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From Motor Racing, January 1968:
The Vintage Scene by V. V. H.
Leslie Brooke
I was very sorry to learn of the recent death of H. L. Brooke, at the age of 58. Leslie Brooke, ‘Les’ or ’Brookie’, was distinctly a character in British motor racing during the late ‘30s and in the post-war revival, driving first his own Brooke Special, a very homely device consisting of a Riley Imp frame and a K3 MG Magnette engine. This unit later gave way to ex-Freddy Dixon Riley and Alta engines, but whatever the brand of power, the Special always appeared precarious and scruffy, so that it came as a surprise when Les finished a strong second to Bira’s Maserati in the 1939 International Trophy at Brooklands.
After the war, during which he gained the George Medal for bravery in the Coventry blitz, Brooke acquired Arthur Dobson’s famous high-tailed white B type ERA (today owned by Dudley Gahagan) and ‘campaigned’ this car, as they say, on the Continent in 1946 and part of 1947. He drove at Geneva, Albi, in the Bois du Boulogne, Chimay, Turin, Milan, and elsewhere, but with the spares famine and his own rather happy-go-lucky ways, Les met his share of troubles. He did, however, succeed in winning the GP des Frontieres on that pleasant Belgian circuit at Chimay, won the Remich hillclimb on the Moselle in West Germany, and came fifth at Albi and Barcelona.
The following year he fell for that attractive but ill-fated British GP contender, the E type ERA, took it to Indianapolis but did not qualify, and managed the first E type finish in a race in the 1947 British Empire Trophy at Douglas, IOM, carefully nursing it home to fourth place. His next mount was a 4CLT/48 Maserati, another handsome deceiver which went well under works care but gave private owners bags of trouble. Brooke had his full quota at Albi, Monza and elsewhere, but always contrived to enjoy himself immensely. He gave up circuit racing shortly after, and took to rallying with a Triumph TR2.
Unkind souls declared that Les’s racing cars betrayed his profession, which was motor spares and car breaking, but he was a most interesting and likeable person with a fund of entertaining stories; in him motor racing has lost a great enthusiast.
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John
Bothell, WA
[URL=http://home.comcast.net/~ccburrows/index.htm][COLOR=Blue]1973 2000 GT Veloce[/COLOR][/URL]
2005 Mini Cooper S
Keeper of the [URL=http://gtvregister.googlepages.com/][COLOR=Blue]105/115 GTV Register[/COLOR][/URL]
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) engine. What i want to say now, is that this car was awfully similar in design with the Alfetta 158, but ONLY in the front view. In fact this car was a lot smaller in length and in general was ugly especially in the profile view. Is there anyone to give more light to the story?
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