01-01-2022, 08:58 PM
Adding two and two together, and probably a dubious additional one-and-a-half, and making six or even seven out of the total, it's just possible that the 25-stud-head engine may have come originally from the white Derrington single-seater.
The car now known as the Willis Special spent some time post-War in the Channel Isles, and when first built by Bill Williams from a pile of bits supplied by Willis in 1938 it is reported that Willis also owned the ex-Derrington single-seater. Derrington is known to have owned the 1928 ex-Chase Montlhery record car (advertised for sale in January 1937), which is thought to have formed the basis for his single-seater, so...
Neither the engine in the Willis nor the original record car were fitted with 25-stud heads, but could the Derrington car have gained such an engine and maybe it stayed with the new Williams/Willis car as a spare and found itself post-War in the Channel Isles? Which would mean that the engine may be an ex-Works engine, and may have been fitted in a single-seater, but would not make it an ex-Works single-seater engine (which surely were 32-stud engines anyway?).
That's an awful lot of ifs, buts and maybes, but there can't have been that many supercharged Ulster bits in the Channel Isles!
The car now known as the Willis Special spent some time post-War in the Channel Isles, and when first built by Bill Williams from a pile of bits supplied by Willis in 1938 it is reported that Willis also owned the ex-Derrington single-seater. Derrington is known to have owned the 1928 ex-Chase Montlhery record car (advertised for sale in January 1937), which is thought to have formed the basis for his single-seater, so...
Neither the engine in the Willis nor the original record car were fitted with 25-stud heads, but could the Derrington car have gained such an engine and maybe it stayed with the new Williams/Willis car as a spare and found itself post-War in the Channel Isles? Which would mean that the engine may be an ex-Works engine, and may have been fitted in a single-seater, but would not make it an ex-Works single-seater engine (which surely were 32-stud engines anyway?).
That's an awful lot of ifs, buts and maybes, but there can't have been that many supercharged Ulster bits in the Channel Isles!