The result of years of development and honing, prior to current ownership this wonderful Brescia special remained in the same hands for over 70 years since purchase in 1933 by the late, highly talented engineer Ron Chambers. Arguably one of the most exciting Brescias extant, it lays claim to be the only Brescia to have been supercharged.Noted as being intended for the USA in 1924, XU 8943 seemingly never ventured across the Atlantic and was first registered in the UK in January 1925 where it has been ever since. After a diligent search for a suitable Brescia to prepare for competition, Mr Chambers came across XU 8943 in 1933 and it was purchased (for οΎ£20 including train freight to Worcestershire!) making Mr Chambers the fifth owner of the car. Though initially used as-was, in 1934 the decision was taken to significantly improve the Brescia in order to give it the best chance amongst its rivals and a radical improvement program was commenced which included plans to lower, shorten and lighten the car thus it was completely stripped down. The chassis frame was also suitably strengthened and suspension and axles were modified to improve handling and braking. A new body in aluminium was commissioned (the original was steel) and the engine completely rebuilt albeit with the compression ratio lowered to 6:1 as the intention always was to supercharge it. In 1936 a donor car was sourced (chassis number 2494) and various components found their way into XU 8943 including its gears and in 1938 a Powerplus No. 9 supercharger was purchased and the car then engineered accordingly to suit. After the war, Mr Chambers and his wife were resettled but it was not until 1948 that the Brescia was back on the road and with some additional tuning boost pressure was increased and it ran in anger at Prescott later that year. Through to 1954 it was regularly in action at both Prescott and Shelsey Walsh and consistently was being further improved along the way including being set up to run on an ethanol fuel mix. From 1954 to 1959 it was again taken off the road for another series of improvements mainly focusing around the adoption of an independent front suspension layout. Performance and safety improved it remained in this guise until 1966 when at Prescott it developed a misfire. It was also at this stage that the decision was taken to return the car to a more original configuration and once again it came off the road and was stripped for a complete overhaul. Of major note was the reinstallation of a Brescia front axle (fortunately the one from the ?donor? 2494 was retained) with front wheel brakes (an upgrade on the original to the car). The gearbox was overhauled as was the back axle and the hubs from 2494 were used to make it far more correct and the chassis was stripped and refinished as was the coachwork in a fresh covering of black cellulose. Finished in late 1978 and back on the road in 1979 it had technically travelled a long way but its more faithful return is how the car remains today aside from the engine(s).In 1988 Mr Chambers took XU 8943 for the final time in his tenure for a much needed engine rebuild. Whilst the original unit to the chassis (number 904) was retained, he decided to have the engine of 2494 (number 303) rebuilt with new crank and rods from Brineton Engineering. The supercharger was also overhauled and the intention was to put it back to its blown configuration once more. Sadly Mr Chambers? advanced age prevented him from being able to drive the car and this last hurrah for XU 8943 was not completed. The current owner has covered the suggested 1,000 mile run-in period of the engine in readiness for the application of the supercharger but this has not been installed. Accompanying XU 8943 is the original (not running) engine to the chassis and the paperwork and chassis plate of the donor vehicle (2494) that was used as noted in its various rebuilds. Literally a box full of documentation relating to the car including technical drawings by Mr Chambers, instructions, correspondence and other records also accompanies this ex
Colour: Black
Right-hand Drive
