Home of the brave

The innovative Silverstone proved a hit with keen amateur drivers. To mark its 75th, Healey's club racer returns to the circuit for which it is named

- SIMON HUCKNALL

In just a single decade following WW2, 11 important motor-racing circuits opened in Britain, many derived from wartime airfields. Goodwood, Castle Combe, Thruxton, and Snetterton, among others, were all in full swing by the 1950s, welcoming a new breed of club racers ready to emulate their Formula One heroes on the track. But it was Silverstone, which hosted the first World Championship Grand Prix in 1950, that had the highest profile. So today, approaching Copse corner along the old pit straight in a car bearing the circuit's name - and built in the year that Nino Farina won those first Championship points feels poignant, to say the least.

The Silverstone Circuit of 2024 would be barely recognisable to a '50s spectator, but not so the Healey Silverstone we're driving. Only 105 were built (108 if you include an additional three Healeys converted to Silverstone spec in period), but their impact on post-war club racing was significant. Despite using relatively mundane componentry, these Silverstones bristled with enough innovation to compensate for Donald Healey's meagre development budgets. That it could be comfortably driven to a circuit, raced and then driven home made it a compelling choice for amateurs-especially when it cost less than £1000.

Given Healey's track record thus far, though, the Silverstone's warm reception was hardly surprising. The Cornishman's early passion for aviation had led him to join the Royal Flying Corps during WW1, when he saw action as a pilot before taking up ground-based duties for the Air Ministry. Back in Cornwall after hostilities had ceased, Healey opened a garage in Perranporth and soon became a highly accomplished amateur rally driver, entering numerous events throughout the 1920s.