Info on BEX 154?

[tim isles]

This is a request for some help from the western side of the pond regarding the whereabouts of BEX 154 please!

I would like to put together another article for ACtion on Aces with special history, and BEX 154 is certainly one such car.

BEX 154 was the first Ace-Bristol exported by AC Cars to the USA, and it was the first Ace-Bristol imported by Hap Dressel's 'AC Imports' East Coast dealership, based in Arlington, Va.

In the hands of Evelyn Mull it was raced to many victories and podiums on the East Coast circuits in the SCCA E production class. The car was also a Sebring 12 Hours entry, driven by the wife and husband Mull team. 

The car is almost certainly a survivor, for the Ace-Bristol register records subsequent owners, one in Texas and another in California, suggesting that (if correct) BEX 154 made its way from east to west coasts.

The register's last entry notes that the car was offered for sale in the mid 1990s, and that it was bought by 'The British Car Museum' in Florida. I have tried following up on this without success.

Can anyone add anything to the tale of BEX 154 please?

Many thanks,

Tim

[Cargirl]

Tim,

Ever since I read Fast Women The Legendary Ladies of Racing by Todd McCarthy I have dreamed of finding that car.  I did do some research on my own with scant success. But you just supplied a good lead, the museum in Florida, for me to follow.

When the car sold in the 90's was it a private sale or through an auction?

Evelyn at first followed her husband to weekend races but very soon found herself behind the wheel of some incredible cars.  She was a natural.  She and her husband bred horses near Philadelphia. They were towing sports cars in the horse trailer.  Wasn't long before the horses were given the boot and racing cars became their shared passion.

If you have the names of either of the last two owners and the answer to the question about how the sale was conducted that would be very helpful. 

Kelly

[AC Ace Bristol]

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Kelly


Great Book  " Fast Women " by Todd Mc Carthy,  a couple of other books worth consulting would be :

"Long Straights and Hairpin Turns"  &   "Weekends of Glory" both by Martin Rudlow.   Please refer to my earlier Thread on the Forum   
" Racing History of BEX333  1957  - 1964 "  There are a few very useful and knowledgeable contacts  with regards
historic / Classic Sports Car Racing in USA 1950s /1960s.

Good Luck with your kind offer to research BEX154 The Mulls Racing Ace Bristol.

Can you please Copy any  new information on any Racing Aces in Period,   Would be appreciated by  Tim Isles, Tony Bancroft and myself .

Cheers for  Now.

Keith.. ;)

[Cargirl]

Keith,

I will try to find both books thanks.

I spent eight hours in our research center today and I found a lot of good stuff.  I am posting three pictures.  They are pictures of pictures so the quality may not be all that great but they were a wonderful find located in a collection of photographs donated to us by a photographer of the era.  I will include his name in future posts to give him credit because he was quite prolific documenting Watkins Glen, Lime Rock, hill climbs on the east coast, etc.

Oddly enough out of 100's of pictures only one driver was identified, Evelyn Mull.  I don't know who the men are but that can be determined through cross referencing.  LATER.

The rest of the day I spent scouring the SPOKESMAN, the SCCA's Philadelphia Region magazine.  This monthly magazine covered all of the SCCA's events on the east coast in juicy, gossipy detail.  You can tell by reading the event account's just how close a lot of these racers were.  And there are stories about Arnolt-Bristol's at Sebring that confirmed a suspicion I always had.  But enough of this.  It is going to take me a good day to organize my notes and scan pictures in order to post them on the site.  I will get to that in the next few days.

I just want to post one excerpt from an article and then I am done until I can get to this in earnest.  It is from an article in the Spokesman on the 1957 Chamberland National Championship races.  This was the ladies race.  "... The other cars finished in the order expected.  Suzy Dietrich in the other Porsche 550 finished second with Peggy Wyllie coming third in the Lotus.  Evelyn Mull driving her A.C. was very good as usual but looked rather lonesome, driving all by herself behind the really fast cars and ahead of everything else."

For the record the sixth race for D and E Production cars was completely dominated by AC Bristols.

Much more info to come.  Maybe this should have its own thread as it will not just be BEX154 related.

[AC Ace Bristol]

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Tim & Kelly

Please find attached a few random pictures of Evelyn & John Mull in BEX154.



Keith