Irish-Built Alvis ‘Himmelwagen’ Wins Ernie Robb the 1939 Leinster Trophy | Season 4 – Episode 71
Wheels Sep 20, 2024
Charles Ernest Robb, known as Ernie, was born in Dundonald, Co. Down in 1916 into an automotive family. His father ran one of the first garages in Dundonald.
Ernie began his racing career in 1937 at the Craigantlet Hillclimb in Co. Down, and in reliability trials events in a supercharged 750cc MG. He competed at every major circuit in Ireland in the 1930s including Tallaght, The Phoenix Park, Ards, Cork, and Limerick.
After the MG’s engine blew up at the 1938 Limerick race, Robb returned in 1939 with the Alvis-powered Special known as the ‘Himmelwagen’ (Heavenly car or Skychariot).
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The donor car for the special was a 1932 Morris Minor commonly used as a chassis for Irish Specials of the era. This car was first run as the 2-seater ‘Sullivan Special’ at the 1933 TT at Ards, with a Zoller supercharger driven by Billy Sullivan.
In 1936 the car was rebodied as a single seater and painted blue. The original Morris engine was replaced by a big port Alvis engine for the 1939 Leinster Trophy at Tallaght, with an automatic gearbox giving birth to the ‘Himmelwagen’.
The entry for the 1939 Leinster Trophy suffered as the clouds of war gathered over Europe, and due to a date clash with the French Grand Prix at Rheims. For the first time an Irish driver, A.P. McArthur in his supercharged MG was the top handicap ‘scratchman’.
Of the British contingent of two to make the trip to Tallaght, attention focused on Aston Martin of Welshman Brian Talbot, brother-in-law of Tony Rolt who narrowly lost out on victory in 1937 and 1938 at Tallaght.
Atrocious conditions on race day, July 8th 1939, led to high attrition with several crashes at the Templeogue Bridge. Early retirees included J.D. McClure who crashed heavily at Oldbawn, Stanley Woods who had engine issues, R.D. Cox, and Aubrey Thompson who suffered an engine fire.
The Himmelwagen would start 19th out of 27, with a handicap lead of three laps and three minutes. Robb’s newlywed wife Loubel would serve as pit signaller and excitement grew as he made steady progress through the field avoiding incident.
By lap 15 out of 26 Ernie Robb was already up to fourth place. But Brian Talbot from the 4th handicap starting position was catching Robb quickly at the rate of 30 seconds per lap. Both cars suffered late-race misfires and Talbot had to pit for attention to a bad exhaust but once he rejoined, he began to reel Robb in quickly.
As they began the final lap Robb had only a 13 second lead over Talbot but the engine of the Aston Martin gave out handing victory to Robb by over four minutes with second placed AJ Welch in a 1.3L MG and Paddy LeFanu in a 1.5L Meadows L.E.R.A in 3rd. Talbot took the fastest lap award with a speed of 75.56 mph.
Following World War II, the original blown MG engine was refitted and the car was hill climbed for a few years. Unfortunately, the car was scrapped in 1955 but the logbook did survive.
Ernie Robb was the works manager at a Belfast garage and following the war would continue to compete in the Mercury Special, a new car that he built winning events including the 1949 Half-Mile Sprint event at the Phoenix Park.
Ernie and Loubel made their home at Galway Park in Dundonald and had three children, Norma, David and Perry. Ernie Robb died in Belfast in December 2001.
Story by Brian Manning
Brian, a biotechnology professional and motorsports enthusiast, officiated his 40th Formula One event at the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix. His interest in motor racing history led him to identify errors in the Leinster Trophy’s record. He received the 2023 RIAC Dudley Reynolds Award for preserving Irish motor racing history. Brian moved from Dublin in 1992, lived in Paris and London, and settled in the USA in 1996. He lives in New Jersey with his wife Amy and their children, Andrea and David.
If you have an idea for a story, email Kevin Reid [email protected]
Sources of Information and Photo Credits
Associated Press (AP)
Simon Thomas
