Chamberlain: Australian Innovator

Much of that additional - and largely unknown - history of Chamberlain and his achievements is covered in this book. For instance, Chamberlain's full name is actually Alan Hawker Chamberlain, but he acquired the nickname of 'Bob' at an early age and it stuck. The five-year old Bob's first taste of motoring was in a 1903 Oldsmobile, and it soon became apparent the young Chamberlain had an appetite for all things mechanical, building things and tinkering in his grandfather's shed. With a famous uncle in Harry Hawker, it wasn't long before the young Chamberlain took to the skies, to, but his interests - in the mechanical sense at least! - remained firmly on the ground. Of particular interest to JUST CARS readers are chapters devoted to Chamberlain's car creations: the "Beetle" racecar that was powered by an Indian-motorcycle engine (bottom of page); and the Chamberlain Touring Car (below right).

In the instance of the latter, the circumstances surrounding the creation of this unique vehicle, and how it was ultimately reborn as the Hawker VIII is a fascinating story in itself, well illustrated with period photos and drawings. Chamberlain's contribution to the war effort is also covered, including the design of the very modern-looking AC2 tank. Of course, the development of Chamberlain tractors and farm implements is covered in detail over several chapters, including an interesting little adjunct on Chamberlain's "Tail End Charlie" tractor that proved invaluable in the gruelling RedeX trials of the 1950s. The layout and detailed photo captions make it easy to browse through the book and pick up little nuggets of information without having to digest an entire chapter in depth, although, in many cases, I found the captions actually prompted me to read the chapter and find out more! Engineers will appreciate the chapter on patents granted to Chamberlain, while those of a less technical persuasion will enjoy the images of famous racecars, like the Napier Samson and Prince Heinrich Benz that Chamberlain either restored or recreated in later life.

Each copy of Chamberlain: Australian Innovator includes a DVD that features a company promotional movie "Put to the Test", plus three decades of farm machinery sales literature. The lack of colour photos is a minor gripe, but that aside, Bruce Lindsay has put together an interesting read on a very interesting and important Australian.

Chamberlain: Australian Innovator
by Bruce Lindsay.
ISBN: 978-0-646-47066-5
$88 RRP from specialist motoring bookstores Australia wide.


Chamberlain tourer for sale:
JUST CARS readers in WA will no doubt be familiar with the extensive car collection of Peter Briggs, whose York Motor Museum has been an automotive mecca for many years now. Efforts to the same with the Fremantle Motor Museum have recently come to naught, allegedly as the result of a WA State Government decision to refuse Briggs a renewal of his lease on the heritage listed waterfront site of the Fremantle Museum. With no other display space options forthcoming, Briggs has elected to put 40 cars from the collection on the market, rather than keep them in storage, away from the public eye. "I have always been strongly motivated to exhibit the cars in a public setting, so that people can enjoy them as well. I take particular pleasure from seeing young people delight in experiencing the old cars", Briggs said in a release announcing the sale.

The 1938 Hawker VIII nee Chamberlain Touring Car is one of the significant cars up for sale. As this issue went to press, this one-off item was still available. The collection also includes rare vintage cars and trucks, ex-F1 and Indianapolis racecars, plus sports and luxury cars from a wide variety of eras and manufacturers, with prices starting as low as $6,000. A number of the Briggs collection vehicles have already been sold, so for a list of what's still available, pricing and further information, please phone Graeme Cocks on (08) 9322 6955, fax: (08) 9322 6722, email: [email protected], or write to: PO Box 198, West Perth, WA 6872