Turner Tales from Turkey

by David Alderson

I've just received the Sept issue of Falconry and Classical Gas in today's post (yes your readership extends as far afield as Turkey), almost as quickly as I used to receive it in UK, although I do think our local postman (PTT) tends to hold onto our mail for a day or two before he bothers to kick his PTT issue 250 Jawa postman's motorbike into life and ride up to the house with his little packages!

I enjoyed your brief piece on the Turners, half fancied a Turner sports car when I was a lad, but here's a piece of Turner history for you that establishes a link, rather tentative I would admit, with Classic trials. I'm sure you will remember the late Cyril Charlesworth and his wife Joyce trialling in their yellow Troll Mk6, a car now occasionally campaigned by their grandson Ian.

David Alderson links Jack Turner’s JAP engined Bardon Turner (pictured left) with a well known Classic Trials driver

Well back in the mid 1980's Cyril acquired the 1948 500cc formula 3 Bardon Turner. I'm sure he just bought it on a whim because he also acquired a penny farthing bicycle at the same time, he told me he'd always wanted both a racing car and a penny farthing! Shortly after buying the Bardon Turner Cyril fell seriously ill with complete kidney failure, I don't think the two events are related although those old 500 F3's are bone shattering to drive. I used to visit Cyril and Joyce at their factory at Curdworth near Sutton Coldfield, by then Cyril had received a kidney transplant and acquired his Troll, ordered from his hospital bed as an incentive to recovery! The Bardon Turner was kept in the factory and sometimes Cyril would run it around his yard no doubt to the delight of his neighbours. The car was fitted with a 500cc speedway JAP engine, bolted directly via engine plates to the chassis just like a motorcycle. I believe that this car was originally destined to receive the four cylinder Turner engine which had proved to be such a disappointment on the test bed.

The 1954 Kieft F3 car fitted with Jack Turner’s 4 cylinder DOHC 500cc engine

The car passed from Turner to Don Truman who raced it with rather limited success in the 1950's, no doubt the name Bardon Turner contains a clue to Don Truman's input in modifying the original design. I raced several times at Mallory Park in the 1990's and by then Don Truman, long since retired from competing, was something of an institution as Clerk of the Course there. He always started the drivers briefing with his old chestnut of a line, "Now gentlemen, when you go out there the black bits are yours and the green bits are ours. You can do what you like on the black bits but please keep off our green bits, we like them as they are!"

In February 1991 Cyril and Joyce self published a delightful little book about their family plastics business and their lifetime involvement with Morgans and motoring. The book is entitled, 'A Very Personal Business'. amongst the collection of photos depicting injection moulding machines and the factory buildings etc is a nice shot of Cyril and Joyce competing in the Troll and a rear three-quarter shot of the Bardon Turner sitting in the factory yard, no doubt still crackling and smelling of burnt methanol and Castrol R after a quick blat around the factory yard.

Before Cyril passed away back in 1999 he had sold some of his cars at auction, the Bardon Turner was knocked down cheap in that sale. The subsequent purchaser was rumoured to have approached Don Truman offering him the old racer at a price roughly treble that paid at auction. Old Don was apparently not interested in his past so presumably the car now languishes in a garage somewhere awaiting another airing.

Well that's my bit of Turner/classic trials history for you, I hope you can use it in your next column. Sorry to hear that F&M is still devastating trialling and I hope that you can all get out there regularly for some sport before too long.

Best wishes to you and all the Falconers – David Alderson