TriumphSpitfire

Bill Bradley and the Triumph Spitfire

A works driver for Triumph in 1964 and 1965, then the privateer who, with cars the factory built and kept for him, raced two of its Le Mans Spitfires until 1967.

About the pictureThe Le Mans circuit in 2011, with no race running.

A stretch of the Le Mans circuit with no race running, between guard rails, with blue barrels at a chicane, trees on both sides and scaffolding at the right.
Stand-in The Mulsanne Straight at Le Mans at the Michelin chicane in June 2011, with no race running: the circuit, not the driver or his cars.David Merrett, CC BY 2.0

On 5 June 1966, in the Nürburgring 1000 km, Bill Bradley's Spitfire was leading its class, by his account, when his co-driver, Steve Neal, was clipped by the Chaparral that went on to win the race. The car was ADU 2B, one of Triumph's four Le Mans fastbacks, and it went back to Warwickshire to be partly taken apart.

Bradley drove for the works in 1964 and 1965, and from 1965 to 1967, in cars the factory built and looked after for him, he kept two of its Le Mans Spitfires racing as a privateer.⁠1​2​3

A works driver, 1964–65

Sources for Bill Bradley

racingsportscars.com, Driver page "William Bradley (GB)"⁠4; Wikipedia (DE), "William Bradley (Rennfahrer)"; "Jean-Louis Marnat", 2026⁠5; racingsportscars.com, Le Mans 24 Hours 1964, results⁠6; Canley Classics, "ERW 412C"⁠3; Canley Classics, "Spitfire ADU 1B Le Mans"⁠7; Canley Classics, "Spitfire ADU 2B Le Mans"⁠1; Canley Classics, "Spitfire ADU 5B Rally"⁠8

Two women in rally clothes holding tulips lean on a Spitfire 4 with auxiliary lamps and race number 30.
Plate I Valerie Pirie (left) and Susan Reeves with a rally Spitfire 4, No. 30, whose plate, partly hidden, begins ADU 4, at the Tulip Rally, Noordwijk, 28 April 1965: a rally Spitfire of his works years, not a car the sources put him in.Anefo, CC0

At Le Mans in 1964 Bradley drove for another works team, in another car: with a co-driver named Baker he finished 24th in an Austin-Healey Sprite, which racingsportscars lists as a Sebring Sprite. That September he drove a works Spitfire on the Tour de France Automobile, No. 130, with Roy Fidler, and it retired with engine trouble. Canley Classics' photographs put ADU 5B, ADU 6B and ADU 7B on the event; no source read says which of them was his.

In June 1965 he was back at Le Mans in a Spitfire, sharing No. 53, ADU 2B, with Peter Bolton in the 1.15-litre GT class. It went out after 6 laps with engine trouble; Canley Classics records a split oil cooler.⁠6​9​8​10​11​12​1

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The fifth Le Mans car, 1965

For 1965 the factory built and maintained a car for Bradley's own use, ERW 412C, which Canley Classics calls the "fifth 'Le Mans' car"; it never ran at Le Mans. Bradley entered it in the Nürburgring 1000 km on 23 May 1965 as No. 102, sharing it with David Prophet, and it retired after 19 laps when it lost a wheel.

At Oulton Park, on a date Canley does not give, its throttle stuck at Island Bend during a 10-lap high-speed trial for closed cars, and it crashed. While it was rebuilt, the factory lent him the rally car ADU 5B, which stayed his spare until 1967.

His season brought wins at Phoenix Park in Dublin in July, in a Marque race at Brands Hatch in September and in his class at Castle Combe in October, and he entered a Spitfire for Richard Attwood at Crystal Palace in June. Which car ran at each meeting is not recorded in the sources read, and ERW 412C wore the same colours as ADU 2B, a red nose and a stripe over the bonnet (hood) and roof, so a period photograph of ADU 2B may show ERW 412C.⁠3​13​8​14

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ADU 2B and a new Spitfire, 1966–67

For 1966 the factory rebuilt ADU 2B for him with strut-type rear suspension. That spring Michael Costin drove his entries in Marque races at Brands Hatch and Oulton Park, and in June came the crash at the Nürburgring. Triumph built him another car.

Ray (Henderson) and his team at Fletch North quickly prepared a car for the second half of the season. As I recall mainly using what had been ADU 1B as a basis, with parts from the 1965 car, ERW 412C, a 'new' Spitfire was built up. My race records say 'Crystal Palace - 6th August - new Spitfire'! At that 6th August BRSCC National Meeting I won the class, as I have done on all subsequent occasions that I have raced that car!

Bill Bradley, as reproduced by Canley Classics (undated)

The parts and the names had become hard to separate. Canley Classics, which has pieced the cars' histories together, warns that by 1966 identities were being swapped between them, and one of its own pages calls the rebuilt car ADU 2B where another, quoting Bradley, says it was mainly ADU 1B. racingsportscars has no Spitfire results under his name for 1967.⁠1​14​7​15​16​8

A white closed racing car with a tall rear wing and the number 7, cornering past a steel barrier, the driver visible.
Plate II The Chaparral 2D that won the 1966 Nürburgring 1000 km, No. 7, in the Karussell in practice on 3 June: by Bradley's account the car that clipped ADU 2B, which is not in the picture.Lothar Spurzem, CC BY-SA 2.0 de

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What remains

The remains of ADU 1B, ADU 2B and ERW 412C are in Warwickshire, and Canley Classics says there is enough of them to build one complete, authentic car. Bradley became one of Canley's sources: its histories of the works cars quote his recollections and print his photographs.

