Published at 13:52, Friday, 01 June 2012

THIS pair of pictures appeared on the Mail’s Memories Page some months ago as we tried to find out why anyone would want to drive a vintage car to the top of the Hoad in Ulverston.

Title
Author
Copyright

Description

The summit has a small car parking area these days but modern motorists follow the road around the back – this driver attempted the much steeper route to the front door of the monument.

Behind the wheel is Captain Frazer-Nash in what is thought to be a 11.9hp Frazer-Nash – then one of the great names in the pioneering world of the motorcar.

The vehicle was taking part in a car trial on April 13 in 1926 and Captain Frazer-Nash was accompanied by Mr C Wilson, of Wilson’s garage in Argyle Street, Ulverston.

The intrepid driver intended to reach the Sir John Barrow Monument by climbing straight up the front of the hill by way of a previously pegged out course.

The first attempt was foiled by soft ground and the car started to slide backwards down the steep incline.

Staff from Wilson’s garage rushed forward to act as a human brake.

The car was then steered backwards down to the safety of the area near the old bandstand.

A second attempt went well until the car reached about two-thirds of the way up when the it got bogged down in loose stones.

For a third attempt, the route was altered and chains fitted to the wheels as the motorcar successfully reached the top up the path leading over the Armchair Rock.

Frazer-Nash was a British sports car manufacturer and engineering company founded by Archibald Frazer-Nash in 1922.

It produced sports cars which incorporated a unique multi-chain transmission before the Second World War and also imported BMW cars.

After the war, the company continued producing sports cars until 1957.

Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk