Wheels, Wings & Things
An Interview With Peter Hull
('More on Douglas Hull' is after this Interview report)
Peter Hull has spent a very eventful life surrounded by cars, motor
cycles and aeroplanes. His exploits make fascinating listening and are far too
numerous to give a full account here. However, some of the high points of those
experiences can be shared with the readers.
Born into a motoring family in Amerley, South London in 1921, Peter was
nine years younger than brother Douglas. The first family car that Peter
remembers was an Austin 20 tourer. The Hulls moved to Forest Hill in 1926. One
immediate catastrophe was the breaking of all the manhole covers in the yard by
the current car, a large sleeve valve engined Daimler with a Barker body. Soon
after this Douglas started driving his Mother’s Austin 7 of circa 1924 and
promptly sawed the back off to lighten it. Mrs. Hull must have been a jolly
good sport since far from discouraging Douglas from his antics in the Austin,
she positively egged him on. Mr. Hull took his two sons to Brooklands in the
Daimler in 1924 and Peter’s memory is mainly of Parry Thomas on the banking in
the Parry Thomas Special.
Douglas joined the R.A.F., around 1930. He was posted to the 104 Bomber
Hawker Hind Squadron and based at Hucknall in Nottinghamshire. The airfield
still exists and is owned by Rolls Royce for testing purposes. The "Flying
Bedstead" – The development basis of the vertical take off engines was
tested there in the 50’s.
These must have been exciting times for the young Peter since he visited
Douglas on several occasions and would have been ferried around in the sporting
cars of the day. One such visit was on 3rd May, 1937 when Douglas
gave Peter and another chap called A.C.I. Buttery a flight in a Hind from
Hendon to Weybridge. On the return flight they flew over Brooklands to view the
track from the air.
From Hawkers, Douglas had gone on to flying Blenheims and Peter was taken
up in one of these. During one visit, a group of officers took him to Shelsley
Walsh for the day, everyone piling into the 4½ Saloon Bentley that Douglas was
driving at this time. Just prior to the war, Douglas purchased the Le Mans
winning, Hindmarsh – Fontes, Fox & Nichol 4½ Lagonda. This magnificent
machine was used to great effect as he covered long distances to and from camp.
Unfortunately, this car was to be the one in which he crashed near Bicester and
lost an eye in the process. For the rest of his life Douglas was known for his
rather rakish looking black eye patch.
For the duration of the war, the Lagonda was mothballed and he used
smaller machinery with fuel shortages in mind. First he purchased a Lancia
Aprilia and later a Fiat 508s which had belonged to Monica Whincop a well known
lady racing driver of the day. At the end of the war Douglas purchased Finmere
Garage near to Bicester in Oxfordshire. This was to become a Mecca to lovers of
sporting machinery. It also sported a nearby airfield which suited Douglas
admirably. In the meantime, Peter's first car was a French Salmson being
replaced in time by a chain gang, Anzani engined, Frazer Nash. Around 1937 he
purchased a 12/50 Alvis and joined the Vintage Sports Car Club.
He vividly remembers going up to Donington Park in 1939 for a V.S.C.C.,
race meeting. He was pounced on by Tim Carson, Secretary at that time of the
Club, who needed Flag Marshalls. This was to be one of the last meetings put on
at the circuit for more than 40 years. War followed shortly after and the
circuit was commandeered by the Army for tank testing purposes and remained in
their hands until the 60’s.
Peter followed Douglas into the R.A.F. in 1942. He was initially with the
London Scottish Regiment. An early mishap at this time was an erratic bit of
flying resulting in him demolishing a hut on the airfield and the Tiger Moth
that he was piloting at the same time. He did not escape entirely unscathed and
lost a small piece of his finger. Fully expecting a carpeting for the episode,
he is surprised to this day that he never heard another thing on the subject.
Peter was still using the Alvis as his everyday transport at this time.
Douglas had carried on dealing in the fast and fancier types of cars at
Finmere and had, with another V.S.C.C., stalwart and Lancia enthusiast, Arthur
Jeddere-Fisher, purchased the E.R.A. R9B* from Tim Carson’s son, Terry. Having
had a good time with the car, Douglas roped Peter in to join him in buying
R11B* from the Eastick family in Slough in 1952. Hillclimbing was Douglas’s
forte and he was very successful in the car. Peter stuck to the circuit racing
with some success. He remembers gaining fastest lap in the late 50’s in the
car, along with Donald Day in R14B at The Seaman Trophy Meeting at Oulton Park.
><
Pilkington, Slater, Hull. 1750, Sprint,
RLSS - Silverstone 1963 ……………………… Peter Hull in R11B in 1959
In the early sixties, Peter purchased an Alfa Romeo RLSS tourer, this was
to be his sole family transport for several years and he remembers it with
great affection. With wife Jennifer and the two children in the back, the Hulls
were a familiar sight at all the vintage meetings. He was stationed at Scone in
Scotland instructing at this time and as though he did not see enough of
aircraft, he decided to purchase a Gypsy Moth that he had heard about for £50.
