Return of the Challenger

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During the latter part of the 1930s, there was not a serious, all-British contender in Grand Prix racing. The best we had to offer was the 1500cc ERA, designed for voiturette racing and easily outperformed by the Continental opposition.

Privateer driver and team manager Reg Parnell thought that, with some clever engineering and a little help from his friends, he could build a genuine contender and put Britain back on the racing map. Plans were drawn up for a twin supercharged, overhead cam six-cylinder engine of 1492cc. The chassis frame was of rigid round tube construction, with coil sprung wishbone front suspension and a de Dion rear end. The car was to be called the Challenge – an unsubtle suggestion of Parnell’s intent to beat his European rivals.

As it happened, the advanced engine never made it off the drawing board. For the car’s first run, in 1939, it was ERA-powered. This engine was replaced by a straight-eight 1500cc Grand Prix Delage engine when the Challenge emerged postwar. Now re-named Challenger, it made only a handful of race appearances before the project floundered and Parnell moved on to other things. Like so many ‘what might have been’ stories, it was a classic case of under-capitalisation and industry snobbery killing a potentially world-class performer.

The Challenger wallowed in obscurity for decades, losing its engine and body and falling entirely off the radar. Luckily, it was saved and has been painstakingly rebuilt over 20 years by owner Duncan Ricketts. It will make its post-restoration début at VSCC Prescott in August.

For the very first time, the full story of this forgotten Grand Prix contender is told in The Automobile magazine’s August issue, which is out now.

Words by Scott Barrett. Photographs by Mick Walsh.

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