Zborowski Mercedes-Maybach Special 'Chitty 1'

Information

The first Chitty was a chain driven modifed Mercedes chassis with a 23 litre, six cylinder Maybach engine. It was the first amateur machine to achieve celebrity at the Brooklands race track in 1921. Chitty 1 won two races in her first appearance at Brookland, reaching speeds of 100.75 miles an hour in the Brooklands Short Handicap.

Chitty 1 was later turned into a two-seater. It attained nearly 120 mph (190 km/h) on one occasion. The car was crashed at one point and was rebuilt, and passed into the ownership of the sons of Arthur Conan Doyle, and retired from racing, it was later bought for spare parts by John Morris. The engine was offered by Bill Boddy, editor of Motor Sport magazine at one point.