User Manual

9
However this car became his ultimate fate: during the practice run for the Jersey
International Road Race, on the 27
th
of April 1949- at the age of 43- he had a fatal
accident, in the same car that had killed the 26 year old Earl of Grafton eleven years
earlier. Two years earlier he had already experienced a serious accident and his wife
had begged him not to race anymore for the sake of his two children, but he was
hooked on it and he could not give it up.
Approaching Le
Marquand’s Corner his
brakes failed. When Bear
passed the main straight
along the promenade his
mechanic Stafford East
saw that one of the brake
lines was trailing behind
having separated at the
brake compensation gear
arrangement. At first Bear
tried to steer towards the
escape lane, but as he
saw the crowd illegally
packed there behind the
barrier he tried to swing the car towards St Aubin. That failed; he crashed into a wall
and into a first aid post killing two officials: a doctor on duty at the post, Dr F.J. O’Dowd
and a police sergeant Frank Dutot. He had not broken anything; he never lost his
conscience and was taken to hospital. He even stepped out of the ambulance himself
and walked to the entrance. However a short time afterwards in hospital he suddenly
lost his conscience and died instantaneously, suggesting an epidural haematoma or an
intracranial bleeding. He left behind a wife and two daughters Patricia and Moyra, aged
12 and 10. The accident also had grave financial consequences for the family: the
ensuing lawsuits drained the family resources and his wife had to accept living in
poverty.
Albert Raven (1938- 1939)
Further to 44266: Next there was some confusion as far as ownership is concerned.
According to various sources- one of which being Kenneth Bear’s mechanic, E.A.
Stafford- East- he sold the car to Albert
Raven for £ 50.-, an enthusiastic BOC
member as well. The confusion arose as
Albert Raven later also acquired the 37
single-seater with a 44 engine with which
Kenneth Bear had also been racing. Albert
Raven sold it to Bugatti Agent Jack Lemon
Burton’s where it was for sale for £175.- in
April 1939
5
Advertisement by Jack Lemon Burton in ‘The
Motor’ on April 25, 1939, page 56.
The purported top speed of 105 Mph is a bit
overenthusiastic: in tests it had been clocked at 95
Mph max.
The track of the Jersey International Road race in 1949