20 30 LITRES CYLINDERS, 400BHP......AND MORE THAN A CENTURY OLD

Thunderous torque, flame-spitting stub-exhausts, white-knuckle thrills - and hopefully no spills - aboard a trio of Edwardian racing titans

- SIMON HUCKNALL

If you've driven a Vauxhall 30-98 before, you'll have no problem," says Tony Lees as I mount his 1913, 11,776cc Hispano-Suiza aero-engined Vauxhall Viper for a few laps of Mallory Park.

Well, I have driven 30-98s, but that's like saying I'm familiar with Indian cuisine because I've had a few kormas, before tucking into my first vindaloo. Nothing prepares you for the sensory onslaught of an 111-year-old car with twice its original cylinder count, and (conservatively) three and a half times more power than when its chassis rolled out of the factory. More so the 720lb ft torque peak, which arrives so early that your journey to top gear is a blur of double-declutched changes, after which this Edwardian leviathan is poised for 100mph-plus down Mallory's straights. It all sounds slightly unhinged.

The aura of automotive insanity is tripled as the Vauxhall is joined by two sparring partners from the Edwardian racing scene: a 1911 KRIT 100hp Aero, its 9.2-litre engine also pinched from a fighter plane; and a 1911 SCAT Type C with a 9.3-litre motor that's the only one here designed for the car it still powers. If you've attended Goodwood's Members' Meeting in recent times, you will have seen each of them in the SF Edge Trophy, their drivers perched impossibly high above mammoth steering wheels, wrangling these ancient monuments through Woodcote and Lavant at unfeasibly high speeds while barely breaking 2000rpm.

All three perfectly epitomise the immediate pre- and post-WW1 fascination with outright speed among a burgeoning collective of racers and thrill-seekers. The first decade of the 20th century had been experimental for fledgling car businesses, but, once the basic template for a motor car had been set, the need for speed begat an entire motorsport industry. In Britain, Brooklands became the showcase for such endeavour, while in Europe events such as the Targa Florio tested giant-engined racers to their limits and beyond on public roads.