Clifford Earp

Walter Thomas Clifford Earp (1879–1921) was a British pioneer racing motorist.

Clifford Earp

He was born in 1879, in Lambeth, Surrey, England. His parents were Arthur Clifford Earp (1855–1886), a sculptor, and Emily Wood. He attended Ardingly College, Sussex.[1] His surname was often spelled Clifford-Earp. He had a brother, also Arthur Clifford Earp, born 1 January 1883, who was also a racing motorist, and on occasion acted as his riding mechanic. He was a protégé of S. F. Edge and sometimes faced adversity, being considered a 'trade' professional in an age of amateurs.

During the eliminating trials for the Gordon Bennett Cup at Douglas, Isle of Man, in 1904 Clifford Earp, with brother Arthur acting as riding mechanic, crashed into a stone wall on the promenade, both being hospitalised.[2]

In July 1905 Earp on a hp Napier finished eighth in The Gordon Bennett Cup on the Auvergne circuit in France.[3]

In July 1905 Earp, on a 90-horsepower Napier, completed the flying-start kilometre in 23 seconds at the inaugural Brighton Speed Trials.[4]

On 27 January 1906 he broke the world record for 100 miles' distance in a race for the Minneapolis Automobile Club trophy at Ormond-Daytona Beach, Florida on a 90 hp Napier in a time of 1 hour, 15 minutes and 40.4 seconds,[5] with riding-mechanic H. H. Baker.[6] At about the 35-mile mark he shed his rear tyre and completed the rest of the race on the rim.

In 1907 he drove his 60 hp Thames car at Brooklands to four new world records:[7]

Distance Time
50 miles 39 min 10 s
150 miles 1 h 58 min 34 s
Time Distance
One hour 76 miles 453 yards
Two hours 151 miles 146 yards

The Thames motor car was manufactured by the Thames Ironworks, Shipbuilding, and Engineering Company Ltd., of Greenwich.[8]

Footnotes
  1. 1891 Census.
  2. The Manchester Guardian, 13 May 1904, Page 7; The New York Times, 13 May 1904, Page 6; For a photograph of the wrecked car see: The Autocar, 20 September 1963, Page 527.
  3. The Advertiser, Adelaide, South Australia, Friday 7 July 1905, Page 8.
  4. The Manchester Guardian, 21 July 1905, Page 12. Earp won the Daily Mail Challenge Cup.
  5. State, South Carolina, 28 January 1906, Page 1.
  6. The Sands of Time, William P Lazarus, Sports Publishing, 1 March 2004, Page 37.
  7. The Manchester Guardian, 11 December 1907, P3; State, South Carolina, 14 December 1907, Page 4.
  8. The Sydney Morning Herald, Tuesday 14 January 1908, Page 10.
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