ADU 5B, the rally car that served as his spare, is the one of his privateer cars back on the road: after a long restoration it ran the Norwich Union Rally in 2007.⁠17​7​1​3​8

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Roles

  1. 1965

    Privateer entrant

    1965–1967. The factory built and maintained ERW 412C, the "fifth 'Le Mans' car", for his exclusive use in 1965, lent him the rally car ADU 5B while it was rebuilt, loaned him ADU 2B for 1966 (to June) and built him a car around ADU 1B from August 1966; ADU 5B stayed his spare

    Canley Classics, "ERW 412C"⁠3; Canley Classics, "Spitfire ADU 5B Rally"⁠8; Canley Classics, "Spitfire ADU 2B Le Mans"⁠1; Canley Classics, "Spitfire ADU 1B Le Mans"⁠7

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Results

A yellow year marks a win.

  • 1964

    Tour de France Automobile 1964

    11 September 1964, France. No. 130, Bill Bradley and Roy Fidler (co-driver): retired: engine⁠9

  • 1965

    Nürburgring 1000 km 1965

    23 May 1965, Nürburgring, Germany. No. 102, Bill Bradley and David Prophet, in ERW 412C: retired: lost a wheel⁠13​3

  • 1965

    Le Mans 24 Hours 1965

    19 June 1965, Le Mans, France. No. 53, Peter Bolton and Bill Bradley, in ADU 2B: retired: engine (Canley Classics: a split oil cooler)⁠12​1

  • 1965

    BARC Mallory Park, June 1965

    27 June 1965, Mallory Park, England. No. 85, Bill Bradley: 2nd in GT1.15/Clubman 1.0⁠14

  • 1965

    BARC Mallory Park, June 1965

    27 June 1965, Mallory Park, England. No. 85, Bill Bradley: 2nd in Handicap A⁠14

  • 1965

    Phoenix Park races 1965

    24 July 1965, Phoenix Park, Dublin, Ireland. No. 40, Bill Bradley: 1st in Formula Libre Handicap 2⁠14

  • 1965

    LCCC Oulton Park, July 1965

    31 July 1965, Oulton Park, England. No. 55, Bill Bradley: did not start⁠14

  • 1965

    BARC Croft, August 1965

    15 August 1965, Croft, England. No. 114, Bill Bradley: 12th in GT⁠14

  • 1965

    BARC Oulton Park, August 1965

    21 August 1965, Oulton Park, England. No. 148, Bill Bradley: 4th in GT⁠14

  • 1965

    BARC Oulton Park, August 1965

    21 August 1965, Oulton Park, England. No. 148, Bill Bradley: 7th in Handicap⁠14

  • 1965

    Redex Trophy, Brands Hatch 1965

    30 August 1965, Brands Hatch, England. No. 151, Bill Bradley: 16th overall⁠14

  • 1965

    BARC Brands Hatch, September 1965

    12 September 1965, Brands Hatch, England. No. 14, Bill Bradley: 1st in Marque⁠14

  • 1965

    BARC Brands Hatch, September 1965

    12 September 1965, Brands Hatch, England. No. 14, Bill Bradley: retired⁠14

  • 1965

    H&DLLC Castle Combe 1965

    9 October 1965, Castle Combe, England. Bill Bradley: 1st in GT1.2⁠14

  • 1965

    H&DLLC Castle Combe 1965

    9 October 1965, Castle Combe, England. Bill Bradley: 3rd in Sports⁠14

  • 1966

    Nürburgring 1000 km 1966

    5 June 1966, Nürburgring, Germany. No. 39, Bill Bradley and Steve Neal, in ADU 2B: retired: accident⁠2​1

  • 1966

    BRSCC National, Crystal Palace 1966

    6 August 1966, Crystal Palace, England. Bill Bradley, in ADU 1B: 1st in its class⁠7

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Sources

Sources are given as plain text; their addresses are on the sources page.

  • Referenceserious later work: clubs, specialists, magazines, books
  • Databaseresults and listings, entry by entry
  • Uncheckedencyclopaedias and enthusiast sites: cited beside a good source, named in the sentence, or marked Unchecked
  1. Canley Classics, "Spitfire ADU 2B Le Mans", the 1966 Nürburgring crash. Reference
  2. racingsportscars.com, Nürburgring 1000 km 1966, results, DNF table. Database
  3. Canley Classics, "ERW 412C". Reference
  4. racingsportscars.com, Driver page "William Bradley (GB)". Database
  5. Wikipedia (DE), "William Bradley (Rennfahrer)"; "Jean-Louis Marnat", 2026. Unchecked
  6. racingsportscars.com, Le Mans 24 Hours 1964, results, results, 24th. Database
  7. Canley Classics, "Spitfire ADU 1B Le Mans", Bradley's account. Reference
  8. Canley Classics, "Spitfire ADU 5B Rally". Reference
  9. racingsportscars.com, Tour de France Automobile 1964, results, No. 130. Database
  10. Canley Classics, "Spitfire ADU 6B Rally". Reference
  11. Canley Classics, "Spitfire ADU 7B Rally". Reference
  12. racingsportscars.com, Le Mans 24 Hours 1965, results, DNF table. Database
  13. racingsportscars.com, Nürburgring 1000 km 1965, results, DNF table. Database
  14. racingsportscars.com, "Triumph Spitfire – All Results" (9 pages, 880 entries, 1962–87), 1965 entries; 1966 entries. Database
  15. Canley Classics, "GT6R Proposed 1966 Le Mans Project". Reference
  16. Canley Classics, "Spitfire ADU ~B Le Mans". Reference
  17. Canley Classics, "Spitfire ADU 4B Le Mans", survivors. Reference

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