Hello firstly welcome to Lanes Cars, I’m Martin Lane the MD of Lanes Cars Workshops Limited & have been a car enthusiast since I could first walk, my first classic car was a BRG Austin Healey Frog Eyed Sprite, followed by numerous MG’s and Volkwagon Beetles before owning my first Red – E Type Jaguar.
In the 1970s I first worked at Guest Motors in West Bromwich & then in sales for Thomas Startins in Aston, Birmingham for BMC & as well as in early 1980 with 2 partners Hugh Jakson & Graham Drew, I was part owner of Beetlemaina, a VW Beetle Specialist in Birmingham throught the 1980s and early 1990s I worked for Meteor Ford, Evans Halshaw Rolls Royce and Bentley and 1991 to 1993 Stillmans Mercedes Benz.
Then in 1993 opening my own showroom in Caroline Street based in the Jewellery Quater, Birmingham specialising in executive & classic cars before moving to larger business premises in Lichfield with a 40 cars showroom & storage facility and 5 bay workshops for classic car prepareration which was always my passion.
This evolved into a Classic E Type Jaguar Centre in Staffordshire with in house fabrication shop, bodyshop, workshops & 18 car showroom along with a 40 plus classic car storge centre, with a team of 27 employees at its peak.
Lanes Cars have bought & sold over 600 E Types worldwide to date & rebuilt & restored over 80 E Types including 6 very historical important early 1961 E Type Jaguars.
In 2017, I first became enthused by the idea of electricifing E Type & Classic Jaguars, & since then have invested in RBW EV Cars to become their main distributor & new car agent.
By installing RBW’s all new modular OEM EV drivetrain from their newly manufactured EV range of classic EV cars, Lanes Cars are able to offer a manufactures electric EV drivetain conversions for Classic Jaguar XK’s 1948 to 1960.
Lanes Cars Classic Jaguar have now relocated to my Farm in West Wales & opened a small showroom at The Motor Museum of Speed at Pendine, to concentrate on Classic Jaguar EV Conversions & rebuilding 6 Jaguars annually whether it be a project E Type for rebuild or one of our Replica Lightweight and Low Drag E-Types and our own reimaged Super Sport E Types with your choice of power train.
Heritage Classic Jaguars petrol powered legacy cars will continue to be maintained & serviced, along with engine, gearbox & IRS units rebuilds by Lanes Cars & still completed in house.
One of my son’s Sam joined the team in 2018 we retained in our relocation to West Wales to become more involved in Lanes Cars, especially with the EV conversions of Classic Jaguars, with 3 other members of my bodyshop team transferring to RBW EV Cars – bodyshop in Shenstone, Lichfield.
Lanes Cars are now in a fortunate position from decisions made in 2018 with reduced operating costs, to now be able to offer clients a Classic Jaguar buisness with a small team of technicians with exceptional depth of Classic Jaguar knowledge.
So whether it’s buying, selling, restoring or Electricifing an Classic Jaguar XK120/ 140/ 150 from 1948 to 1996 Lanes Cars will continune to drive the Jaguar Legend into the future.
Out of Hours
I have a huge interest in racing cars from the 1920s with their V12 aircraft engines strapped to a chassis with four wheels, 1930s such as Alfa Romeo & Peugeots with their twin cam engines, 1950s, Le Mans winning Jaguars, Aston Martins, Ferraris, Mercedes & the AC Cobras in 1960s through to 1970s rallying series especially Ford Escorts and Formula 1 of the 1970′s, 80s & 90s.
My other big interest is technology and always have to have the latest gadgets and know about the latest technology.
When down time allows, I can be found cliff top walking between pubs with my dog or messing about with my own Classic Cars or trying to be a farmer at my farm in West Wales.
Regards
Martin
Lanes Cars at Pendine – Motor Museum of Speed Complex
Why not mix pleasure with businesss?
As we are based at Pendine Motor Museum of Speed you may even wish to take a short break when visiting us at the new multi-million pound Motor Museum facility, which is dedicated to Thomas Parry and his land speed record breaking car Babs from where you can enjoy one of the best coastal driving roads in the United Kingdom driving from Pendine to the Anglesey in just over 4 hours.
