Solved NIC#1049 - 1954 Murray Special (Evinrude 2-stroke)

[nicanary]

I can think of one AP member who may know what this is - otherwise it's a very rare car.

What is it?

[knewit]

East German

[nicanary]

East German

No.

[nicanary]

Experts?

[Allan L]

I can't think of the car, but that looks like the banked corner of Great Auclum hillclimb course to me. . .

[nicanary]

I can't think of the car, but that looks like the banked corner of Great Auclum hillclimb course to me. . .

You're not the person I was thinking of, but of course I realised you would recognise the venue. Going OT for a moment, this is what it looks like these days.

[Allan L]

Yes I've seen the photo showing the present state of what was Neil Gardiner's front drive.
Odd that the car is LHD, as it looks like a competition special, so was it English like the venue?

[nicanary]

Yes I've seen the photo showing the present state of what was Neil Gardiner's front drive.
Odd that the car is LHD, as it looks like a competition special, so was it English like the venue?

AFAIK it was British. The owner/driver has a British name. I have no idea why the car is LHD, unless it was built that way because of problems with the chassis and running gear which made it easier to configure.

I'm pretty sure it was built as a competition car.

[tobytwirl]

It's the Murray Special, driven by P.Murray at Gt. Auclum. It had a Rochdale mkVI body and a 1000cc 2 stroke engine - presumably a DKW which might account for the LHD if it was a German car and front wheel drive.

[nicanary]

It's the Murray Special, driven by P.Murray at Gt. Auclum. It had a Rochdale mkVI body and a 1000cc 2 stroke engine - presumably a DKW which might account for the LHD if it was a German car and front wheel drive.

You're on form today. That was pretty difficult to find although I suppose the venue was a good clue.

The engine was, believe it or not, an Evinrude outboard 2-stroke, and drive was to the front wheels by chain! It makes you wonder why the builder decided on that configuration as I don't think the car achieved much in the way of success. If you look closely you can see that the front track was much wider than the rear.

(I thought Carnut might solve this because he knows quite a bit about Rochdale history.)