Page 5 - Austin Healey 100S

The motoring history of Denis Welch He was able to see the possibilities of this The Motorsport stretches back many years. type of propulsion and from that day the Welch/Brooke Jeremy Welch’s great, great grandfather study of the petrol engine was one of his family are no John ‘Walter’ Brooke (known as the Old keenest interests. strangers to Governor) started business in 1874, at the achievement His first personal experiment with an internal tender age of 25. He had trained at Hogg’s combustion engine was in 1899, and the on the foundry, in Southwark, London, owned by resulting machine he believed represented competition his wife’s family and after a brief trip to the the birth of the three-cylinder internal stage either. They competed at the very USA set up a foundry and manufacturing earliest Beckshill Speed Trials and the family combustion engine. business in Lowestoft, England. firm had notable success with water speed Mawdesley was some inventor himself records, taking the 1925 world record and The firm registering patents for an automatic Two Jet supplying tender boats to the RAF for the commenced in Carburetter, the forerunner, of the present quite a modest day carburetter and a chain ‘change speed’ Schneider trophy races and latterly built the way, the gear box, an ingenious arrangement then Virgin Atlantic challenger for Richard Branson. business being Denis Welch followed in his Grandfather’s used on most motor 'buses. of a general footsteps in 1977. After a career in foundry nature, and Their first car work he switched to cars and built the most included castings and ironwork for the was tested in successful Healey racing business in the Fishing and Trawling Fleet which were of 1901 and put World. They have won just about everything course at that time all sailing vessels. on the market there is in Europe and the UK. Building ironwork, manufacturing machinery in 1902. The including steam retorts, bloater paste company had If it’s someone with a pedigree you machinery, and soldering machines for the 100 employees want to build your car, then handling of both round and oval tins were at this time. This first car was of somewhat Jeremy Welch has one of the best, also made, as well as lifts, hoists and unusual design with a 10hp 3-cylinder amateur greenhouse hot water systems. vertical engine mounted transversely under something you just can’t get in one On July 28th 1897 he incorporated the a very small bonnet it was driven by chains lifetime - over 110 years of motoring company J.W.Brooke and in 1899 they mated to an all chain gearbox. history and winning throughout. started to make internal combustion engines. In 1904 a six cylinder car was designed and It is, as they say ‘in the blood’. His son John ‘Mawdesley’ Brooke (known put on the market. The original engine was 5/ as the Governor) was on the board at the 3 8" bore, the car being described as 25- age of 22 and it was he who first took h.p. and was the World's Pioneer six- Family achievements have included: interest in this new phenomena in the year cylinder car, although it was disputed as to • The World Water Speed Record with a 1892, whilst sailing upon Oulton Broad. whether the six-cylinder Napier or the six- boat called ‘Bulldog’ in 1925 cylinder BROOKE took the road first, but He saw a boat undoubtedly the Firm built the first six- • Over 340 trophies for motor boat wins of about 16 cylinder Marine Motor. feet in length, • The European FIA championship with their with a box in A 40hp six own Healey in 1990 the centre of it, cylinder engine • The rebuilding of the 1965 Le Mans Austin coming was offered in Healey Sprite and its sister car returning to towards him at 1907. This was Le Mans 25 years later quite a respectable speed. There was no the hey day for smoke, and practically no noise and his Brooke motor • Rebuilding the legendary RWD132 original engineering instincts were at once cars, after works 100S in 2008/9 awakened to investigate this boat. 1913 as they started to concentrate more • Construction of many Healey on their marine business. championship winning cars The boat, known as ‘The Old Tub’ belonged to a Mr Estcourt and was fitted with a benzoline engine-the first engine sent over to the UK by Herr Gottleib Daimler. 5 +44 (0) 1543 472244