Thomas Raymond Mays CBE (1 August 1899 – 6 January 1980) was an auto racing driver and entrepreneur from Bourne, Lincolnshire

Bourne, Lincolnshire

Bourne is a market town and civil parish on the western edge of the Fens, in the District of South Kesteven in southern Lincolnshire, England.-The town:...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.

He attended Oundle School

Oundle School

Oundle School is a co-educational British public school located in the ancient market town of Oundle in Northamptonshire. The school has been maintained by the Worshipful Company of Grocers of the City of London since its foundation in 1556. Oundle has eight boys' houses, five girls' houses, a day...

, where he met Amherst Villiers

Amherst Villiers

Amherst Villiers was an English automotive, aeronautical and astronautic engineer and portrait painter.He designed a land speed record-breaking car for Malcolm Campbell, and developed the supercharged "Blower Bentley", driven by Henry Birkin and by James Bond.-Early life:Charles Amherst Villiers...

, leaving at the end of 1917. After army service in the Grenadier Guards

Grenadier Guards

The Grenadier Guards is an infantry regiment of the British Army. It is the most senior regiment of the Guards Division and, as such, is the most senior regiment of infantry. It is not, however, the most senior regiment of the Army, this position being attributed to the Life Guards...

 in France, he attended Christ's College, Cambridge

Christ's College, Cambridge

Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge.With a reputation for high academic standards, Christ's College averaged top place in the Tompkins Table from 1980-2000 . In 2011, Christ's was placed sixth.-College history:...

. Mays enjoyed the London theatre and watching Jean Borotra

Jean Borotra

Jean Robert Borotra was a French champion tennis player. He was one of the famous "Four Musketeers" from his country who dominated tennis in the late 1920s and early 1930s.-Career:...

 play tennis.

Racing career

Mays was one of the principal people behind the development of the motor racing stables of English Racing Automobiles

English Racing Automobiles

English Racing Automobiles was a British racing car manufacturer active from 1933 to 1954. Currently the ERA trademark is owned by a British kit-car manufacturer.-Prewar history:...

 (ERA) and British Racing Motors

British Racing Motors

British Racing Motors was a British Formula One motor racing team. Founded in 1945, it raced from 1950 to 1977, competing in 197 Grands Prix and winning 17. In 1962, BRM won the Constructors' Title. At the same time, its driver, Graham Hill became World Champion...

 (BRM). The workshops of each firm were established, in turn, behind his house in Bourne, in a building known as The Maltings. His life-long ambition was to see his country succeed at the top level of international motor sport. This ambition was not always matched by his technical or financial resources and a low point was reached with the failure of the BRM V16 project, before BRM won the Constructors' World Championship in 1962.

Mays raced for some thirty years, competing in various cars: a Speed-model 1½ litre Hillman, two 1½ litre Bugatti

Bugatti

Automobiles E. Bugatti was a French car manufacturer founded in 1909 in Molsheim, Alsace, as a manufacturer of high-performance automobiles by Italian-born Ettore Bugatti....

s, an unsuccessful supercharged AC

AC Cars

AC Cars Group Ltd. formerly known as Auto Carriers Ltd. is a British specialist automobile manufacturer and one of the oldest independent car marques founded in Britain...

, the Vauxhall-Villiers, Mercedes, Invictas

Invicta (car)

Invicta is a British automobile manufacturer. The brand has been available intermittently through successive decades. Initially, the manufacturer was based in Cobham, Surrey, England from 1925 to 1933, then in Chelsea, London, England from 1933 to 1938 and finally in Virginia Water, Surrey, England...

, Rileys and ERAs. Mays was renowned for competing at Shelsley Walsh

Shelsley Walsh Speed Hill Climb

The Shelsley Walsh Speed Hill Climb is a hillclimb in Worcestershire, England, organised by the Midland Automobile Club . It is one of the oldest motorsport events in the world, and is in fact the oldest to have been staged continuously on its original course, first having been run in 1905...

, racing there in the early 1920s with a pair of Brescia Bugattis

Bugatti Type 13

The Type 13 was the first real Bugatti car. Production of the Type 13 and later Types 15, 17, 22, and 23, began with the company's founding in 1910 and lasted through 1920 with 435 examples produced. Most road cars used an 8-valve engine, though five Type 13 racers had 16-valve heads, one of the...

