The post-war years found Count Zborowski deeply involved with cars and racing. He re-financed the Aston Martin company in the early 1920's, they were not involved in serious production of cars for public use at that time. They were located at Feltham and were making small single seater sports cars. The first legendary Chitty Chitty Bang Bang emerged from the Higham workshops in 1921. She was engineered and designed by Count Zborowski and Clive Gallop. The Chitties were so christened because of the distinctive noises eminating from under their long bonnets. Chitty l was the largest of the three that were built at Hi gham. The engine was a 23 litre Maytrack aero- engine cape‘ 1"‘ of developing over 3000 hp, the chassis was a pre-w. vlercedes chain-driven model. Zborowski Er Gallop also retained the Mercedes radiator and scroll clutch. She had a four seater body built by Bligh Bros. Coachworks, Canterbury. This Chitty being the first and an experiment, was a little crude. Brooklands Race Track, near Weybridge, Surrey, Easter 1921 was the scene of her sensational first appearance. She was enormous -- to start her required a half-axle from an afoplane, a compression appliance and somebody f'§*~lously winding the magneto. Zborowski knew tl" 5*.“ much would be expected of Chitty and she did not let him down. She won three events that day and came second to the Count's 4.5 litre Mercedes, driven by a friend. Elated with his Chitty the Count and his team developed and refined her, three Claudel-Hobson carburettors replaced the Zenith ones, a six-branch manifold, with outside pipe exhaust system was fitted. The four seater body was replaced by a two seater with duck's tail rear-end. Lastly guards were fitted over the exterior driving chains. She was now more of a ‘race’ car and was ready forserious work at the Brooklands Whitsun meeting. The first race she won easily averaging 102 m.p.h. Unfortunately the magnificent machine had to be withdrawn from the next race —— her handicap and the flexing of her chassis over the rough Brookland track proved too much, the petrol tank split and the radiator cowl fell off. Early September 1921 saw Chitty ll emerge from the workshops at Higham. She had a shorter wheelbase than Chitty l but used the same type of pre-war Mercedes chain-driven chassis with an 18 litre Benz aero-engine. A six cylinder using four valves per cylinder, the crank-shaft ran in seven main bearings and when fitted to the chassis the engine was converted to dry sump lubrication to allow ground clearance. The engine was reputed to have come from a Zepplin shot down in the first world war. . A A Chitty ll was seventeen feet long and weighed over two tons, theoretically she was capable of 145 m-p.h. at 7 m.p.g.! Her four seater body once again came from Bligh Bros. Experiencesgained on Chittyl by Zborowski and Gallop were professionally put to good use on this new creation, essentially conceived for continental touring. She was a highly unconventional ‘road’ car, but was more attractive‘ in appearance than her ‘sister’. Zborowski entered both cars in the August -Bank Holiday meeting at Brooklands, but it was not until the Autumn meeting that Chitty ll appeared for the first and last time. , She proved to be under-geared for the race track. Count Zborowski continued to race Chitty l at Brooklands, until she crashed on a practice runin 1922. Despite the lack of racing success for Chitty ll and the early teething troubles of Chitty l, the giant cars were here to stay. Zborowski loved driving his magnificent machines on the uncongested Kentish roads, he was a skilledsuperlative drive-r and despite his thurst for speed had relatively few accidents. However, he did hold the record for speeding fines and endorsements in his locality! L L A , A t A In January 1922 the Zborowski entourage embarked on a’grand tour’ across France to Algeria. Chitty ll with "The White Mercedes" (sometimes referred to as Chitty llll as the tender car, moved down through France like two stately leviathans, mustering thirty~three litres between them, to stay at the Negresco Hotel, Nice — what a splendid sight they must have made. From Nice they ventured into Algeria to the very edge of the Sahara desert. ' As both Zborowski and Gallop had entered cars in the French Grand Prix later that year, they took the opportunity, on the return journey to inspect the Strasbourg circuit. e Sadly, September 1922 marked the end of Chitty l's racing career, during a practice" lap at Brooklands. An off-side front tyre burst, the car struck the parapet, slid down some banking, crashed through a timing hut, tore off the front axle and finally came to rest. The [riding mechanic, Len Martin was thrown out and badly shaken, Zborowski remained seated and escaped injury. Another car in the best Chitty tradition was under way in the Higham workshops. A massive V12 Liberty aero-engine giving twenty-seven litres and a crude chain driven chassis formed the basis for "The Higham Special". Clive Gallop and Zborowski designed her from scratch.Throughout 1923 action at Higham centered around this monster. She weighed thirty-three cwt, was painted white and taken to Brooklands for testing, where she was the largest car ever raced. Zborowski's colleagues wondered if the Land Speed Record was in his mind, his friend Lee Guiness was the current holder in a 350 h.p. Sunbeam single seater, recording 134 m.p.h. The ‘special’ had a short but reasonably successful career.