Pendine Sands – Land Speed Records
In the 1920s it became clear that roads and race tracks were no longer adequate venues for attempts on the world land speed records. As record-breaking speeds approached 150 mph (240 km/h), the requirements for acceleration to top speed before the measured mile and safe braking distance afterward meant that a smooth, flat, straight surface of at least 5 miles (8.0 km) in length was needed.
Malcolm Campbell was first to use Pendine Sands for his land speed record attempt on the 24th of September 1924 with his Sunbeam 350bhp Blue Bird and set a new land speed of 146.16 mph, Blue Birds 350bp Sunbeam engine no doubt he would have been assisted by Louis Coatalen chief engineer of Sunbeam Motor Company from Wolverhampton in his endeavor, who at the time was at the cutting edge of early racing engines with his Sunbeam Toodles 11 that had been born from his less successful Sunbeam Nautilus engine, Coatalen won 22 prizes in Toodles II at Brooklands in 1911 and also achieved a flying mile of 86.16 mph (138.66 km/h) to take the 16 hp Short Record.
Followed by in April 1926 by Thomas Parry with his 27- liter Liberty powered car Babs who broke the land speed record by achieving 171 mph, who lost it to Campbell’s successful second land speed record of 174.224 mph in February 1927 in his Napier Lion V12 500bhp – Campbell Blue Bird.
Parry-Thomas returned to Pendine in March 1927 with an improved Babs. Tragically, during this later attempt, Parry-Thomas lost control at speeds of over 100mph and he crashed, being killed instantly.
Babs is now on display at the Motor Museum of Speed where you can visit & discover Bab’s history.
If It Has Four Wheels I am Interested
Martin Lane has always had a very keen interest in early car racing from the dawn of motoring from The Gordon Bennett Cup which started in Paris Europe in 1900 an event that proved crucial in the racing world. This was an annual race which attracted international competitors from around the world and in which each country could register up to three cars for the next six years.
The first race that bore the name Grand Prix followed In 1906, the first race which was organized by the Automobile Club of France (CAF) and ran for two days in the month of June. The circuit, located in Le Mans, had a total length of around 105 kilometers (65 miles) with 32 participants, representing 12 different automakers.
Britain the First in the World to have a Purpose Built 2.76 mile Motoring Race Circuit at Brooklands, Weybridge in 1907
Before the first race was even run, Brooklands was the venue for a dramatic speed record attempt. A few days after the ceremonial opening of the Motor Course in June 1907, the motor-racing pioneer, Selwyn Francis Edge, used the Track for establishing a 24 hour record. With hundreds of roadside lanterns to mark the inner edge of the Track and bright flares to illuminate the rim, Edge drove his green six-cylinder Napier for the whole 24 hours covering 1,581 miles at an average speed of almost 66 miles an hour. Supported by two other Napiers on the run, Edge established a record that stood for 17 years.
The first official race was held on the 6th July 1907 and was greeted by the press as a ‘Motor Ascot’. Because Brooklands was the world’s first purpose-built motor racing circuit, there were no established rules to follow. To begin with, many of the procedures were based on horse racing traditions, partly in an attempt to attract a ready-made audience to this new and curious sport. Cars assembled in the ‘paddock,’ were ‘shod’ with tyres, weighed by the ‘Clerk of the Scales’ for handicapping, and drivers were even instructed to identify themselves by wearing coloured silks in the manner of jockeys.
Successful Brooklands racer Margaret Allan
Margaret Allan was born in July 1909 in Renfrewshire into a wealthy family that owned the Allan Line Steamship Company. Her upbringing was not typical of the day. The Allans were unconventional in their day and believed in a woman’s right to experiences and opinions. Her aunt was a well-known suffragette who was imprisoned for her beliefs.
Margaret Allan started to take an interest in the activities of the Women’s Automobile and Sports Association. It is said that she was not impressed by the attitudes of the trials drivers. She felt that the professional female drivers did not show the same dedication to their race craft that she had shown to road driving.
In December 1930, she successfully completed the London-Gloucester Trial in a Riley 9, earning the Ladies’ Prize. Her driving was described as “neat and fast” by Motor Sport magazine.
She then competed in her first major rally with a factory-entered Riley 9, as co-driver to Eve Staniland in the 1932 Monte Carlo Rally; they finished in tenth place and were runners-up for the Coupe des Dames. Margaret became a keen rally driver and entered the Monte Carlo rally for the next three years driving a Rolls-Royce, a Triumph, and an AC.
