1932 Richard Bolster Special Monoposto

Registration no. NVS 355 Chassis no. RB1

Footnotes

Offered here is an historic racing car dating from the 1930s era of skilled amateur engineer-drivers. The car is based on a Frazer Nash chassis and four-speed chain-drive transmission with a fabricated front axle and Lea Francis steering and stub axles. Power comes from a supercharged MG six-cylinder engine running on methanol. The seat is reputedly ex-DC3 Dakota!

This car was first built by Richard Bolster in 1932 after he decided that 'Bloody Mary', the famous special that was built by him and his brother John as schoolboys, was too dangerous to drive any more! Its first incarnation was as a GN chassis with an 1,100cc JAP v-twin engine, but in the pursuit of speed the JAP was soon replaced by a supercharged MG straight-six. This was a Magna unit from the workshops of Thomson & Taylor, who undertook development work for MG and with whom Richard had a good relationship. The JAP engine went on to power the GN 'Grasshopper' special.

The MG engine comprehensively blew up and put a rod through the side of the block (reputedly while recording the sound of racing engines for the BBC!). To find yet more speed, Bolster next installed four Rudge 500cc single-cylinder dirt-track motors, which were connected by a layshaft in the O/S chassis member. In this form the Bolster Special was very quick indeed, albeit very difficult to start and run unless all engines fired up instantly, which they rarely did!

In the interests of reliability, Richard turned to a 4.0-litre Hudson straight-eight, which engine had impressed him in another special at Shelsley. However, the weight of the new motor was too much for the ageing GN chassis, so he acquired two new Frazer Nash TT Replica chassis rails from the factory and installed these, retaining the front axle and brakes that had given good service up until then. All this was done in 1939 with the September Shelsley Walsh meeting as the car's intended debut. Then the war intervened and the car was stored when Richard left to join the RAF. He was killed in action in 1940.

The Bolster family held onto the Special after the war but agreed to sell it in the early 1960s. Unfortunately, the new owner crashed into the bank at Shelsley on his first competitive outing and the car was again consigned to a barn for several more years. Part of the problem was that the VSCC would not accept the car as it was, since it had never raced with the Hudson engine before the war. The Special then passed through a number of owners, in a progressively more dismantled state until it was rescued and returned to the track by Peter Wigglesworth in 1986. Peter decided to restore the Bolster Special to its second specification with the MG engine. This was at first bored out to 1,496cc but has since been sleeved down to the current 1,318cc in the interests of longer life. The Hudson engine was sold on and is currently in the Triangle Skinner Special.

In the early 1990s the Bolster Special was sold on (through Dan Margulies) to Paul Smeeth, who raced it very successfully until an accident at Silverstone in 2000. The car was then fully rebuilt by Paul Myers and John Bibby, although it saw limited track use after the rebuild. Part of the reconstruction saw the car converted to two-stage supercharging, with a second blower under the bonnet, chain-driven from the flywheel.

The current owner purchased the Bolster Special at the end of 2011 and has developed the car steadily since then. The second blower has been removed to return the car to its original in-period form and to make it more controllable. Although it had a staggering power output (193bhp at the rear wheels is rumoured), with the two-stage blower, the power delivery was brutal and difficult to control.

The Bolster Special has competed in numerous VSCC events, including Prescott and Shelsley Walsh, and has twice been invited to compete at the Goodwood Members' Meeting, the last occasion being in 2018 for the Bolster Cup. The owner has also taken it to participate in France at the Vintage Montlhéry event and the Etretat Hill Climb, and at the Vernasca Silver Flag in Italy.

The Bolster Special is offered in track-ready condition with a new fuel cell inside the metal tail unit. The engine was rebuilt by MG expert James Gunn at the end of 2014 with a reconditioned supercharger from John Bibby, while any engineering work required has been carried out by Blakeney Motorsport. The car is accepted as eligible by the Frazer Nash Car Club and has a VSCC Buff Form. Included in the sale are sets of older mudguards and wheels (not used for many years); a modern seat in the original style but affording better side location; and a tailored stretch cover suitable for trailer use.