1936/37 ERA R8C

This car competed in the Richard Seaman Memorial Historic Trophy Race at the VSCC's meeting at Oulton Park in June 1984.

It's the 1936/37 ERA R8C of Bruce Spollon with a 1,988cc supercharged 6-cylinder inline engine. The car was originally built for Earl Howe with a B-type chassis as R8B but was rebuilt to C-type specifications before the Second World War. It was drastically modified in the early post-war years with a D-type chassis and streamlined bodywork, but Bruce Spollon returned it to its pre-war specification after he had acquired the car in 1977.

The table below explains the difference between the ERA A, B and C Types, and there were also three different engines available with capacities of 1.1 litres, 1.5 litres and 2 litres.

Chassis	A type	B type	C type
Construction	channel section frame	channel section frame	box section frame
Wheelbase	96in.	96in.	96in.
Front Track	52.5in.	52.5in.	52.5in.
Rear Track	48in.	48in.	48in.
Height	44in.	44in.	44in.
Front suspension	semi-elliptic leaf and Hartford friction shock absorbers	semi-elliptic leaf and Hartford friction shock absorbers	Porsche type trailing arm with transverse torsion bars and Girling Luvax hydraulic shock absorbers
Front tyres	Dunlop 16in. x 5.25in.	Dunlop 16in. x 5.25in.	Dunlop 18in. x 5.25in.
Rear suspension
Rear tyres	Dunlop 16in. x 6.5in.	Dunlop 16in. x 6.5in.	Dunlop 16in. x 6.5in.
Brakes	Girling mechanical	Girling mechanical	Lockheed hydraulic
Transmission	Wilson four-speed pre-selector gearbox connected to bevel drive rear axle via a prop-shaft enclosed in a torque tube.
Weight (dry)	2016lb.	2016lb.	2016lb.