This is a Martini and Ford liveried “Gravity Racer” with solid gold racing heritage, having been developed under Peter Stevens working with legendary racer Pip Higham, alongside students from the prestigious RCA (Royal College of Art).
Once it was completed was named the “Ford Centennial Flyer” and it had quite a busy competition life, its most famous driver was former Formula 1 driver and former Top Gear and Fifth Gear host Tiff Needell, who drove it down the hill at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in a race against fellow Fifth Gear host Vicki Butler Henderson.
This gravity racer was named the “Ford Centennial Flyer” and it had quite a busy competition life, its most famous driver was former Formula 1 driver and former Top Gear and Fifth Gear host Tiff Needell.
A Quick Word About Gravity Racers
Gravity racers, also known as soapbox cars, billy carts, gravity-powered racers, or “bogies” in parts of the United Kingdom, are small, motorless vehicles built to race downhill using only the force of gravity.
They’re typically built to a pre-defined maximum weight, and the designers must do everything in their power to minimize both aerodynamic and mechanical drag in order to get the highest speed possible.
Many gravity racers are built using bicycle parts, including wheels, tires, brakes, bearings, and even modified frames. The driver is typically positioned as low as possible to reduce the frontal area and improve the center of gravity.
The most successful driver will be the one who uses the brakes the least, for obvious reasons, while maximizing speed into and out of corners, and around (or over) obstacles. There is a large, dedicated community of gravity racers around the world, particularly in the United States and Europe.
Official Description By Pip Higham
“This bogie was built by me at VBS (The Village Bike Shop) for the Ford Motor Company in conjunction with students from the RCA (Royal College of Art) under the wing of Peter Stevens, the co-designer together with Gordon Murray of the McLaren F1 road car. We had previously built another bogey under similar conditions which was raced down the hill at Goodwood the previous year with moderate success.”
Above Video: In this footage from the Goodwood Festival of Speed, you can see the gravity racer shown in this arcticle being raced downhill at the 41 second mark, apparently by none other than motoring legend Tiff Needell.
“Tiff Needell drove this one in a ‘best of three’ against Vicki Butler Henderson in a Honda sponsored bogey. We won, I’m pleased to say but sadly pictures of the machine with Tiff in it have gone missing. Subsequently, Andy Anderson from FoMoCo drove the bogey in the inaugural Red Bull event at Roundhey Park Leeds, although this time we were beaten by a machine disguised as a cow!”
“Otherwise we ran it at the Mansell Lacy downhill race, then at Goodwood once again, and last year it made a guest appearance at the Longridge downhill event, it always draws a crowd! All chassis, suspension, uprights etc were made in house at VBS with the seating and body covering, plus many other detail items by the super enthusiastic bunch of students from the RCA, what a fantastic time we all had with this mad little machine!”
Here you see a period magazine clipping showing Tiff Needell piloting it down the famous hill at Goodwood.
“It will be supplied with a large file of letters, sketches and a few photos together with 4 Continental S Lick tyres suitable for smooth surfaces, the Michelins fitted are better suited to poorly surfaced tracks.” – Pip Higham, The Village Bike Shop
This gravity racer is now due to roll across the auction block with H&H Auctions in early July, and it’s being offered with no reserve. If you’d like to read more about it or place a bid you can visit the listing here.
Images courtesy of H&H Auctions
Articles that Ben Branch has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.