, known as 'Cordon Bleu' and 'Cordon Rouge'. A famous picture was taken of 'Cordon Bleu' at the Caerphilly mountain

Caerphilly mountain

Caerphilly mountain lies between Cardiff and Caerphilly at the southern edge of the South Wales coal field. It is 271 metres in height.Since 1957 there has been a small wooden Snack Bar located near to the summit. In September 2011 this is being replaced by an eco-friendly permanent building, with...

 hill-climb in 1924. He developed his cars with superchargers through Amherst Villiers and this association continued from AC to the Vauxhall-Villiers and then the famous 'White Riley', that eventually became the starting point for ERA.

In 1929 Raymond Mays entered the Vauxhall-Villiers at Shelsley Walsh fitted with twin rear wheels; according to Mays "the first time that any car had competed at any hill climb so equipped." He broke the hill record and this innovation was widely copied in the years to come.

Mays made his mark on the track in such events as the 1935 German Grand Prix

1935 German Grand Prix

The 1935 German Grand Prix was a Grand Prix motor race held at the Nürburgring on July 28, 1935.- Race :- Starting grid positions :-Notes:*Ernst von Delius destroyed his car during practice, so shared Mays' car in the race....

 (scene of a famous victory of Tazio Nuvolari

Tazio Nuvolari

Tazio Giorgio Nuvolari was an Italian motorcycle and racecar driver, known as Il Mantovano Volante or Nivola. He was the 1932 European Champion in Grand Prix motor racing...

), sharing his ERA with Ernst von Delius

Ernst von Delius

Ernst von Delius was a racing driver from Germany.Von Delius died at the age of 25 years old at the Nürburgring Circuit during the 1937 German Grand Prix, having suffered a fatal collision with Richard Seaman....

. The ribbon which came with the wreath which was part of the prize for this event is to be seen at the Raymond Mays room in Bourne Heritage Centre

Bourne Civic Society

Bourne Civic Society is a voluntary organization concerned with the development of the town and community of Bourne, Lincolnshire, England.It was founded in 1977 at a time of a rapid expansion of the town...

.

Mays was one of ERA's most notable drivers, winning the British Hill Climb Championship

British Hill Climb Championship

The British Hill Climb Championship is the most prestigious Hillclimbing championship in Great Britain. Hillclimbing in the British Isles has a rich history and this event has been held every year since 1947.All British Champions have been British...

 in its first two years, 1947 and 1948 and also the Brighton Speed Trials

Brighton Speed Trials

The Brighton Speed Trials, in full The Brighton National Speed Trials, is commonly held to be the oldest running motor race. The first race was held July 19–22, 1905 after Sir Harry Preston persuaded Brighton town council to tarmac the surface of the road adjacent to the beach between the Palace...

 in 1946, 1947, 1948 and 1950 in his black ERA R4D

ERA R4D

ERA R4D, built by English Racing Automobiles, is the last development of this classic voiturette racing car, the only D-Type ever built. Originating as R4B in 1935, the car was rebuilt as a C-Type by modifying the front end of the chassis frame to accommodate independent Porsche-type torsion bar...

. He stopped driving racing cars at the end of the 1950 season.

In the 1950s and 1960s Mays produced and marketed tuning equipment for British Ford four- and six-cylinder engines, including an alloy cylinder head designed by Mays's ERA and BRM associate Peter Berthon. These parts were fitted to Ford, A.C.

AC Cars

AC Cars Group Ltd. formerly known as Auto Carriers Ltd. is a British specialist automobile manufacturer and one of the oldest independent car marques founded in Britain...

, and Reliant

Reliant

Reliant was a British car manufacturer. The company was traditionally based at Tamworth in Staffordshire, England, but in 2001 it moved to nearby Cannock. It ceased manufacturing cars shortly afterwards.-History:...

cars.

Publications

• Split Seconds: My Racing Years by Raymond Mays "ghosted" by Dennis May, G.T. Foulis & Co. Ltd. 1952. 306 pages.
• B.R.M. by Raymond Mays and Peter Roberts. (Cassell & Co. Ltd., 35, Red Lion Square, London W.C.1. 30s.) 1962. 240 pages.

External links

• The Bourne web site
• The Raymond Mays Room
• Photograph from 1956 on flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/martin97uk/86419458/in/pool-973937@N20
• T W Mays & Son Limited, Bourne