Solved: GTE 324 - 1923 Marlborough-Thomas rebodied in NZ as 'ACME Special'

[gte4289]

Sorry for nicanary who's done all the hard work.

I was reluctant to unlock the thread, knowing he was practically sitting on the answer

[nicanary]

Thank you for your commiserations. I would never have made the connection. The Marlborough-Thomas was such a small machine I wouldn't have imagined a Mercury engine would fit in the frame! You can see from the photos that the driver had to sit high up to clear the propshaft, I'm also surprised that the NZ driver McDonagh retained the "Thomas" part of the original car as there was very little left to associate it with Parry Thomas himself.

You learn something every day.

[nicanary]

I've just been finding out a bit more. The car arrived in NZ in either 1926 or 1928 according to who you believe, and was subequently raced in its original 1100cc form. After WW2 it was hugely modified and I suppose the only M-T bit left was the frame. It was the Thomas Special, the Thomas-Mercury, the Acme, and the Ardun Special. I believe that it's car #29 in this photo.