Lord Carbery on land and in the air

In my piece about the 1911 60HP Cottin et Desgouttes racing car in the December 2001 issue, I said that Lord Carbery had bought it before the 1914-18 war, after it had been given the touring body. He was the owner of several cars of this make.

At Brooklands, he had raced a 20/30, but had achieved little with a 40hp C-D. He did 7t race the 60hp car, perhaps because racing aeroplanes took so much of his time.

Having gained his pilot’s licence at Villacoublay in 1912, he flew his Morane-Saulnier home.

In 1914, his 100mph Bristol Scout, bought for 1400, and fitted with the 80hp Le Rhone rotary engine from the Morane, suffered a mild crash at Birmingham during the LondonManchester race.

Carbery then started from scratch in the London-Paris-London contest, but the Bristol came down with empty tanks in the English Channel on the return leg and was lost. On the plus side, its pilot and engine were rescued.

The Lord then had floats fitted to his Morane-Saulnier, and drove down to Monaco in the Cottin et Desgouttes, now in touring guise, for the 1914 Schneider Trophy race. He endured a troubled practice, but was able to borrow a reserve 160hp Le Rhone-engined Deperdussin. It proved little better, however, and after difficulty getting airborne, it gave out completely after just two race laps.

When war broke out in 1914, Lord Carbery joined the Royal Flying Corps.