Protheroe, Elmer Richard

Australian Magazine article June 2005 - The Jaguar Drivers ClubQueensland


SOAK UP THE NOSTALGIA

One of the most famous E-Types of all time was offered and sold recentlyat an auction in the U.K. It was one of the very first right-hand driveswhich held the celebrated registration 'CUT 7'-it sold for the sum of?275,000 (A$670,568). The story that now unfolds is one of the driverbehind the car and his relationship with Jaguar.

History is the Biography of great men
(Thomas Carlyle 1795-1881)

Dick Protheroe 1922 - 1966

Our story begins during the Second World War years when a young man inhis early twenties joined the RAF. Elmer Richard Protheroe, better knownas Dick Protheroe received flying training at Cranwell to go onto servingas a pilot in the Bomber Command flying Wellingtons and Lancasters.
Between the years of '44-49 he completed operational tours with thePathfinder Force No. 7 squadron; seconded to BOAC and flew on a BerlinAirlift in 1947 to return to the Royal Air Force in 1949. His flyingexperience continued with a three year spell of duty as a test pilot andthen went onto training aircrews on the Vickers Valiant and Handley PageVictor between '54-57. Dick was the only one-eyed RAF pilot allowed tofly Valiant aircraft. He lost an eye in a racing accident in the 50's.
Dick was a young man who acquired valuable experience in wide engineeringand flying while serving in the RAF and it proved to be of immense valueto him not only in engine tuning but also in developing racing cars.

During the war he was allocated a meagre petrol ration which gave him theopportunity to run a variety of cars, including an International AstonMartin.

In 1947 Dick acquired a monoposto Austin 7, previously raced by PeterClark. A car which although fairly successful in sprints andhill-climbs, required an engine re-build as Dick discovered there is alimit to peak revs in any given engine. In that same year 1947, heobtained a Type 37 Bugatti. Although the car was suppose to comemechanically perfect with a racing history Dick found out that yet againthis was not so and a complete re-build was carried out. Once finishedthe car was re-sprayed in Dick's adopted racing colour French RacingBlue. The car was then successfully raced at Grandsen Lodge coming insecond behind George Abecassis.

In 1952 whilst serving in Egypt, he obtained his very first X120-thisaluminium bodied car was modified and raced successfully at local motorclubs. He jokingly referred to it as an Ancient Egyptian he'd found bythe Pyramids and the nickname passed into motor racing mythology. In1953 the 'Ancient Egyptian', was brought to England and re-registered asGPN 635 (pic. on the right of the car in '53 and more recently). Duringthe following years there were many progressive modifications performedon the car whilst racing at the famous Goodwood track. It was it wasoriginally a left hand drive car, and was raced as such in Britain, butit was eventually converted to right hand drive.
Protheroe was a gutsy driver and he and the Ancient Egyptian very quicklybecame one of the most popular car/driver combinations in Britishnational racing. Crowds loved Dick's attitude; if he didn't win it wasnever for the want of trying and, along with its many trophies, theAncient Egyptian had its share of spins and scrapes.

Dick recalls in his biography the many famous racing names of Mike Read,Duncan Hamilton, Mike Hawthorn etc and feels that those were the dayswhen racing was still a sport and the occasional nudge was permissible.There was no such thing as 'wild driver's who completely 'lost it' andtook others with them. I hate to wonder what he would think of racing inthe 21st Century!
Dick recalls a time when at a Gold Cup Meeting at Oulton Park he wasdriving the ill-fated 7 GNO. Having carried out all tuning modificationson the engine, the brakes failed during the race at the Lodge, allowingDuncan Hamilton to breathe down his neck. Despite this Dick manoeuvredthe car in such a way that avoided being overtaken by Duncan and wasstill able to drive away in the lead again. Duncan driving a Jaguar atthe time had become rather frustrated and after a few more laps gaveDick's car an almighty boot up the bracket and shortened his tail by 18inches. However much to Duncan's despair, the tail was empty and Dickwas still able to reach the flag before him. Dick light-heartedly did notlet Duncan forget this incident however in his opinion there are fewdrivers of Duncan's stature to be seen on the circuits now.

In the years to follow Dick continued to drive Jaguars except for in 1958when he used an Austin Healey 100s. A car after a great deal ofmodifications won almost every race for Dick. Before the delivery of'CUT 7', he raced successfully with GPN 635 and also another XK120, whichwere fitted with disc brakes and Weber carburettors. At the time of hisbiography he also possessed another XK120 'CUT6' (pic. above) with yetagain every possible modification including a 3.8 engine. It completedit's first real race at the first Clubman's Championships in 1961 andbeat all the E-Types, much to everyone surprise.
It is now 1961 and Jaguar E-Type chassis number `860004`, a right-handdrive fixed head coupe, fitted with engine number `R1103-9 and the fourthE-Type ever built, was delivered as a birthday present for Dick's wife.The roadster was prepared for racing by Dick's own very capable team.
Car and driver then raced extensively, not just in Club events, but alsoat International level during the 1962 season. Indeed, Dick's results ina car prepared in his own workshops were truly amazing and makeimpressive reading - 3rd Snetterton 24 March, 6th Oulton Park 7 April,1st Mallory Park 23 April, 1st and 3rd in two races Silverstone 28 April,these are just a small handful of what Dick was capable of as aknowledgeable racing driver. His target in that first season was tosecure the Autosport National Championship for Production Sports Carsand, with just one retirement in ten outings due to a broken throttlecable, he took the over 3-litre class win and was awarded the NorburyTrophy after four victories, two lap records and never finishing lowerthan sixth overall. Most noteworthy of all, though, was his sixth overallin the International category RAC Tourist Trophy 100 lap classic atGoodwood, where he and his trusty E-Type took a third in class behindonly the two Ferrari 250GTOs driven by outright winner Innes Ireland andthat year's F1 World Champion, Graham Hill.


Sadly the great man lost his life at the wheel of the "large rear enginedsports car" the Ferrari P220 in a practice crash for the 1966 TT atOulton Park. It is people like Dick who were the pioneers of racing andthrough their courage, skill and achievements makes car racing one of themost watched and loved sports around the world.

My sincere gratitude goes to Geoff Protheroe, son of Dick for allowing meto share this story with our members about a true legend of the racingtrack.

To finish off a little bit about Geoff himself:

I work for a large international telecommunication company in theIT/network dept. In my 20's 30's I had moderate success in the rallying /stage events in the UK firstly in a 1000cc mini then a rally preparedHillman Imp. During the 90's I navigated for several people inInternational Classic events including London to Monte Carlo, Paris toMarrakesh and John O'Groats to Lands End. Most of these events were withmy step brother Peter in his highly prepared Austin Healey 100. RecentlyI have bought a Toyota MR2 series 2 which I am preparing for hill-climb /time trials next year.

I am sure we all wish Geoff great success in his racing career.