As the home of British motorsport and aviation, there was no better place than Brooklands Museum to celebrate the life of Whitney Straight, and so many people contributed to a very special day.
The owners of Whitney’s gorgeous 1933 Coppa Acerbo-winning MG Magnette, Elizabeth and Andrew Taylor, brought the car right up to the Clubhouse door, where it took centre stage and was lit up splendidly by Brooklands that night
Brooklands’ VP, Allan Winn, arranged for the Motoring Sheds to be left open when the Museum closed, and he gave us a guided tour of the incredible collection of racing cars, motor bikes and even bicycles. Among my guests was Whitney’s son, Barney Walker, and Allan had the pleasure of introducing him to his grandfather’s Barnato Hassan, capable of 150mph on Brooklands’ straights, and outright holder of the Outer Circuit’s Class B lap record. Before we set off round the Motoring Sheds, Allan, Barney, his wife Helen and I posed with the Magnette.
Later we were joined by Whitney’s daughter, Amanda Opinsky, and some 20 of us enjoyed a splendid supper and chinwag in the Locke King Room, named after the entrepreneur who founded and financed the creation of Brooklands.
Then I was up for an hour’s talk on Whitney, and I must thank Harry Sherrard for inviting me in the first place, and Tim Morris for finding some lovely YouTube clips of Whitney at Brooklands and Shelsley Walsh, and for the excellent AV on the night. Thank you also to Mark Jarman for filming the talk. I thought his editing between lectern and screen was spot on, and you can see the results on YouTube.
The last phase of a busy day was a productive partnership with Steve Howe, owner of Petworth Bookshop. He lined up and sold the books, and I dedicated them.
My thanks go to all who made it a most memorable event.