This was duly taken back to base where it needed major work. It was however
finished in good time for an air race at Newcastle some time later. The race
began well for Peter but during the proceedings, the aircraft began to vibrate
alarmingly and the engine was sounding distinctly rough. He made an emergency
landing and found later bits disintegrating in the engine. It was also during
this time that the Hulls joined Michael Crowley-Milling and passenger with his
Targa Florio Alfa to go on a rally on the Adriatic coast of Italy. They
apparently had a terrific time and neither car gave any trouble. The Slaters
who were supposed to join them however, weren’t so lucky and had to turn back
with mechanical problems before reaching Italy.
During this decade, Peter had begun to write his first book "Racing
An Historic Car" which was very well received, this success encouraged him
to further works. "The History Of The Vintage Sports Car Club"
followed, a must for anyone interested in the origins of the Club. He teamed
with Norman Johnson in writing "The Vintage Alvis", a definitive work
on the marque. Another partnership effort was "Alfa Romeo - A
History" written by Peter and Roy Slater, again a "Must" for
Alfa Romeo owners.
The Vintage Sports Car Club were looking for an addition to their very
minimal staff in 1965 and Peter was an ideal candidate as he was just leaving
the R.A.F.
He joined Tim Carson, his wife Margery and Competition Secretary, Tony
Bird at Kingsclere House Stables that year and soon became an integral member
of the team so when Tim & Margery took a well earned retirement in 1971,
Peter was the obvious choice for the Secretary’s position. He was a very
popular and hard working Secretary and known for his rollicking laugh which
could be heard the length and breadth of the paddock at any meeting. The laugh
is still never far from breaking forth as I found on my visit recently.
I did have to ask, since Peter had the opportunity to drive some
wonderful cars over the years, did he have an overall favourite? Of course he
did, one of which I whole heartedly approve. In the late sixties, when he was
assessing cars for insurance valuation, one of them was the ex-John Cobb 2.6
Monza Alfa Romeo which at the time belonged to the Hon. Patrick Lindsay*. This
was, in Peter's opinion, the best road car he had ever had the privilege of
driving. The balance and handling of the car in conjunction with the brilliant
torque of the powerful 8 cylinder engine were superb and it remains in his
memory as the very pinnacle of vintage motoring (actually just post-vintage,
before anyone corrects me).
Peter now lives a stone's throw from Kingsclere House Stables happily
retired with wife Jennifer; they continue to attend race meetings and love to
keep in touch with their many friends in the motoring world.
* R9B later went to Peter Waller and then Peter Mann and Jöst Wildbolz
* R11B went to Martin Morris and was named 'Humphrey'
·
Patrick later swapped this with Doc Taylor for his
Bugatti type 59.
More on Douglas Hull and Humphrey* (ERA R11B)
When I first met Douglas (Hull) I was an apprentice milkman with Wilt's
United Dairies in their Buckingham factory where I was learning how to make
condensed milk and milk powder. I had my first Bentley - 'Binki' - a 6½ litre
Big Six 2-seater. It wasn't long before I discovered Douglas in his garage at
Finmere, working on the ex Le Mans winning 1935 4½ Lagonda which had been
driven to victory by Hindmarsh and Fontes.
Around the same time I also met John Hemsworth - a rather wild young man
with an XK120. Every week-end I spent at Silverstone watching motor racing, big
and small, club meetings - VSCC and BDC were my favourites. John Hemsworth's
120 was another favourite with that marvellous exhaust note from twin exhausts
and copper tail pipes. I soon leant that it was prepared by Douglas who
occasionally shared the driving. Douglas was quite a nervous and excitable
person. A good recipe for a successful racing driver. He used to bounce up and
down in the seat when waiting for the Starter's flag to fall and would be off
like a rocket. He once told me he got the 120 totally broadside at Copse and
with it's bench front seat he found himself driving it from the passenger's
side!
I met Peter occasionally at the garage. He was quite a Hero to me being
an RAF Pilot and using a Vincent Black Shadow for personal transport.
Douglas progressed to ERA driving, first with R9B which he owned jointly
with Arthur Jeddere-Fisher, and then with R11B the ex Peter Bell sprint car
which Ken Wharton used to drive.
I remember R11B arriving and Douglas telling me he felt it was a certain
winner. Next day having worked on it round the clock, leading up to his first
outing, he had warmed it up and the oil cooler had burst. There was a lake of
oil under the car and Douglas was beside himself with anger and frustration.
In his hands R11B became one of the fastest and most successful cars in
historic racing, culminating in his 1959 season when he scored eight lst places including lst at Goodwood in the
pre-war scratch race, lst at Oulton Park in the All-comers scratch race, lst at
Westbrook Hay hill climb, lst at Silverstone in the VSCC 50 kilometer scratch
race, lst at Silverstone again in the All-comers scratch race. 1st at Crystal Palace
in the BARC Scratch race, 1st and F.T.D. and Hill Record at VSCC
Prescott. This record stood for over ten years. Finally, 1st at
Oulton Park in the 100 kilometer Seaman Trophy scratch race.
At the end of 1961 Douglas was not so well, and decided to retire from
Motor Racing in favour of flying. By this time I had been competing reasonably
successfully in my second Bentley - the Speed Six GH31. Douglas kindly offered
R11B to me "because he felt I could do justice to the car".
P.S. Douglas only had one eye. They used to say he was twice as fast
because he could only see the accident coming up on one side.
·
R11B was called Humphrey by its first owner Reggie
Tongue after Humphrey Cook who was the financial backer of ERA
MM