Brooklands Double 12, 2019

When thinking of a veteran racing car meeting at Brooklands, most people would consider it consisted of a lot of late middle-aged men staring at something old. To an extent, as can be seen, they’d be right. A better way of looking at it is that a group of people want to show off their delightful cars.

The purpose of the Double 12 is to commemorate the pre-war Brooklands Double 12 race.

Whisper this in the presence of any Le Mans Vingt-quatre heures fans, but the D12 was the first 24-hour motor race, this in 1907, some 16 years before that Johnny-come-lately event run in France.  The

original version was reduced to a two day, 24-hour event after complaints from the locals of noise, so a precursor of more modern events in motor racing.

The cars are driven to and from the circuit at Mercedes-Benz World across the bridge over the Wey, so to speak.

You will be able to see, from the video below, the fabulous range of cars that graced the event. The make and model are listed below. However, there was an eclectic mix of vintage and classic cars in the area around the paddock. There was the 1930 4 1/2 litre Bentley tourer, and the BMW 303 saloon about 4 years younger.


Every time I go to such events, one or two cars will stand out for me. The reasons are not always clear. For instance, when I saw the images of the Morgan Aero 8 I didn’t quite ‘get it.’ In the flesh, and especially when moving I was entranced. It is my favourite Morgan.  Up close it looks great. Temporarily in a rear view mirror, it looks better still.

No one, I assume, needs to know why everyone likes the Jaguar sports cars. But even two stunning examples of fixed head coupes, like this early E-Type, the and model it replaced, the XK150 did not attract crowds.


What kept drawing me back was this 1930 Alvis 12/50 TJ Beetle-backed 3-seater tourer. It caught my eye. Despite hanging around it like a spiv, the owner stayed away. Maybe because I was. I would have loved to chat to him. For me, it was the best of show.

In profile, I could imagine being the owner excitedly approaching it to take it out for a casual spin.

It was a good day. I went on Saturday, in the sunshine. Sunday was rather damp I’m told. Shame.

Left is a delightful Lea-Francis open tourer. One of the many treats of Brooklands Double 12, 2019.

Many more such events please.

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