Vintage Thing No.152 - SS JAG. special
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| John called his series of specials Spenceley Specials. I really like the play on abbreviations for the SS JAG (SS being the pre-war name for what became Jaguar) but he reckoned it just confused people! |
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| This is the same car at Wiscombe Park in 2008 but with a Riley 1496cc engine |
At the time this machine boasted a 2-litre Pinto engine but it subsequently turned up at Wiscombe Park in 2008 with a Riley 1496cc motor. I recently bought a superb book on RGS-Atlantas and was intrigued to find this car in it. It also appeared on a Facebook page for 50s and 60s specials. Through the power of social media, I was at last able to out together the story behind this car.
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| At Wiscombe and with a road registration |
JAG stands for the initials of John A Griffiths who was closely associated with the RGS and Atlanta concern.
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| Still with offset single seater bodywork means no passenger to terrorise or a riding mechanic to shout encouragement |
At the time I first saw it, this particular JAG had just been finished by John Spencely. As he explained, "John Griffiths was a friend of mine here in Cornwall and shortly before he died he gave me the chassis. It had been built for Hamish Orr-Ewing in 1955 but never collected. We did check with Hamish that he no longer wanted it ( after 37 years!)."
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| John really liked the De Dion back end to his device. I wonder what it came off? |
John is no stranger to the arcane art of special building and this car was one of a series he made.
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| John in his workshop at the start of the project. (Photo : John Spenceley) |
"My Special No.4 was built upon a 1955 J.A.G. - John A Griffiths' chassis No.20."
That meant a vanadium steel tube chassis and double wishbone front suspension, all built with a view to light weight.
"I just started with the bare frame and front suspension."
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| John put a lot of time in getting the proportions of the body exactly to his taste |
"An ex pupil dug up a really nice De Dion axle at his scrapyard ("Put this by for you sir, thought it might be useful"!) for the rear so the unsprung weight was comparatively small. As I was having a lot of success with Special No 3 I passed the car onto a friend who still races it."
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| These alloy panels look very smart for scrap metal (Photo : John Spenceley) |
"That body was made from scrap metal. It's an offset single seater. The tube frame was from bits lying around the garage and the aluminium panels came from my parents 'garden shed' caravan they wanted broken up and removed. It is all single curves which I chalked out on the garage floor. I bent the curves to the shape over a piece pipe in a vice. The frame is fixed to the chassis by six bolts and lined up then any bracing pieces (and there aren't many) welded on. Fold your bits of aluminium over the frame and cut it to size with tin snips. Fold the edges with a piece of wood and a light hammer. Fix the panels with M6 roofing bolts. Took a couple of days - or you could take the expensive route! The critical part is getting the proportions right so it looks right. I drew the design out carefully to scale."
Unfortunately, to fit the Riley engine into the JAG, the offset single seater bodywork that John carefully put together had to be raised quite a bit to clear it. This does mean that it's eligible for pre-1960 Historic hillclimb classes, though. The offset Sierra diff also had to be replaced as well to achieve eligibility.
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| First time out for John was at Tregrehan on Easter Sunday in 2000 |
"How did you get on at Tregrehan?" I asked.
"24 seconds on remould tyres," John replied. "Handled very well."
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| For VSCC events, this substantial rollbar had to go |
John Jarrett added to our on-line discussion saying, "I have a rolling chassis of one of the 20 specials that John Built. There is a chapter in the book RGS on the JAG specials, there are photos of my chassis but it could be one of three Ford-engined cars."
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