Rumblings, June 1948

• Monaco Motor & Engineering Co., Ltd.
• The B.R.M.
• 500 c.c.

Monaco Motor & Engineering Co., Ltd.

A visit to the Monaco Motor & Engineering Co., Ltd. of Watford, is always an interesting experience and thither we went the other day, feeling Monaco that it would be pleasant to see some racing cars mid-week, and not far from London. We certainly came away well satisfied, and impressed with what Director Ian Connell and General Manager John Wyer had to show us.

Incidentally, Monaco is a name which, applied to this well-known firm and not to the famous race at Monte Carlo, puzzles a lot of people, so it should be explained that it is made up from the names of Monkhouse and Connell, who founded the business in 1936 and made a speciality of tuning and servicing sports and racing cars until war broke out.

During the war Monaco Ltd. turned to the manufacture of parts for fighting vehicles and aircraft, and also developed the Monaco horizontally-opposed light aeroplane engine. Recently, Monaco Engines, Ltd., of Kings Langley, took over the manufacture of this engine and much of the general engineering side of the business, the Watford premises being turned over solely to car work.

On the occasion of our visit the first car we encountered, through the window of the establishment, was fully in keeping with the spirit of the place, for it was none other than Hamish Weir’s racing “K3” M.G. single-seater, now for sale.  In the racing shop, which is under the care of P. Pugh, late of E.R.A. Ltd., many intriguing jobs were in progress. James’ 4.9-litre Bugatti was being fitted with a self-change gearbox and having its axle-ratio altered, and a similar conversion was being made to Ayrton’s Type 55 Bugatti, which was also having the engine  —  ex the Peter Monkhouse Type 51  —  overhauled. This Type 55 retains the standard red-and-black finished two-seater body associated with these very desirable cars. Major Guy Gale’s ex-Connell, ex-Johnson Darracq was another car stripped for complete overhaul, many new parts from the French factory having been acquired for it, although new Martlett pistons will be installed, as best suited to a car of this character. It is probable that work on the car will be completed in time for it to run in the Spa 24-hour Sports Car Race on July 11th, and Dudley Folland’s ex-Seaman 2-litre Aston-Martin was also in small pieces, being made ready for the same race.

This Aston-Martin may be lightened subsequently, but reliability is the primary aim at present. For the same driver  —  Folland  —  Wyer’s Meadows-H.R.G., once the, property of Peter Clark, was being prepared for the I.O.M. Manx Cup race, and by the time these words are in print you will know how it got on. Peter Clark’s Type 49 Bugatti was having its engine rejuvenated, a normal “K3” M.G. 2-seater was in for complete rebuild, and Salvadori’s monoposto “2.9” Alfa Romeo was having its sprint final-drive ratio altered to something suited to the I.O.M. course, besides being given a general tune-up before the Castletown Trophy race.

Even this activity did not exhaust Monaco. They had two most interesting jobs going ahead on the V12 4-litre Sunbeams. One of these cars is being converted into a fantastic four-wheel-drive sprint car for J. M. James, the drive running forward to a transfer box and out to the front wheels via mechanism incorporating divers universal joints and ZN differentials mostly made in the Monaco machine-shop, thus justifying the car’s designation of Monaco-Sunbeam. The huge pre-selector gearbox installed by Sir Malcolm Campbell is retained, as are the 1/2-elliptic rear springs, while the new front-end is a most absorbing sight. The other V12 Sunbeam merely requires assembling and will probably be sold, converted for road use if the intrepid client so desires. Turning to more moderate things, a “K3” M.G. Magnette was recently rebuilt for the Swiss driver de Wurstenberger and was driven to the docks.

