THE LAST SAUNDERS ROE
It seems so unlikely now, but there was a time, and it’s still on the edge of living memory, when Britain seemed to be leading half the world on a technological collision course with the future. Between the two wars, British dominance in automotive engineering on land, at sea and in the air, seemed to be nearly unassailable. Before the war, the fastest motorbike you could buy anywhere in the world was the English made Brough Superior and the fastest train was the Mallard. Rolls Royce was still a superlative term and in the skies above western Europe, the glorious Supermarine float planes with their elliptical wings, broke record after record in the Schneider Cup air races before going to war as the Spitfire. Bentley made Le Mans their own and dominated it throughout the 1920s. Henry Segrave and Malcolm Campbell were the fastest men on land and on water – and under sail, Britain was the only nation on earth flamboyant and wealthy enough to challenge, albeit unsuccessfully, for the world’s greatest prize – the America’s Cup.
MISSILES AND STEAM LAUNCHES
No British firm – before or after the war – was more exciting in terms
