Brooklands track opens

“One of the Wonders of the World”

At the time, there was no place in England where cars could be raced.  The brainchild of Hugh Fortescue Locke King was to build a racing circuit on his family estate where cars could exceed 100mph and spectators could see the cars at all times. 

Brooklands track was opened on 17th June 1907.  It was 2.75 miles long and 100 feet wide with 30 foot-high banking at either end.  The first track of its kind, it had taken just 10 months to build and cost £150,000 (£19 million today).

First flight at brooklands

First powered flight in Great Britain

On 8th June 1908, Edwin Alliott Verdon-Roe (AV Roe) flew for 150ft in his Roe 1 biplane at Brooklands.  Although not officially recognised, he was the first man to design, build and fly a powered aircraft in Great Britain. In this picture AV Roe stands beside his crashed Avro No.1 Triplane at Wembley, 24th December 1910, after attempting a turn.

First british grand prix

Brooklands – 7th August 1926

The Delage 15S8 of Robert Sénéchal and Louis Wagner crossing the finishing line to win at Brooklands.  The 1926 Grand Prix cars had the engine capacity reduced from 2 litres to 1.5 litres to try and reduce the power and speed of the cars.  The winning Delage 15S8 was highly sophisticated with an all-alloy, double overhead cam engine.  Fitted with twin superchargers, the 8 cylinder 1.5 litre engine could run at 8,000rpm. 

Vickers funds New fighter

Vickers bought Supermarine for its seaplane capabilities 

Vickers-Armstrong Ltd, Brooklands bought Supermarine in November 1928. Following the success of the Schneider Trophy-winning Supermarine S6 aircraft, RJ Mitchell and his team began work on a new fighter in February 1934. Designated the Type 300, the Air Ministry initially rejected the design. Vickers Chairman Robert McLean funded the design with Rolls-Royce and also insisted the Type 300 be named Spitfire.

The Railton Mobil Special

The first car to exceed 400mph.

The car was designed by Reid Railton and built at the Thomson & Taylor works, Brooklands. It used two supercharged Napier Lion engines producing 1,450shp each. One engine drove the front wheels and the second engine drove the rear wheels, to reduce wheel slip. Driven by John Cobb, the car exceeded 403mph during one of the timed runs on 16th September 1947 at Bonneville Salt Flats.

Manufacture of Concorde

All 20 British and French production fuselages were built at Brooklands.

In 1961, the first UK meeting to discuss the design and build of a Supersonic Transport Aircraft was held at Brooklands. By early 1970 on-site manufacture of the nose fuselage, forward fuselage, rear fuselage, fin and rudder began. These assemblies were sent by truck to Filton and Toulouse where the aircraft were assembled and flown.