Sport Rod

1947 Baldwin “Payne” Special

Stephen Payne is a very serious historic car enthusiast. We met just a few years ago and he seemed to show up with friend Alan Collins at every event I attended—a bad sign indeed. At the Goodwood Revival he mentioned in a matter of fact manner that he had a car on display—his father’s American built hot rod—which I went and had a look at. This distinctive machine was striking, but it wasn’t out of place at Goodwood, as it had a certain elegance blended in. We agreed it would be an interesting story, but it took two years to get to do it, and I then realized what a transatlantic piece of history I had been overlooking.

A Very Important Special

What has become known as the Baldwin “Payne” Special has what you might call two histories—one concerning its American origins and connections, and the other relating to the stir it created when it came to reside in Britain and gave the British sports car establishment something to hrumpf about!

This car has a true aura of mystery and romance about it, not only because it has a distinct and significant history, but also because it symbolizes a crucial starting point for American road racing.

In 1947, Philip Payne left his British career in aeromechanics, in which he had worked with Frank Whittle on the innovative Gloster Meteor jet. He gathered his wife Dorothy and headed for post-war America. They arrived in New York with a Br­ooklands Riley that the Payne pair proceeded to drive westward—a fairly daunting feat in those days, especially in something as exotic as an 1100 cc. Brooklands Riley. By a kind twist of fate, the 3400-mile journey cross country ended in a cloud of dust on Alden Drive in Los Angeles, home of International Motors.

International Motors had a reputation for supplying cars to the stars. It’s President Roger Barlow and General Manager Louis van Dyke just happened to be standing out in front as the tired Riley pulled up. These two were Riley fans, and both were active competitors in the early days of California racing—Barlow in a Talbot coupe and van Dyke in an MG. They first thought Payne was in need of mechanical assistance, but the Englishman announced he was there for a job, and Barlow was so impressed by the feat of getting a Riley cross country that he hired him. Payne went to work as a mechanic next to two other young Americans, Phil Hill and Ritchie Ginther.

Payne was soon a member of the local Glendale Sidewinders, that became the Southern California Timing Association which now runs the Bonneville Speed Week; and the California Sports Car Club. He raced the Riley at least once on the Palos Verdes road course before selling it. In the Payne archives is a letter from the late John von Neuman inviting enthusiasts to enter a speed trial on a “European-type road circuit at Palos Verdes.” Von Neuman was the secretary of the California Sports Car Club, whose members included Payne, Phil Hill, Tommy Lee who had an Alfa P3, actors Donald O’Connor, Robert Stack, Keenan Wynn, and singer Mel Torme.

In November 1947, Payne purchased a special from Willis Baldwin of Santa Barbara, the first of four Baldwin Specials. This car was based on a 1932 Ford frame with tubular cross-members replacing the standard x-frame section at the center. This car was probably originally constructed earlier in the 1940s, and it came with a Cadillac side-valve engine.

The post-war period was a boom time for car building. There were many creative men taking American chassis and engines— usually Fords—and stripping and tuning them for a range of competitive activities, street racing, drag events, time trials, hill climbs and road races. Some of the participants in these events were engaged in some or all of the activities going on, but for the most part the ‘hot rodders’ were interested in straight line speed and the circuit enthusiasts valued good handling. This is, of course, an over generalization, but the camps often remained divided. Philip Payne took a different approach, as did a few of his contemporaries, and put his efforts to finding both speed and agility.

Payne replaced the Cadillac power plant with a flathead Ford Mercury V8, lowering it and moving it back 15 inches in the chassis, and with the existing front and rear split radius rods attached to the side members. The result was something that had both power and good handling potential. In addition, Payne was occasionally able to use very early Firestone slicks to help on some circuits. The 4.4-liter flathead had a balanced crankshaft and Iskenderian racing camshaft with triple Stromberg carbs, Evans heads and modified manifold, which produced some 175 bhp at 5000 rpm. A modified clutch, Ford Pilot gearbox with Lincoln Zephyr three-speed gears, and sixteen-inch wheels on Firestone tires got the power to the ground. An Auburn dash—de rigeur amongst the hot rod crowd—was used—and is still there! The Ford rear end is standard with 3.78:1 ratio, and the springing is by transverse leaf spring.

