Beschreibung
Ken Wylie was commissioned by Melbourne Austin agents, Weir & Male Motors, to design and build an open-wheeler racing car based on Austin A40 components, housed in a hand-made aluminium body.
Wylie initially designed the chassis in miniature using copper wire, then translated this into full scale, using 1in tubing, then adapting Austin A40 mechanical components – engine, gearbox, brakes & radiator – to his creation, as per Weir & Male’s brief.
The Austin 1. 2 litre four-cylinder engine was modified for competition with special attention to the head, though it was otherwise in standard specification save for substituting single Zenith carburettor for a pair of Amal units.
Completed in late 1948, the Weir & Male special debuted in Wylie’s hands at Woodside (SA), where it placed second in two races, before also competing at Nurioopta (SA) and Rob Roy Hillclimb (Victoria) in early 1949.
Wylie then made important performance modifications to the Austin engine, including a modified crankshaft and tubular duralumin pushrods, but the most significant was the installation of a Marshall Rootes-type supercharger. This was driven by a chain to the front of the crankshaft and mounted in the nose, ahead of the radiator.
In supercharged form Wylie raced the Special for a further two years or so before it passed through the driving gloves of David Chambers, Gary Coglan, Don McDonald – who competed but did not finish in the Formula Libre 1953 Australian Grand Prix at the original Albert Park circuit – and Noel Wade, after which it disappeared.
According to John Blanden’s authoritative book ‘Historical Racing Cars in Australia’ there is some suggestion that this original Weir & Male ‘Wylie’ Special was eventually cut up and dumped on a rubbish tip.
However, in the late 1980s the ‘Wylie’ Special reappeared, in the hands of Sydneysider Maurie Pearson, and this was said at the time to have been the result of “an extended restoration undertaken with the assistance of Ken Wylie” himself.
It is unknown how much of the original car was used in the 1980s build, but according to its CAMS Certificate of Description, it is: “Re-creation of original car. Approved 1985.”
Built in 1988 by Ben Sellars, according to its CAMS logbook, Pearson was listed as the owner of the Weir & Male ‘Wylie’ Special that same year.
Subsequently, the Austin-based racer passed through three more owners before our now deceased vendor entered the picture, adding it to his diverse collection of racers and collectible cars in South Australia.
Today the Weir & Male ‘Wylie’ Special is still powered by an Austin OHV four-cylinder engine, however the supercharger is not currently fitted; instead, a supercharger and associated bits come in a box with the car.
Eligible for historic group L (b), the Weir & Male ‘Wylie’ Special also comes with a spare period gearbox, several boxes of assorted bits, two spare wire wheels, seven spare steel wheels, and a CAMS historic logbook.
With official approval from MA, this 1948 Austin A40 Weir & Male ‘Wylie’ Special looks to be a very affordable and practical way to get involved in the ever-growing historic racing scene.
