Napier 100-hp Gordon Bennett Racing Car

'British Racing Green' has long since become a familiar term. Yet it is not an English color scheme, but an Irish one.

'British Racing Green' has by now become a household name. Yet it is not an English color scheme, but an Irish one. In 1900, newspaper magnate James Gordon Bennett, owner of the daily New York Herald, offers a cup for a car race between national teams. The race is held annually on public roads, each time in the country that managed to win the previous edition. In 1902 Great Britain wins, but racing on public roads is not allowed there, so for 1903 the event is moved to Ireland. As a tribute to the host country, the participating Napier racers are painted green that year, the Irish national color. Napier then continues to use the color. Mark Mayhew, a wealthy miller from London, has to drive this 100 hp Napier with an 11.1 liter engine in the 1904 Gordon Bennett race. Early that year Mayhew already competes in a race in Nice, where he beats all the participating Mercedes cars and reaches a top speed of 132 km/h. He only has to yield to the more powerful Gobron-Brillie automobiles. During a qualifying race for the Gordon Bennett Cup on the Isle of Man, Mayhew crashes and the front axle is damaged. The car steers so poorly afterwards that he fails to qualify. For 1905 the car is initially selected again, but is ultimately withdrawn in favor of a newer Napier, the 'Samson'. The older 100 hp Napier ends up in a barn in America and is only discovered in 1950 by collector George Waterman.