Pass me that wrench please?

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It was not the first time a picture made us wonder what exactly the depicted subject was. This ultra-low and clearly ultralight 1920s racer with a beautiful streamlined body in aluminium looked just so cool. It almost looked like an American ‘Belly Tank Racer’, but older and probably not American. There should be somebody out there who knew more, shouldn’t there?

Jappic cyclecar

Of course there was. And so this, ladies and gentlemen, is the Jappic cyclecar. The low and long racer used a 350cc JAP engine, which drove the rear wheels by chain and which gave it half its name. The cool little thing was designed by British motorcycle racer H.M. Walters, with its smart body built by Jarvis of Wimbledon. It was photographed here by an unknown photographer at Brooklands during the Easter Monday meeting in 1925 (30,000 attended in the rain!), where it reputedly broke two class records after being entered by J.V. Prestwich, who happened to be the boss of the JAP engine company.

The Jappic was later modified and raced by speed queen Gwenda Stewart, or so we learned, who also renamed it HS for Hawkes-Stewart. But unfortunately it doesn’t survive as it was destroyed in a fire in 1932. However, motorsport engineer Adrian Ward has been working on an exact replica, has done an incredible amount of research on it and takes it out every now and then. So, soon in a theatre near you, perhaps!

Words Jeroen Booij. Picture primotipo.files.wordpress.com.

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