-end..."
Mark Dawber sends this gallery of various UK built Aero Monsters!

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