The Burnand Special

An article about a 1921 GP Sunbeam, later fitted with a V12 14 litre aeroengine, which became known as the "Burnand Special" See also obituary of W.E.Burnand. Any reader with possible connections please contact:

Published in Motor Sport, April, 1943, page 80 "Aero-engined: A letter from J W Burnand brings news of his 1921 3-litre G.P. Sunbeam chassis in which he has installed a V12 14½ litre Rolls Royce Falcon engine, producing 275 bhp at 2000 rpm. The Sunbeam gearbox is retained, fitted back to front in the chassis, so that bottom gear is now "top". The plot is to run the car in speed trials. Burnand really wrote about his "Alphonzo" Hispano-Suiza (mentioned in the February issue). He ran the car for four seasons and in two years covered 25,000 miles. With a 3:1 final drive the car would do 70 mph and took the Snake out of Sheffield in top. His last run was in 1935 or '36 from Glasgow to Sheffield at an average of 40 mph without using maximum rpm. Burnand has been successful at Southport and the Weatherby speed trials in his JWB Riley engined Austin special, which he towed around with an Alvis Speed Twenty." The following article is copied with kind permission from Sunbeam Talbot Darracq Register Number 182 Summer 2008 pages 4-19 "A Tale of the Unexpected" by 'Deltic'.

--Front page-- --Back page-- --Page 4-- --Page 5-- --Page 6-- --Page 7-- --Page 8-- --Page 9-- --Page 10-- --Page 11-- --Page 12-- --Page 13-- The caption referring to the photo of lifting a shell is incorrect. It should read "A demonstration of Burnand's very high intensity...." Could the photo have been taken at The Festival of Britain? The man demonstrating the magnet may have been Mr Christianson, (the London rep). --Page 14-- --Page 15-- --Page 16-- --Page 17-- --Page 18-- --Page 19--

Obituary W E Burnand 1875-1955

An upstairs workshop in W.E.Burnand's factory.

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