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Pat O'Brien's article is reproduced below.
Bill Jennings' Riley Special was an outstanding
designer-driver-developed package
Who would bet on a low-budget, South African homebuilt, front-engined, offset two-seater
car with a 1934 Riley overhead valve engine against the latest mid-engined works-built
Coopers-Climax in 1957?
The Coopers were beginning to show their effectiveness in Grand Prix racing and despite
driving a Formula 2 Cooper-Climax with an undersized and underpowered 1.9-litre engine,
Jack Brabham was running an amazing third near the end of the 1957 Monaco GP.
Lack of fuel tank capacity dropped him to finish sixth and Jack had to push his car across
the line. This against the full 2.5 litre Formula 1 Maseratis, Lancia-Ferraris, Vanwalls and
BRMs of Fangio, Behra, Hawthorn, Collins, Musso, Moss and Brooks!
So when a couple of New Zealanders brought their F2 Cooper-Climaxes to compete in the
Ninth van Riebeeck Trophy at Cape Town's Eerste Rivier circuit early in 1957, they were in
for a surprise. Despite their overhead-cam 1100cc Climax motors and the lightweight
efficiency of their mid-engined design, the Coopers were beaten by the 'old-fashioned'
homebuilt 1.5-litre Jennings-Riley Special!
After the race, run on the then-customary handicap basis, there were murmurings of local
favouritism, which soured perceptions of Bill Jennings' fine handicap win. The fact that the
silver Special managed second place on scratch time, splitting the Moore and Thackwell
Coopers was clearly overlooked...
Born in Griquatown, Bill Jennings' racing passion was ignited in 1935. As a twelve-year-old,
he spectated at the Second Kimberley 100 on the spectacular but very dusty
Alexanderfontein Circuit. Like so many racing enthusiasts the world over, from Nuvolari,
Ascari, and Fangio to Phil Hill and Mario Andretti, Bill was instantly hooked - inspired by
the likes of drivers Jack Whitehead, his hero, Mario Massacurati, Douggie van Riet, Sonny
du Toit and their cars which varied from Bugattis, MGs, Adlers and several homebuilt
specials, to a huge 5-litre Indianapolis Rigling-Studebaker Special, Bill just knew he was
going to race when he grew up.
Serious, deep thinking and competent at whatever he did, Jennings' advantage was that he
was very interested in engineering theory, like Jack Brabham and Bruce McLaren. This in
addition to being a qualified motor mechanic and acquiring the usual self-taught hands-on
car building abilities and driving skills of South Africa's specials racer builders. At age 16 in
1939 he bought a book on basic automotive engineering for 3/6 (35 cents) and really studied
it. He also witnessed the international Maseratis and ERAs in the Grosvenor races at
Pollsmoor in 1939, coincidentally meeting future racing rivals Peter Burroughs and Pat
Brown in the process.
After serving in WW2, Bill returned with his army pay, and was ready to go racing. He built
his first special in 1948, using a Riley Nine 1100 motor placed sideways behind the driver.
This was in the interests of weight distribution, for most local races in the late forties were
hillclimbs. This unusual layout, to be employed much later by the first Honda GP car in
1964, saw to it that the first Jennings-Riley Special no 1 was fast and successful.
By 1952 South African road circuit racing was in full swing with a well-organised calendar
and from 1953, a National Championship was implemented and Bill decided on a new car.
He bought the 1.5-litre four cylinder Riley engine from Edgar Hoal for 150 pounds (R300)
for, "It had all the best parts," having been developed by the famous Freddie Dixon since its