In 1932 her father purchased a supercharged Lagonda for her. It was with this car that she made her circuit debut at Brooklands, driving as part of the WASA entry in the Inter-Club Meeting.
In July that year, accompanied by her brother Hamish, she competed in the Alpine Trial with a Wolseley Hornet. This was regarded as the most testing road event in Europe; it lasted for seven days and attracted entries from many major manufacturers. She achieved a remarkable success for a relatively inexperienced driver, winning a Glacier Cup, for losing no marks, and tying for the ladies’ prize.
For the 1933 season, she had a 3-litre Bentley fitted with a 4½ litre engine, and in this, she gained her first racing win. This was once again in the Brooklands Inter-Club meeting. She came first in a handicap race, lapping the Brooklands Outer Circuit at 97.65mph. She had a second Brooklands win at the 1934 Easter meeting, driving the Bentley to victory in the Ripley Junior Long Handicap.
The MG Cars team asked her to join their squad for the Light Car Club’s 1934 200-mile Relay Race at Brooklands. Their all-female team, driving MG Magnettes, took third position overall in a race that ended amidst a torrential thunderstorm.
She then joined George Eyston’s all-ladies team, “the Dancing Daughters”, driving a works-prepared P-type MG in the 1935 Le Mans 24-hour race. All three cars finished the race and gained much publicity for MG. Allan shared a car with the Australian driver Colleen Eaton and they finished in 26th place.
In a handicap race at the 1935 Brooklands Easter meeting she came second, driving “Old Mother Gun”, a 4½ litre Bentley belonging to Richard Marker. This car had won the Le Mans race in 1928 and was now fitted with a single-seater body.
In the same year, she drove a Frazer Nash and won a handicap race at the August Bank Holiday meeting, lapping the circuit at 119.15mph. In practice for this meeting, she lapped the track at 127.05mph but a subsequent attempt to take the 1500cc record for the track with this car failed after mechanical problems.
1936 was probably the most successful year of Margaret Allan’s racing career. At Brooklands, she beat Earl Howe’s outer circuit 1,500cc record of 127.05mph, but her lap wasn’t officially recorded, so she missed out on the coveted Brooklands 120mph badge. She then came close to claiming the badge at the 1936 March Short Handicap race, when she was recorded lapping at 119.36mph in ‘Mother Gun’.
It was in 1936 that Marker fitted the Bentley with a 6½ -litre engine, which made it a very fast car indeed. Margaret Allan drove it at the opening Brooklands meeting and, lapping at 119.15mph, gained second place in a handicap. She drove it again at the Whitsun meeting and won the Second Whitsun Long Handicap at an average of 115.25mph, including a fastest lap of 122.37mph. For this, she was awarded a coveted 120mph Brooklands Badge.
The following year, Margaret Allan married Christopher Jennings. Margaret Jennings did not continue with her motor racing, and she became a journalist.
A little know fact:
Brooklands Record Breaker was one of the first to drive the prototype E Type in 1957
Margaret (Allan), being a champion racing driver who was one of the leading British female racing and rally drivers in the inter-war years, and one of only four women ever to earn a 120 mph badge at the Brooklands circuit, was married to Lt Col Christopher Jennings the High Sheriff of Carmarthenshire a personal friend of Sir William Lyons, who also happened to be the editor of The Motor magazine and the couple were the Beckhams of their day.
At 7 am on a perfect May morning in 1957, Jennings set off in the Jaguar E Type E1A prototype from his home in Carmarthenshire, accompanied by his wife, to test the car on his favourite route between Brecon and Carmarthen with Margaret driving the return journey “At no time did we exceed 120mph. It will be seen therefore that the new Jaguar E Type is a potential world-beater.” was Chris Jennings quote from his Motorsport article.
The rivalry between Mercedes, Ferrari, & Jaguar teams of the 50s, 60s at Le Mans is legendary
This period in Jaguar Motoring history facinates me, especially when Jaguar Cars set out to win the Le Mans race winning in 1951 on the first outing of their C Type Jaguar & was the 19th Grand Prix of Endurance which took place on 23 and 24 June 1951.
It was won by Peter Walker and Peter Whitehead in their works-entered Jaguar C-type, the first Le Mans win for the marque.
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