 

The body is in three pieces and has a number of interesting touches. The alloy bonnet has a bulge which came from a jet aircraft—echoes of Payne’s past—but more importantly, the rectangular shape of the usual Ford-based hot rod is gone. Instead, the front has more of a period sports car shape, with rounded nose and small cycle fenders. Attention to detail in the grill is superb, consisting of curved lengths of welding wire. While the car had the hallmarks of a hot rod special, it was refined and developed to a point that made it something quite different than the straight-line flyers of the day.

Competition History

The nature of the beast was soon revealed at its first competitive outing when the California SCC ran a hill climb at Tujunga Canyon and Payne took the car to fastest time of the day, driving in the aggressive style, which was to become characteristic of the driver/car combo. The CSCC sprint was run two months later, and again Payne not only won the class but also took quickest time again. In the summer of 1948, the Special’s versatility was demonstrated at Tommy Lee’s Shea Castle by winning the sprint on a dirt track, and then it was taken to the famed El Mirage dry lake, one of the very early sites of American record breaking attempts. The event, run by the Russetta Timing Association, was open to stock machines, dragsters, lakesters, and other streamliners. Phil Hill, John Edgar and Roger Barlow were running production stock MGs and Renaults; Payne was there in the Baldwin “Payne” Special and set a quarter mile time of 8.8 seconds, 102.27 mph. The Russetta timing plaque remains on the car’s dash today.

Perhaps the most significant of the car’s and Payne’s events came in December 1948 when Guy Davis, builder of three-wheelers, took over the Van Nuys Proving Grounds for a week, running sprints and a serious economy run. On the first weekend, the fastest time in the sprint was set by a 2.3-liter blown Alfa Romeo driven by Secundo Gusti; Philip Payne was 2nd and won his class. A week later, a more interesting contest was set up for the Hot Rods vs. Sports Cars Trophy, and Payne set a 3-lap time of 1.11.80, two seconds quicker than Phil Hill’s blown MG. The two competing hot rods—as Payne was entered as a sports car—were five and ten seconds slower, while Barlow’s Talbot was seven seconds off Payne’s pace. During the awards ceremony, the commentator said that it wasn’t clear into which camp the Payne car should go. Payne replied that his car was not a hot rod, as the hot rod brigade concentrated on power to the detriment of handling. He had started the argument about what constitutes a hot rod, a special, a sports car and all the permutations in between!

The car had further events in 1949, winning the Goleta Trials at Santa Barbara and coming home in 3rd the new Sports Car Club of America Gold Creek Hill Climb in August. Goleta was an old marine base that used airfield and dirt roads and was the precursor to the Santa Barbara road races.

Payne separated from his wife and returned to England in 1950, bringing the Baldwin “Payne” Special with him. In April 1951, Payne entered the Gosport Automobile Club’s Brockhurst Speed Trials and took fastest time of the day for unsupercharged cars, being beaten overall only by a blown Grand Prix Alfa Romeo Tipo B. The car was proving to be a fearsome road machine, and according to Stephen Payne, it achieved over 100 mph on Mulholland Drive in Los Angeles and on various roads in Hampshire! Payne was 2nd in class at a Southsea Motor Club trial at Goodwood in August and 3rd at the same club’s event there a month later. He also set fastest time for a sports car at Goodwood.

The Hot Rod Controversy Hots Up

In the December, 1949 issue of Motor Sport, editor Bill Boddy, still going today, commented about what the American hot rodders were doing to improve engines, though he seemed slightly unwilling to believe some of the speeds set. In autumn, 1951, Phil Payne invited Boddy to see and drive the car in Hampshire. The esteemed writer withdrew some of his prejudices, though he did not refer to a difference between this car and what some Americans saw as more basic hot rods, rather than what Payne was beginning to see as a “sport rod”—a combination of sports car and hot rod features.

