1939 Orlebar Schneider Le Mans Special Roadster

In 2010, this Le Mans Special was offered for sale at the Gooding & Company Auction held in Scottsdale, Arizona. It was estimated to sell for $85,000 - $100,000 and offered without reserve. As bidding came to a close, the lot was sold for the sum of $72,600, inclusive of the buyer's premium.

By Daniel Vaughan | Feb 2010

In the 1930s, auto racing had a raw intensity that has never been surpassed. Racers were revered as fearless heroes. The racing cars of the time had virtually no safety equipment, and accidents were frequent and often fatal. The danger. The risk. The rush. Images of smiling winners, their entire faces darkened from the grime of the racetrack except where their goggles had been, captivated the public. The glorious, glamorous, and downright dangerous world of auto racing inspired many followers.

Nigel Orlebar, an English officer in the R.A.F., was one of these spirited followers. For Orlebar, though, watching races was not enough. Even driving could not satisfy him in full. So deeply enthralled was Orlebar with auto racing that he was motivated to build a racing vehicle of his own.

This grand goal of Orlebar's seems to have its origins in a one-off racer first produced in the late 1920s, initially referred to as the Keith Anderson special. The Keith Anderson special was raced by the owner/driver of the same name, with no great success. In c.1937, Orlebar purchased this vehicle from Anderson and began to overhaul it with better components. An AC engine was fitted, and a modified Amilcar body was draped over a tubular steel frame that Orlebar had fabricated. The much-improved racer was renamed Rabelro—Orlebar's name spelled in reverse.

Orlebar built another racer afterward, this one called the Orlebar Schneider Le Mans Special. The 'Schneider' in the title was in reference to the U.K.'s 1931 winning of the Schneider Trophy, an early seaplane competition. Orlebar's cousin, as a squadron leader, was involved with the 1931 win. The rest of the Orlebar Special's title reflected its creator's intent to race it at Le Mans.

With his limited available resources, Orlebar recognized that his chances of building a successful car would be best if he focused on achieving minimum weight. It would be too expensive to attempt to generate the large amounts of power required to motivate a heavy racer, so lightness was essential to Orlebar's plans.

Beginning with a 1939 English Ford, Orlebar carefully reworked the frame and mechanical components. He commissioned a body, in aluminum, to be built for his Special. The finished body looked very refined for a one-off creation built on a budget. With fenders, headlight, and two seats, it was the body of a true sports car. Its blunt, somewhat bulbous appearance may not have had quite the elegance of the most highly regarded of its contemporaries from Italy and France, but then with its four-cylinder power it was never meant to be compared to cars from the likes of Alfa Romeo and Delahaye, which were brutal in their beauty and speed. The Orlebar Special did, however, 'borrow' BMW's signature twin-kidney-grilles front end. This stylistic trait likely bestowed some instant credibility upon the unknown machine.

The Orlebar Special showed great promise, but its construction was not yet complete when World War II erupted and its planned entry at Le Mans was never realized. Orlebar sold the car to Leslie Allard after the War, never getting the chance to race it. The car was not registered until November 8, 1951, by which time it had changed hands once again and was in the possession of R.W. Evans. The Orlebar Special was finally exposed to competition while in the hands of Evans, and it has been confirmed that the vehicle was raced as early 1952. With Evans driving, the Orlebar Special realized success as a member of the Ecurie-Tudor team that won the National Six Hour Relay Race at Silverstone in 1954.

The Orlebar Special lead a largely uneventful existence following its career as an active racer in the 1950s, and, aside from occasionally finding a new owner, it did not experience significant change until it was brought to the United States in 1978. Twenty-five years after its arrival stateside, the Orlebar Schneider Le Mans Special was acquired by a new owner who treated the vehicle to restorative work. Mechanical systems were overhauled and the interior was redone during this process.

The Orlebar Special's owner as of 2003 still possesses the vehicle, and is consigning it to the Gooding Company auction house. The car will cross the block at the upcoming Scottsdale Auction. With its freshened mechanical components, the Orlebar Special could be a unique candidate for vintage racing. Its 1,172cc straight-four uses twin SU carburetors and produces a healthy 88bhp at 5,800rpm. While this does not sound like an excess of power, the car's weight of just 1,340lbs promises great fun and plenty of speed. What little weight the Orlebar Special carries is distributed evenly front to rear with a 50/50 split, so agility should come naturally. With an estimated sale price of $85,000-$100,000, the Orlebar Special is sure to provide great value as a unique and exclusive racing car.

Sources:

'1939 Orlebar Schneider Le Mans Special.' Gooding & Company n. pag. Web. 17 Jan 2010. .

Bullett, Paul. 'Rabelro's History.' Rabelro.co.uk Web. 17 Jan 2010.

By Evan Acuña