1l7CcRC

340 *1956 HRG Twin Cam RoadsterRegistration no. 15 APBChassis no. 1N502TLEngine no. 47600451In 1935, ten years after the dissolution of the GN cyclecar company,the ‘G’ - H R Godfrey - was back in business with new partners EA Halford and G H Robins, the trio’s new firm adopting the name‘HRG’. The aim was to build a lightweight Vintage-style sporting carendowed with the virtues of brisk acceleration and positive steering,and in this they succeeded brilliantly. However, with its Meadowsengine at the end development, an alternative was needed andthe firm turned to Singer, adopting tuned versions of the latter’soverhead-camshaft engines for its 1500 and 1100 models. Handbuilt in limited numbers, the HRG was one of the fastest 1½-litresports cars of its day, as evidenced by class wins at Le Mans in 1939and 1949.By the early 1950s demand for HRG’s traditional sports car wasdeclining and the firm responded with a radical new design by itstechnical director Stuart Proctor - the Twin Cam. The latter waspowered by a 1,497cc Singer SM engine fitted with a twin-camcylinder head, mounted in a new twin-tube chassis featuring allindependentsuspension, alloy wheels and four-wheel disc brakes.As such it represented the state of the art in contemporary sportscar design and is of immense historical significance. Unfortunatelyfor HRG, Rootes’ takeover of Singer in 1956 halted the supply ofengines and Twin Cam production ceased after only three productioncars, plus the prototype, had been completed.11500cc production car race, Paul Fletcher leads the field,Goodwood 1956 © Ian Dussek2Ian Dussek poses with ‘15 APB’, Watkins Glen, 1975© Ian Dussek200 | Goodwood festival of speed