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I have had this book for some time, but it is still
available from Chater's Motoring Booksellers in the
UK (
chaters.co.uk) and possibly other bookshops, but
Chater's had the best price.
The standard description of the book, used by most of
the bookshops, is as follows:
"Out In Front was a trading slogan of Leslie Ballamy's
LMB companies, whose suspension, engine and
transmission conversions became a passport to success
not only on race tracks, hill-climbs and trials venues,
but also on the road, where customers for his 'go-faster'
conversions included some of the country's top
sportsmen and even members of the aristocracy. This
is a story of a forthright character who was a great
patriot, an inspiration to many, and a tireless and
ingenious 'ideas' man, who never stopped designing
until the day he dropped dead at his drawing board at
the ripe old age of 87."
A strong point of interest for VSCC members in this
book is the description of the Ballamy independent front suspension conversions for prewar
Fords and Austin Sevens. It's a way to improve the steering and handling of Group K cars
using genuine 1930s technology.
Ballamy's swing axle front suspension or copies of it were adopted by many special builders
including Colin Chapman, Major Mallock and even Australian Garrie Cooper, and there are
still many Lotus, U2 and Elfin cars racing in historic events. More unusual was a conversion
on a Bugatti Type 37, which gets a chapter all of its own.
Ballamy acquired the Bugatti from T. P. Cholmondeley-Tapper and fitted it with the
Ballamy suspension. Its success in Ballamy's hands was limited by the unreliability of the
engine even though it was once driven at Brooklands by Dick Seaman! It was eventually
bought by John Cummins in 1952 and brought to Australia where it was fitted with a
Holden engine. In 1980, Tom Roberts bought the car and restored it. It passed into the
hands of Andrew Cannon in 2005 and, still with the Ballamy front suspension, it has been
seen at various events around Australia.
Ballamy became famous (or infamous) in the 1950s for the performance of the Ford 103E
Popular that he modified with his front suspension and tweaks to the rear end as well. With
a highly modified 1172 cc side-valve engine it terrorised A35 and the like in sedan races. In
its final form, with a supercharged 100E engine it was frighteningly fast, but still legal to
drive on the road!
It is a great book about an astonishing, largely self-taught engineer who challenged the
accepted way of doing things with great success. He was still actively working on
engineering projects when he died at his drawing board in 1991.
Bob Campbell
Book Review:
Out in Front: The Leslie Ballamy Story
by Tony Russell