Racing and speed-record driver · United Kingdom · Commissioner · former owner and competition driver

John Cobb

1933 Napier-Railton Special

The actual surviving silver Napier-Railton race car displayed at Brooklands Museum with black number 21 on its streamlined body.
The actual surviving 1933 Napier-Railton at Brooklands Museum in 2007, photographed by Dinesh Advani. The museum presentation records later condition, not its exact 1935 setup.Photo: Dinesh Advani · CC BY-SA 3.0.
Photo details

Joyride serves the 2,048 × 1,536 Commons original JPEG byte-for-byte. No crop, resize, retouching, metadata removal, generation or vehicle reconstruction; responsive presentation may crop displayed edges.

Black-and-white 1935 portrait of racing driver John Cobb in a double-breasted suit standing beside a boat.
John Cobb1935 · Identification portraitACME Newspictures / La Presse archive · Public domain in the United States and Canada.
Photo details

Joyride serves the 976 × 1,212 Commons JPEG byte-for-byte. No crop, resize, retouching, metadata removal or generation; a responsive frame may crop displayed edges. This identification portrait remains separate from Dinesh Advani’s 2007 actual-car photograph.

The Brooklands lap record still belongs to Cobb’s aero-engined giant

Connection
Commissioner · former owner and competition driver
When
Commissioned in 1933 · Brooklands record in October 1935 · sold in 1951
Identity
1933 Napier-Railton Special · Thomson and Taylor build · Reid Railton design · 24-litre Napier Lion · surviving Brooklands Museum car

Brooklands Museum records that John Cobb commissioned Reid Railton to design a new car for him in 1933. Thomson and Taylor built it in their Brooklands workshops around a 24-litre Napier Lion aero engine. The museum’s account says the car won its first race, the Byfleet Short Handicap, at the August Bank Holiday meeting that year.

Cobb took the Napier-Railton to Montlhéry, Bonneville and Brooklands for racing and endurance attempts. At Brooklands in October 1935, he won the BRDC 500 and averaged 143.44 mph on his fastest lap. The circuit closed in 1939, leaving that outer-circuit record unbeaten. These results belong to an evolving competition car at dated events, not to a road-production specification.

The custody trail also keeps ownership distinct from appearance. Brooklands Museum says Romulus Film Company hired the car from Cobb in 1949 for Pandora and the Flying Dutchman; that film use did not transfer ownership. The museum then records a 1951 sale to GQ Parachute Company, which modified the car for aircraft-braking-parachute tests. The licensed 2007 photograph shows the actual survivor back at Brooklands Museum, not a replica or a generic aero-engined racer.

Documented custody

Where the car went next

  1. 1933Cobb commissions a new car

    Reid Railton designed the car for Cobb and Thomson and Taylor built it at Brooklands around a 24-litre Napier Lion aero engine.

  2. August 1933A first-race victory

    Brooklands Museum says the Napier-Railton won the Byfleet Short Handicap at its first race appearance.

  3. 1935Endurance records at Bonneville

    Cobb’s team set a 152.7 mph one-hour record and a 134.7 mph 24-hour record on the salt flats.

  4. October 1935The unbeaten Brooklands lap

    Cobb won the BRDC 500 and set the outer-circuit lap record at 143.44 mph, a mark left standing when the circuit closed.

  5. 1949Hired for a film

    Romulus Film Company hired the car from Cobb for Pandora and the Flying Dutchman; screen use is recorded separately from ownership.

  6. 1951–presentParachute testing, then museum care

    Cobb sold the car to GQ Parachute Company for braking-parachute tests. The surviving Napier-Railton is now a Brooklands Museum collection highlight.

Follow the evidence

Sources for this story

Brooklands Museum documents Cobb’s commission, Reid Railton’s design, Thomson and Taylor’s build, the 24-litre engine, the 1933 debut win, the 1935 endurance and lap records, hire from Cobb in 1949, sale in 1951 and the surviving museum car. No chassis or registration, untouched 1933 condition, present legal owner, complete modification history, exact catalog match, production-family coverage or compatible game representation is claimed.

  • Napier-RailtonBrooklands Museum · collection record · reviewed 2026-10-07 · external source

    1933 identity, Cobb commission, Reid Railton design, Thomson and Taylor build, 24-litre Napier Lion engine, 143.44 mph lap record, 1949 hire from Cobb, 1951 sale and surviving museum status.

  • Brooklands Stories: John Rhodes CobbBrooklands Museum · 2021-08-21 · external source

    Cobb’s commission, the car’s construction and first-race win, Montlhéry and Bonneville records, the October 1935 BRDC 500 and lap record, and later racing chronology.

Reviewed

Why this is the actual car
  • Photo identity evidence

    Dinesh Advani identifies the October 21, 2007 photograph as the Napier-Railton at Brooklands Museum; Commons records the original JPEG and CC BY-SA 3.0 license.

  • Photo identity evidence

    Brooklands Museum identifies its surviving Napier-Railton as the 1933 car commissioned by Cobb, designed by Railton and built by Thomson and Taylor.

The matching photographer, venue, date and vehicle history establish the identification; the chassis stamp is not visible in these photographs.