Small Skirrow Racers

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On a visit to Ivan Dutton, I was reminded that a number of promotors had put on midget car meetings on British speedway tracks both pre and post-war. Ivan has a small collection of American Midget cars plus a British built 1938 Skirrow. Harry Skirrow built some 30 of these Midgets, based at first in Ambleside. They had BSA Scout front-wheel drive and, with a similar unit turned around and the steering adapted, rear-wheel drive as well via chains from a front-mounted JAP 8/80 1000cc engine. Around 30 of these were built and campaigned between 1936 and 1939. They looked very spectacular.

After a move to London, Skirrow’s house was bombed during the war and all his records were lost, plus 3 cars in his garage were badly damaged. Two of these cars were repaired after the war and joined a number of other Skirrows owned by David Hughes, who in 1949 built a track at Brafield on the Green near Northampton on which to run them as well as at other venues. With few spares available, in the 1950s he was forced to give up. Ivan Dutton bought his car at an auction in 2004. This was David Hughes’ personal car number 66 and painted in his old school colours.

One other Skirrow is known to exist and is being restored by enthusiast Terry Wright in Australia. This car also came from the Dave Hughes stable in the early 1960s. Terry went on to say “It was then bought for old times sake by Les White who had raced them pre-war. When Les sold up the car went to America to a museum (details not known), then to a collection in Florida, then to a Brough motorcycle owner in Canada and then to me in Sydney.” Terry is part-way through a complete restoration of his car.

In 2016 Ivan brought his back to running order and competed at Chateau Impney hill climb that year. He told me “I was surprised how easy it was to drive. The lack of brakes was not the big problem I thought it was going to be. As you lifted off the throttle it slowed very quickly and also when you turned the steering, having no diffs, it equally slowed quickly. I cannot imagine how it would be on shale which is what they were designed for. I was told they geared them to bounce the valves at 80mph. They must have been real racing drivers!”

Words and pictures by Michael E Ware.

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