I have not met many people who have heard of Horstman cars even though the Horstman Company is still based in Bath where it is a major defence contractor.
However, between 1914 and 1929 Horstman built between 1500 and 2000 cars which sported many novel features and had a brief moment in the sun at Brooklands in the early 1920s.
A garage proprietor from Bristol called Douglas Hawkes approached Horstman in a quest to buy a light car suitable for racing both at Le Mans and at Brooklands. He left his request very late in the day but in less than two weeks Horstman had built him a 1500cc racing car for the Le Mans Coupe des Voiturettes. Hawkes was encouraged by the car’s performance and word spread that Horstman could build “customer” racing cars.
In late October 1921 , the first long distance race for light cars was held over a 200 mile distance at Brooklands. No less than four Horstmans were entered alongside works cars from Talbot , Bugatti and other famous marques.
With his riding mechanic crammed into the small cockpit Hawkes drove the Horstman with great skill and was the first British car home in 5 th place averaging well over 80 mph.
The car on display is the sole survivor of around 15 Super Sports which were raced in the UK and abroad up until around 1930.
So another almost forgotten British Marque with a great competition history survives at Great British Car Journey.
