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Motoring Sportsmen
Mr. H. Kensington Moir
By the Editor
Published in "Motor
Sport", March 1928
FIERBERT KENSINGTON MOIR, like so many of our
motoring personalities, was at first extremely reluctant
to disclose the secrets of his horrid past, but with
his back to the wall, and faced with. the threat of
a fictitious life story (composed with. the aid of a
faulty memory and a vivid imagination) he decided that
perhaps the truth was preferable, and warmed to his
"confession."
His first connection with motoring was established at
the early age of fourteen, when he was apprenticed to
A.B.C. Motors at their Walton-on-Thames factory. This
was in 1915, when, of course, the activities of the
firm were fully engaged on the manufacture of the successful
A.B.C. aero-engines for war service. Two names at once
suggest themselves to the mind in this connection, to
wit, Granville Bradshaw and Jack Emerson, both of whom
were engaged on the experimental side of the business.
Jack Emerson it was who first sowed the racing germ
in Kensington Moir's mind and doubtless imparted much
knowledge which was to prove useful to the latter in
after years.
At the end of two years, Moir told some dreadful lies
about his age, managed to get into the Royal Naval Air
Service, and added a little flying experience to his
growing store of knowledge.
A year later he transferred to Commander LockerLampson's
fleet of armoured cars—an interesting unit whose
whole history, though little known, would prove a thrilling
epic.
The fleet consisted of forty Austins fitted with twin
gun turrets and the whole party was dispatched to Mesopotamia,
landed at the head of the Persian Gulf, and proceeded
by " road " to Bagdad. The nature of the "
roads" in the one time Garden of Eden is best left
to the imagination, a faculty which will not fail those
who have ever read about Persian travels and campaigns.
From Bagdad the convoy continued to motor in a north-easterly
direction until on the shores of the Caspian Sea, near
Baku, and 1,300 miles from their railhead, they encountered
Johnny Turk, who had reprehensible designs on India.
The 40 cars and 700 British. troops were enjoying the
doubtful support of 4,000 Armenians, so that their task
could not have been all milk and honey. However, as
everyone knows, the Turk was stopped, which was all
that mattered at the time.
While in this salubrious spot, Moir made the acquaintance
of P. 0. Kennedy, who was a well-known motorcycle speedman
in the early years after the war, and a successful Oxford
representative in Inter-'Varsity events. It is interesting
to note, also, that at a later date Kensington Moir
became P. G. Kennedy's brotherin-law!
A few months after the Armistice, Moir had the misfortune
to be invalided out of the service and returned to England.
On recovering his normal health, Moir joined the experimental
department of Straker-Squires at their North London
works, which were at this time engaged on the well-known
6-cylinder model, Hitherto, our subject had never had
any connection with racing, but shortly after joining
Straker's he was given the opportunity of handling a
car in competition with a rival. This match was the
outcome of a private wager between Mr. Squire (who is
" K.M.'s" uncle) and the owner of a hotstuff
30 h.p. French car, and actually took place on a quiet
stretch of public road.
The Straker-Squire, driven by Moir, defeated its opponent,
whereupon Mr. Squire decided that the car should perform
at Brooklands in the hands of its successful driver.
Kensington Moir was therefore given a job after his
own heart and, by patient experiment and hard work,
developed the Straker-Squire engine until it was a wellknown
performer at Brooklands. Frequenters of the track will
remember the black and white striped car which featured
prominently in races during 1920, 1921 and 1922. The
engine had a capacity of 3900 C.C. and eventually lapped
the track at 104.9
In 1921, however, Moir joined the Zenith Carburettor
company and, while continuing to race the StrakerSquire,
his chief occupation was the tuning of carburettors
for the various manufacturers who fitted this instrument.
During 1922, besides both the above activities, Moir
featured on the first Aston-Martin racing cars and managed
to annexe numerous " firsts " in races and
hill climbs throughout the country.
He drove the famous " Bunny " A.-M. in the
I.O.M. Tourist Trophy that year, but unfortunately retired
after covering only 13 miles—owing to its short
wheel base the car was inclined to be a handful at speed
on bumpy roads.
In the 200 Miles Race of that year, again on an AstonMartin,
he put up the most praiseworthy opposition to the all-conquering
Darracq team, but again suffered elimination when running
fourth to the latter, at the hands of a petrol tank
which came adrift. Another outstanding achievement during
this busy year was the establishment of the first world's
records (as opposed to class records) by a light car.
In *conjunction with Clive Gallop and S. C. H. Davis,
Kensington Moir drove an Aston-Martin for 16 hours at
approximately 75 m.p.h. This drive was so uncomfortable
that all three drivers earnestly prayed for the motor
to " burst," from half-time onwards, but fortunately
for its reputation, and unfortunately for them, it would
not! Incidentally, two of these records are still standing,
which makes the performance all the more remarkable.
In the 200 Miles Race of 1923, " K.M. " on
an " A.M.," setting off at a most exhilarating
and tactless speed, led the field for exactly seven
laps when, as was to be expected, the engine "
passed out" so that Moir once more became a spectator.
It was during this year that Moir began the series of
successes which earned for him a great reputation as
a hill-climb expert. Driving the Straker-Squire, he
made the fastest time of the day at the famous Caerphilly
Hill (where Raymond Mays shed a wheel) and also the
fastest light car time on the Aston Martin.
Other 1923 achievements included driving and finishing
at Boulogne and the bursting of two back tyres at Aston
Clinton, causing a considerable deviation from the road!
Shortly after this occurrence, Kensington Moir joined
the staff of Bentley Motors, Ltd., in the capacity of
service manager, but his activities also included a
certain amount of experimental work and racing.
In 1924 he broke the record for Caerphilly on a Bentley,
making the fastest time of the day. This success (to
anticipate) he repeated in 1925 with the same make of
car. In 1925, Moir was a member of the Bentley team
in the Grand Prix d'Endurance at Le Mans and had a thrilling
duel with the early 3-litre Sunbeam driven by Segrave.
For the second and third hours our Bentley driver held
the lead, but a miscalculation of petrol consumption
caused his retirement soon after, since replenishments
were not allowed till a certain time had expired.
During this and the following year, Kensington Moir,
besides driving Bentley cars, was mainly responsible
for the firm's racing programme and tactics, while he
also organised successful attacks on world's records
which were made during the period. In his capacity of
team manager for Bentley's, Kensington Moir has become
quite a well-known figure at all the more important
long distance racing events, where his cool but authoritative
instructions have undoubtedly saved many valuable seconds
of replenishment delays. Bentley depot organisation
in a race, in fact, is well worth studying and copying
by rival concerns, and much of its efficiency is directly
due to " himself.
Latterly, Moir returned to his post of service manager
at Bentley's, though not neglecting the racing side
of the business in any way, and in this position he
remained until the end of 1927.
He is now sales manager to Messrs. Gaffikin Wilkinson
and Co., Ltd., who deal mainly with Bentley and Lagonda
speed models, and we have no doubt that his genial and
breezy personality will ensure as great success in the
selling business as his skill and nerve have secured
him at the racing game.
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