In the next few issues, Payne wrote to explain how the Americans were producing good results in modifying cars for little money, and the response he got was amazing, referring to him as a liar, and denigrating anything but small, tuned engines. Finally other Americans, reading Motor Sport in 1952, came to the defense, and Boddy himself stepped in to end the lively and vitriolic correspondence in the July issue. The argument demonstrated how few people understood all the elements involved, and that there were as many approaches to car performance in the USA as there were in Europe and other parts of the world. Clearly some people did not want to see this! Even, the accuracy of American timing at speed events was called into question by the Brits.

 

The “Special” goes into hiding…

In time, Payne had new family, changed jobs, and the car went into storage after some long trips in it in the U.K., around 1959 when Stephen Payne was born. It was largely forgotten, though the articles written about it in Hot Rod Magazine, Speed Age, Speed and Sport, and even Autocar were recalled by a reminiscent piece in Car and Driver in 1962, asking whether anyone remembered Phil and Dorothy Payne. Roger Barlow himself recalled those days in the 1988 edition of Autoweek. Philip Payne died in 1981 and his widow, Vicky reluctantly sold the car in 1985. The new owner had the rear bodywork and wheel arches remodeled, and the black paint was replaced with a white finish. The car was ‘away from home’ for about two years before Stephen was able to repurchase it.

Stephen got friend Alan Collins who has a restoration garage in Maldon, Essex to refurbish, rather than restore, the car as it was in amazingly good condition. The refurbishment was essentially cosmetic. They freed the clutch up, fired it up, and then stripped it. A few new parts went in, it was repainted to the original black, and the interior was done with nice English distressed leather. Thus it appeared at the Cartier et Luxe Concours at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in the British hot rod class, a full fifty years after father Philip had competed with it at Goodwood. Stephen and Alan then took it to California in 2003 where not only was it reunited with another of the Baldwin Specials, but also managed to take an award at the Pebble Beach Concours, an emotional moment for young Payne.

Willis Baldwin built four cars, of which this is the first. The second, the Baldwin Mercury Special appeared at the Monterey Historics in 2003 and is owned by Jim Herlinger. Bill Pollack raced the car known as the “Banana” in the 1950s and efforts are being made to find this car which is thought to survive. One car went to Europe with an American serviceman and has been lost.

Driving the Baldwin “Payne” Special

You will see from the photos accompanying this story that not only is there a connection with the past for Stephen Payne, but there is indeed one for me as well, because I was a “person of the hot rod generation”. I can’t call myself a hot rodder because I never had a car to fit the description, but I found my way into the car world through the pages of Hot Rod, Car Craft and Motor Trend before Road & Track, Sports Car Graphic and the others took over. I also became a sporty car snob.

But I have never been that far from my roots, as a trip to Bonneville three years ago made apparent. When the history of the Baldwin “Payne” Special was clearer to me, I was entranced, as this is truly an important car—not only from the early days of post-war American circuit racing, but also as something of an international object lesson in what constitutes a proper car. Thus, it was worth the wait of two years or so to get into the Payne family limo! On a cool—in both senses of the word—day in January, Stephen journeyed up from Hampshire and we met at Alan Collin’s premises at Maldon, in deepest Essex. Alan is mainly a Jaguar specialist, and he looks after the car, though it doesn’t need a lot of looking after, as it’s an efficient, start on the button machine. Alan had chosen some quiet country lanes for our test, so we would already be one step ahead of Motor Sport’s Bill Boddy, who only sampled the car on the straight Portsmouth Road 52 and a bit years ago!

Davis Motor Company proving grounds, Van Nuys, California, December 12, 1948. Phillip Payne on his way to victory in the ÒSports Cars vs.
Hot RodsÓ race.

