Friday, November 18, 2016

A member of the Guinness brewing family, and company director, Kenelm Guinness was also a race car driver, engineer, and inventor of the KLG spark plug


His older brother preceeded him into car racing, so Kenelm went along as the ride along mechanic on the Darraq that set the world's record for speed on Saltburn Sands in the year 1908.

His 1st race as driver was the 1907 Isle of Man TT, then he went on to the Belgian GP.

Life was good, and racing was great, but what are those without a pub to sit around and chat with friends? So he bought a disused pub, The Bald Faced Stag in Putney, London which first was opened in 1714 by a pair of blacksmiths. 300 years later, it's a poofy restaurant that bear no resemblance to a pub that's been around racers, blacksmiths, or history.

His 1912 experience with shoddy spark plugs led him to invent his own, the KLG. It used mica as an insulator, an improvement over porcelain.

From 1913 to the late 20s he was a driver for Sunbeam, along with Segrave and Campbell. kenelm set the worlds land speed record in 1922 in a Sunbeam, 350 Hp on Brooklandsof 207 mph

His spark plugs were in great demand in WW1 aircraft, and he was asked to resign his miltary duties after the battle of Dunkirk to continue his plug work and improvements. He later sold the business to Smiths (more famous for instruments)

http://www.uniquecarsandparts.com.au/race_drivers_kenelm_lee_guinness
http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/february-1926/4/motoring-sportsmen-mr-kenelm-lee-guinness-e
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenelm_Lee_Guinness

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