Bonhams
-
Image Credit: Courtesy of Bonhams Arthur MacDonald sits in the original Napier “Samson” L48 race car at Ormond-Daytona Beach in 1905.
-
Image Credit: Bonhams A meticulous replication of the cockpit where Arthur MacDonald piloted the original car to 104.651 mph.
-
Image Credit: Bonhams A look at the extant, though rebuilt, 15-liter engine that makes 240 hp.
-
Image Credit: Bonhams In 1977, Australian industrialist Bob Chamberlain undertook the recreation of L48, using original factory drawings, period photographs, and his company’s engineering resources.
-
Image Credit: Bonhams The car was nicknamed “Samson,” apparently in reference to the Biblical hero whose flowing hair is suggested by the long copper cooling tubes of the engine’s radiator that encircle the front hood.
-
Image Credit: Bonhams The original “Samson” L48 was eventually sold for scrap by Napier, while its engine was acquired by the Cromwell brothers of Australia, who transplanted it into a record-breaking speedboat.
-
Image Credit: Bonhams Showing at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in 1999, it was awarded Automobile Quarterly’s “Most Historically Significant Car.”
-
Image Credit: Bonhams Replicating every last detail of the lost original, and sharing its six-cylinder heart, this L48 is forged from the same spirit that earned Napier its rightful position as builder of one of the most impressive race cars ever made.
Authors
-
Robert Ross
