What went on behind those doors?

Quite a lot actually. This shed on the famous Brooklands racing track was an extension of the London based Bellevue Garage, owned and operated by the Evans family, the brothers Denis and Kenneth and sister Doreen. The garage specialized in the tuning and maintenance of racing cars, but the Evans family were themselves no strangers to racing. As privateers they bought one of the newly developed, independently sprung MG R-types from the MG-factory. At the age of 19, Doreen was the first to give the Evans R-type its track debut by competing in the 1935 JCC International Trophy Race at Brooklands, finishing 7th overall. Adapting quickly to the MG, she used it to set a new Ladies Record at Shelsley Walsh hill climb. Doreen then became part of George Eyston’s famous Dancing Daughters, the all-girl team to take part in the 1935 Le Mans 24 hour race, so Kenneth Evens took over the R-type, racing it for the rest of the summer. Not all went well; due to lack of factory development the R-type never quite lived up to its potential. Yet the MG R-Type was in many ways every bit as advanced as its full-scale contemporaries like Alfa Romeo, Mercedes-Benz and Auto-Union. Now this same Evans R-type is offered for sale by H&H during their auction on February 21. Check lot 45! (images courtesy H&H. (RB)

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