Babs (land speed record car)

Babs was the land speed record car built and driven by John Parry-Thomas. It was powered by a 27-litre Liberty L-12 aero-engine.

Babs began as 'Chitty 4', one of Count Louis Zborowski's series of aero-engined cars named 'Chitty Bang Bang'. As it was built at Zborowski's estate of Higham Park near Canterbury, it was also known as the Higham Special.

Using a 450 hp (340 kW) V12 Liberty aero engine of 27 litres capacity, with a gearbox and chain-drive from a pre-war Blitzen Benz, it was the largest capacity racing car ever to run at Brooklands. It was bodied by coach building firm Bligh Brothers. Still not fully developed by the time of Zborowski's death in 1924, it was purchased from his estate by J.G. Parry-Thomas for the sum of £125.

Parry-Thomas rechristened the car Babs and rebuilt it with four Zenith carburettors and his own design of pistons. In April 1926, Parry-Thomas used the car to break the land speed record at 171.02 mph (273.6 km/h).

Babs used exposed chains (covered by a fairing) to take power to the drive wheels. It has been rumored that the high engine cover required Parry-Thomas to drive with his head tilted to one side. This story is not true; photographs show that the driver could see straight ahead.

During a later record attempt at Pendine Sands, Wales on 3 March 1927, the car went out of control at speeds in excess of 100 mph. The car rolled over and Thomas was partially decapitated. Following the inquest into Thomas's death, Babs's seats were slashed, the glass in the dials smashed, and the car was buried in the sand dunes at Pendine.

At the time it was thought that a drive chain had snapped, decapitating the driver. Later investigation of the recovered wreckage suggested, instead, that a failure of the rear right-hand wheel may have caused the accident.