As you might expect, the car is efficient but not overloaded with luxury. It was built as a basic performance machine and that is what it remains, though it has that classy Auburn dash as a leftover from the “good ole days,” with five small gauges on it and a larger rev counter to 8000 rpm behind the large steering wheel on the left. I can’t imagine, this got up to 8000! The speedometer was limited to 100 mph, about 30 mph less than the car was capable of. There’s a key and starter button and a few switches. I was impressed by the petrol-powered heater, though I think I would wear Nomex if that were going on! The Russetta Timing badge sits in pride of place and attests to the quarter mile time achieved by Payne at El Mirage in 1948.

Though this is a “home-built” special, it is very well put together, and the engineering is first class—by today’s standards, never mind 60 years ago. The gear shift is a remote linkage with short lever, with first left and back, away and to the right for second and back again for third. After warming up and with a bit of practice and firmness, the shifting is easy indeed, though the clutch needed to be all the way down and perhaps could have done with a minor adjustment. The enjoyment, however, is in using that old 4.4-liter power unit. I noticed how other people who have written about this car have tended to copy Bill Boddy’s comment about the punch in the back. I didn’t experience it as a punch, but, more like a really good shove as the right foot went down. You sit down low in this three-foot-high car, with no protection on the side, and find yourself hanging out the side in the corners. I loved it. The engine burbles away rather than roars, and takes you from one end of the road to the other in a short space of time. I found the car jumping over the bumps, which meant hanging on and not losing concentration, but that seemed to be part of the fun. The big brakes worked well, though it was cold and a bit damp and we didn’t do any emergency stopping. Hanging the tail out in corners was what Philip Payne did—and it’s easy enough to do—but he did it at high speeds, and in the wet at Goodwood, which means he was a brave man.

The Baldwin “Payne” has something of an Allard feel about it, which makes it more sports car than chopped and channeled hot rod. The twin rectangular windscreens are fairly protective from the cold wind, but I found I didn’t notice the conditions very much as the acceleration and low-down torque are what absorbs you. The impression continues as you surge up through the gears and down again. Coming across a quiet and remote village, I could potter through in third at 800 rpm, put my foot down and feel the torque start to work again. The turning circle is large, which means getting used to that so you don’t knock a wheel against a bank in tight turns.

Buying and maintaining a “Special”

This is of course difficult to comment on because a special by its very nature is special, so it all depends on just what you come across. I looked at more hot rod-esque machines at Bonneville, some for sale for as little as a few thousand dollars and good value at that. Some specials are valued much higher than that, however, and because of the history and significance of this car, it is insured for something in the region of £100,000 pounds. I don’t think Willis Baldwin or Philip Payne would believe that!

Maintenance, as Stephen and Alan both attest, is not a big issue. The car is rugged and durable, and a modern Kenlowe fan keeps it cool when necessary. When the engine was inspected before it appeared at Goodwood, it was in tidy condition and there is no reason to think it will be anything else for some time to come.

Specifications
Chassis: 1932 Ford tubular chassis modified
Wheelbase: 103″
Suspension: Transverse Ford leaf springs front and rear, front and rear split radius rods with live axle
Steering: Transverse steering drag links
Weight: 2,100 lbs.
Engine: Mercury eight-cylinder flathead with Evans heads, Iskenderian track-grind camshaft
Capacity: 4.4-liters (268.4 cubic inches)
Power: 175 bhp @ 5000 rpm
Compression ratio: 9:1
Carburetor: Triple Stromberg with Evans modified manifold
Clutch : Lightened flywheel and Mercury clutch
Transmission: 3-speed Ford gearbox with Baldwin-built remote linkage to 3.78 rear axle
Brakes: Standard Ford hydraulic brakes
Tires: Front: 5.50-16 Avon. Rear 7.00-16 Firestone on Lincoln wheels

Resources
Girdler, A. American Road Race Specials 1934–70
1990 Motorbooks International, Wisconsin, USA
Motor Sport Magazine 1949, 1951, 1952

The author wishes to thank Stephen Payne for his generosity and the use of his archive material and photos, and Alan Collins for getting the car ready for the test.