Die wunderschöne 1936 Brooke E.R.A Monoposto

Next week during Techno Classica Essen there are as you know various action houses that try to sell their showpieces. But there is one place we highly recommend you to definitely visit on the 24th of March 2018. At 1:00 PM Coys will auction only a couple of pre-war cars. BUT! The ones they have are wunderschön!

If you are looking for a true pre-war racer that is used to going around the track. Lot 132 is the one you definitely need to go for! A 1936 Brooke E.R.A Monoposto and a 1936 Bedford WS Transporter. And would you believe it, they are both offered at no reserve?!

Something about the history of this racing legend. In November 1933 the E.R.A – English Racing Automobiles Ltd was founded by Humphrey Cook, Raymond Mays, and Peter Berthon. They established themselves in Bourne Lincolnshire within the grounds of Eastgate house the family home of Raymond Mays. The common goal they had was to manufacture and campaign a team of single seater racing cars. All cars had to be capable of upholding British prestige in Continental European racing.

The single-seater racing car that Henry Leslie Brooke build in 1936 was based on a modified Riley Imp chassis with a 1100cc six-cylinder MG K3 engine. It soon became clear that this was not good enough to be able to compete with the other race cars including the other E.R.A`S of Raymond Mays, Arthur Dobson, B.Bira and Peter Whitehead. Some adjustments had to be made. An Andre Girling independent front suspension and a Zoller supercharger were added. This turned out to be a good decision. The car took part in the JCC International Trophy Race, the London Grand Prix at Crystal Palace, the JCC 200 Mile Race also at Brooklands, and finally became fourth during the October Crystal Palace meeting.

Brooks continued his search to find the perfect balance and to maximize the performance of the car. He experimented with various types of 1.5-liter (supercharged) and 2-liter engines in Grand Prix all over the world. And took part in the last pre-war race at Crystal Palace before World War 2 would break out. In June 1946 Henry Brooke even participated in the Shelley Walsh Hill Climb meeting without the bodywork fitted as his coachbuilder had not finished it in time.

The Brooke was passed on a year later to well-known racer George Nixon. He debuted with new bodywork and a twenty-five-gallon fuel tank fitted in the Isle of Man Manx Cup Race, and became first! He bought an A-Type ERA and sold the Brooke in 1949 onto fellow racer and BRDC member Ken Downing. He put a 2-liter V12 Delage engine in the car, which turned out not to be so successful as he hoped. Soon afterward he passed the car on to two other owners we know of. During the late 1960s, the car was discovered in a (heated) Liverpool warehouse by Graham Baker of Holmes Chapel. Who went in search of the history of the Brooke`s.

In the early 1970`s the car was restored and took part in various VSCC events before it was sold to Belgium. Twenty years later, the Brooke was reunited with a supercharged ERA engine and also the independent front suspension was fitted. The car went back to the UK in 1994. From then on, the Brooke competed in many international Grand Prix and Hill Climbs throughout Europe. One race more successful than the other. Last year, the 2-liter blown E.R.A engine was rebuilt.

“The Brooke ERA is offered with a substantial spares package including many valuable and rare parts that can provide the new custodian with an opportunity to build a spare ERA engine. Perhaps most interesting is a current V5 Registration document along with the original beige log book that was issued when a 2 seat racing car was made in the fifties and parts of the chassis that was retained. The 2 seater ran with the Dixon Riley 6C engine and was road registered. In addition is the recently restored 1936 Bedford WS ‘ERA’ transporter which was invited last year to the Goodwood Revival, the restoration was not finished in time and now completed it should be welcomed at any international event.” As Coys describes in their catalog.

This is the only Brooke E.R.A Monoposto in existence and what a wonderful history. You rarely see cars like this on the open market, so this is a real opportunity!

Photographs courtesy Coys.