Post by administrator on Aug 24, 2010 17:20:50 GMT 1
FILED BY MIDGET CAR HISTORIAN DEREK BRIDGETT:::
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The Rhiando page from Tom Johnson's book: Sports Car Road Racing in Western Canada, courtesy of Tom
Alvin "Spike" Rhiando--Driver and personality
It may well be that Alvin "Spike" Rhiando is not, in fact, a Canadian
but he did claim to be one, and his story is so good that I had to include him in the book.
As my motor sport historian friend Mike Tanney said while we were researching Spike, "I hope he turns out to be Canadian."
In the 1930s, Rhiando claimed to have been born in Saskatchewan in
1917. 1 guess in Britain at that time, Saskatchewan was a pretty exotic place to be from! In February of 2003
1 communicated with his granddaughter, who suggested that the Canadian birth story was probably not correct (as many had suspected all along). Nor was his birth name Rhiando. I believe his true name was Alvin James Stevens.
Nevertheless, Rhiando, as he called himself, was a colourful character on the British motor sport scene in the immediate pre- and post-WW II era.
Bill Boddy mentions him in his magnificent book Brooklands, as does Doug Nye in his book Coopercars (see Bibliography).
Rhiando won the Formula Three supporting race for the first post-war British Grand Prix at Silverstone in October of 1948. Nye's book tells the story that Rhiando beat the works Coopers and Stirling Moss in a 50-mile endurance race for 500-cc F3 cars.
Rhiando also drove in and promoted English midget racing cars in the late 1930s. Reports say that he raced under a Canadian racing licence-but it may have been simply an ordinary Canadian, provincially-issued driver's licence, as it is not known who could have issued him a racing licence at the time; there was no authority that issued them.
Spike (or someone else using his by-line) wrote articles for the
British popular magazine Topical Times, telling rather outlandish tales of racing in the UK and America, of being a cowboy and a motorcycle stunt rider and hanging out in Hollywood with the movie stars of the day.
He even claimed to be James Cagney's driver-double for the 1932 racing movie The Crowd Roars. Who knows, it might be true.
In addition to being a racing driver, he was a constructor of what is reputed to be the first all-metal monocoque formula car, built around
1950, known as the Trimax. During the course of researching this project, I found the Trimax offered for sale on the Internet. With the material promoting the car (which interestingly did not mention Rhiando's name) was a photo of Rhiando driving the car wearing his trademark checkered shirt.
He was also said to have designed a mini-car called the Shamrock and to have (unsuccessfully) attempted to manufacture the Shamrock in Tralee, Ireland.
Rhiando may also have been involved in a mysterious and apparently highly profitable British Government-funded groundnut farm in Africa.
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The Rhiando page from Tom Johnson's book: Sports Car Road Racing in Western Canada, courtesy of Tom
Alvin "Spike" Rhiando--Driver and personality
It may well be that Alvin "Spike" Rhiando is not, in fact, a Canadian
but he did claim to be one, and his story is so good that I had to include him in the book.
As my motor sport historian friend Mike Tanney said while we were researching Spike, "I hope he turns out to be Canadian."
In the 1930s, Rhiando claimed to have been born in Saskatchewan in
1917. 1 guess in Britain at that time, Saskatchewan was a pretty exotic place to be from! In February of 2003
1 communicated with his granddaughter, who suggested that the Canadian birth story was probably not correct (as many had suspected all along). Nor was his birth name Rhiando. I believe his true name was Alvin James Stevens.
Nevertheless, Rhiando, as he called himself, was a colourful character on the British motor sport scene in the immediate pre- and post-WW II era.
Bill Boddy mentions him in his magnificent book Brooklands, as does Doug Nye in his book Coopercars (see Bibliography).
Rhiando won the Formula Three supporting race for the first post-war British Grand Prix at Silverstone in October of 1948. Nye's book tells the story that Rhiando beat the works Coopers and Stirling Moss in a 50-mile endurance race for 500-cc F3 cars.
Rhiando also drove in and promoted English midget racing cars in the late 1930s. Reports say that he raced under a Canadian racing licence-but it may have been simply an ordinary Canadian, provincially-issued driver's licence, as it is not known who could have issued him a racing licence at the time; there was no authority that issued them.
Spike (or someone else using his by-line) wrote articles for the
British popular magazine Topical Times, telling rather outlandish tales of racing in the UK and America, of being a cowboy and a motorcycle stunt rider and hanging out in Hollywood with the movie stars of the day.
He even claimed to be James Cagney's driver-double for the 1932 racing movie The Crowd Roars. Who knows, it might be true.
In addition to being a racing driver, he was a constructor of what is reputed to be the first all-metal monocoque formula car, built around
1950, known as the Trimax. During the course of researching this project, I found the Trimax offered for sale on the Internet. With the material promoting the car (which interestingly did not mention Rhiando's name) was a photo of Rhiando driving the car wearing his trademark checkered shirt.
He was also said to have designed a mini-car called the Shamrock and to have (unsuccessfully) attempted to manufacture the Shamrock in Tralee, Ireland.
Rhiando may also have been involved in a mysterious and apparently highly profitable British Government-funded groundnut farm in Africa.