Competition at Brooklands
When Locke-King decided to build the Brooklands Race Track at Weybridge, Edge wanted to prove the superiority of Napiers by running three 6-cylinder cars for 24 hours. This they did in June 1907 before the official opening of Brooklands. All three cars exceeded an average of 60 miles per hour during the 24 hour period. Edge covered 1,581 miles driving his Napier single handed and being one of the first to use Rudge Whitworth detachable wire wheels. This achievement stood unbeaten for 18 years and Napier cars were entered in many races at Brooklands and driven by Napier works drivers Tryon and Newton. In 1908 Napiers / Edge withdrew from the competitive scene leaving private owner entries to represent the Napier marque in UK Events. More detailed information on Napier’s in Competition can be found in Venables “First to Wear the Green”.
Edge’s cousin Cecil Edge drove a 40hp Napier on a run in TOP GEAR from London to Edinburgh in October 1905 to prove the reliability of the 6-cylinder car. The occasion was supervised by officias from the Automobile Club.
As well as the 6-cylinder cars the Factory produced a very successful 4-cylinder 15 HP car. Many of these were used in Taxi fleets along with a few 10 HP 2-cylinder cars / taxis. These 2-cylinder vehicles had the feature of opposite cranking since the engine was mounted the reverse way round with flywheel at the front.
