Driving around in a 106-year-old race car might not be everybody’s cup of tea, but for Richard Scaldwell, his crusty by trusty 1914 GN J.A.P. is the closest thing to road-going nirvana.
The Video of the Day, part of the Goodwood Overdrive Classics video series called The Edwardians, shows this cheery bloke piloting his archaic and heavily patinaed machine around the British countryside. The GN is certainly distinctive-looking, with its single headline nestled in the top of the slim front cowling.
The chassis is made of wood, Scaldwell points out, which was standard practice in the day, the company later switching to steel frames only when it “became fashionable.”
The GN racer runs with an 8-cylinder, air-cooled 1908 J.A.P. airplane engine, which looks like a steam-punk assemblage of exposed overhead valvetrains and large-diameter pipes, but which Scaldwell says is reliable and tractable. The ancient racer drives quite well on the British back roads, he adds.
“It’s completely responsive, completely forgiving and utterly joyful,” he says with a grin.
