J S Couldrey's Essex. A rather unlikely racing car on would have thought.
David Manson
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Not so unlikely - see Raymond Mays' 'Split Seconds' on the subject. The i.o.e. Essex Four was eminently tuneable, with huge inlet valves.
James Scammell
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Gentlemen, Here in Australia there are two Essex 4 special racing cylinder heads dating from around 1922. One is owned by me in Adelaide, and the other by a friend in Castlemaine. They are wonderful pieces of cast iron work. They retain the overhead inlet valve and side exhaust, only with larger valves than standard. Each has four inlet ports along the top in place of the single side inlet port. Each has twin spark plugs per combustion chamber. In 1923 outside Adelaide in South Australia, a stripped down Essex 4 with one of these cylinder heads was recorded traveling at 103 mph by the South Australian Automobile Association. The only identification marks on the cylinder head castings are the capital letters WM. We believe that this most likely identifies the manufacturing foundry as William Mills, in the UK. We believe that Essex 4s from the same period in the UK are likely to have used the same cylinder heads in competition at Brooklands, Shelsley Walsh and other motor sport venues. We would dearly like to find a reference to the cylinder heads being used on Essex 4s at any time in the UK. Cheers Jim S
Comments (3)
J S Couldrey's Essex. A rather unlikely racing car on would have thought.
Not so unlikely - see Raymond Mays' 'Split Seconds' on the subject. The i.o.e. Essex Four was eminently tuneable, with huge inlet valves.
Gentlemen, Here in Australia there are two Essex 4 special racing cylinder heads dating from around 1922. One is owned by me in Adelaide, and the other by a friend in Castlemaine. They are wonderful pieces of cast iron work. They retain the overhead inlet valve and side exhaust, only with larger valves than standard. Each has four inlet ports along the top in place of the single side inlet port. Each has twin spark plugs per combustion chamber. In 1923 outside Adelaide in South Australia, a stripped down Essex 4 with one of these cylinder heads was recorded traveling at 103 mph by the South Australian Automobile Association. The only identification marks on the cylinder head castings are the capital letters WM. We believe that this most likely identifies the manufacturing foundry as William Mills, in the UK. We believe that Essex 4s from the same period in the UK are likely to have used the same cylinder heads in competition at Brooklands, Shelsley Walsh and other motor sport venues. We would dearly like to find a reference to the cylinder heads being used on Essex 4s at any time in the UK. Cheers Jim S