David Murray’s credentials seemed beyond reproach. In 1952 he founded Ecurie Ecosse with XK120s, raced C-types, won Le Mans twice with D-types, and then it all came to pieces. After six years with Jaguars, Murray was making changes. Ecurie Ecosse Association annual dinners were grand affairs in the North British Hotel. A beacon on Edinburgh’s Princes Street, the landmark clock on the William Hamilton Beattie Scottish Baronial tower was set three minutes fast to help Edinburghers catch trains.
It also timed David Murray’s speeches in the Banqueting Suite when he announced contemplating different sorts of racing. Nobody ever wholly believed his booming pleas of poverty to his supporters’ club. Ecurie Ecosse had always looked professional, the prosperous Association paying towards the splendid new Commer transporter. Murray had been a free-spending wine business owner and accountant, racing Maserati and ERA. He and wife Jenny lived extravagantly at 1 Cambridge Street beside Edinburgh Castle.
A mile or two away, among elegant Georgian and Edwardian villas in a cobbled picturesque mews, Murray’s Merchiston Motors sold a few cars, but its principal activity was fixing racing cars. Wealthy customers included three with the founding XK120s. Murray was their organiser and when Walter Ernest “Wilkie” Wilkinson joined in 1950, it had custody of Murray’s Maserati, Bill Dobson’s Ferrari 166, a Cooper-Bristol and a Connaught. They all seemed to belong to Murray, but really a
