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back to News page John Britten's SS1800 makes a come-back! Back in the mid 60's, Hertfordshire based motor trader John Britten purchased the Sebring Sprite formerly raced by Paddy Gaston, RAM 35, and unfortunately rolled it soon after in a testing accident, I think at Brands Hatch. He then built up a racing Midget fitted with Lenham GT rear bodywork and an early Ashley bonnet for the 1966 season. It was painted primrose yellow and bore the registration number SS1800. It proved to be a regular winner, and when the rules changing for the following season it was equipped with a standard Midget silhouette, all in fibreglass. Later still I believe it became the first Arkley - the name of the village in which John's garage was located.
Shaun at the wheel SS 1800 Lenham Le Mans of Mike Haigh Moving forward a mere 40 years, and Shaun Rainford of Classic Cars of Kent (now based at High Hurstwood in Sussex) a Sprite/Midget enthusiast and former racer decided he needing something different to enter in the 2007 Goodwood Revival. The accompanying pictures show Shaun's re-creation of the car John Britten raced in '66 and John has given permission for Shaun to use the SS1800 registration (despite this actually being attached to his sister's car) - it won't be used on the public roads! The car appeared for the Goodwood Test Day on March 10th having been only completed at 10 p.m. the previous night. It performed extremely well "straight out of the box", and was much admired by all present. Unfortunately, the car's first outing in the Fordwater Trophy at the Goodwood Revival on 1st September 2007 was short-lived. In practice on the previous day the head gasket failed and it was decided to fit an older-type copper and asbestos one in place of the more current type. While this cured the engine problem giving it full power once again, when Shaun let in the clutch on the race start-line the surge played havoc with the gearbox. He got away well down the field but managed only a couple of laps before the gearbox seized completely spinning the car off into a gravel trap.
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