The machine-shop at Watford largely explains the specialised jobs Monaco will tackle, and complete on time. Equipped with Milwaukee and Parkson vertical and horizontal milling machines, Milnes, Southbends, Monarch and Holbrook centre lathes, Snow, Herbert and Preeimax surface and centreless grinders, Asquith drilling machines, Herbert shaping machines and lapping machines, etc., each driven by its own self-contained electric motor, this shop is able to tackle jobs of the utmost complexity, and some very beautiful work is turned out, such as the gears for the front-drive transmission of the Monaco-Sunbeam, elektron oil-pump bodies for the aero-engine, etc. Here, too, replacement parts are made for Alfa Romeo, Bugatti and other makes for which it is difficult to get spares, ranging from blow-off valves, filler caps, valves, valve-guides and kingpins, to gear shafts, blower drives, axle-shafts, brake-drums and crown-wheels and pinions, supplies of the last-named item, for Bugattis, being held in stock. One very ingenious tool is the Monaco de-tapper, which removes broken taps without damage and which has saved many outside concerns from having to scrap expensive castings. We gathered that specialist work is welcomed in this well-appointed machine-shop and that labour problems and power-cut difficulties are not met with in Watford.

Passing to the main workshop we found Gilbey’s Type 6C Maserati awaiting examination after its Jersey crash, the cleanliness of its engine a tribute to Monaco assembly and contradictory to the theory that Gilbey was blinded by oil on his goggles. Here, too, Machlachlan’s so-successful Centric-blown Austin Seven single-seater awaited entry to the racing shop for minor modifications. Then the special Monaco “PB” M.G. which Monkhouse developed for the T.T. in 1939 was awaiting a new owner, its bodywork modified and full road equipment, even to a hood, in place. Two “30/98” Vauxhalls were being given hydraulic brakes all round. One is Heal’s car and the other, when rebuilt, is destined for J. Morland, in South Africa; unobtainable parts are being made for it. Raphael’s imposing “38/250” Mercedes-Benz was likewise being endowed with new hydraulic brakes, replete with new brake drums, a job they do rather effectively in the aforementioned machine-shop. Which reminds us that supplying parts for wire mesh-making machinery is yet another job Monaco have tackled successfully, this tricky task involving scrapping the mandrel after each machining operation, but the resulting parts far outlasting the best that Germany could produce pre-war.

Returning to motor-cars, there was still a lot to see. There is a showroom to look after Monaco’s distributorship for Citroën cars; they are also retail dealers for M.G., Morris, Triumph and Standard.

Then there is the Quick Service bay, wherein clients’ cars can be greased, topped-up, washed and brushed-up with a minimum of delay. An interesting scheme is operated whereby a customer may have the routine jobs done to his or her car entered in a log and signed for by the Service Manager; apart from every eighth job under each of five main servicing headings being carried out free of charge, the log is a useful sort of document to have when selling your car. Readers in or near Watford are likely to wish to investigate this facility.

Finally, the stores, from which all manner of raw materials are fed to the machine-shop, and where spares, many of them for racing cars, are seen in fascinating array. Here, too, clients’ racing wheels and tyres are kept until the day arrives when they are needed for a race or sprint. Even now, we had not seen everything, for drawing office and test-bench facilities exist at the aero-engine factory at Kings Langley, and from there Peter Monkhouse frequently arrives to see how things are faring at Watford, and to act as consultant when the need arises. Many spares and parts are exported, and engines and cars arrive from abroad for overhaul and the magic touch. Vans are, of course, available for the transporting of racing cars, and there is no aspect of the racing game that Monaco cannot cover.

You might think that Ian Connell and John Wyer would be leaning back in well-merited self-satisfaction at this miniature factory  —  it even has its own workers’ canteen  —  in Watford High Street. Not a bit of it. They kept apologising for this and that while explaining improvements that have yet to be made in the 5,400 sq. ft. of main workshop, in the 1,600 sq. ft. of racing shop and in the 1,200 sq. ft. of washing and greasing bay. It all looked pretty good and efficient to us but, if you are a Monaco client, you may rest assured that the 20,000 sq. ft. of premises under the care of these two practical enthusiasts will grow even better and more efficient with the passage of time  —  which is saying a great deal. Go and see for yourself what we mean.

The B.R.M.

Everyone waits in keen anticipation for a glimpse of the B.R.M., especially as rumour has it that its specification is not going to be quite as hinted at in this and other papers.