Description
Being one with a car, being one with technology, being able to think a car around the bend is figuratively speaking: that is pure driving. Colin Chapman thought that way and launched perhaps the most famous brand that worked according to that recipe: Lotus.
Living in the same social circle as Chapman, Edwin Joseph Snusher in the early 1950s is convinced that he too is capable of producing his own car, from A to Z. Many precede him, only a few know how to produce a car that focuses on in terms of quality and technical ingenuity can measure up to the big boys. Snusher does it: meet the EJS-Climax.
Snusher had no direct entry into motorsport, but he has a huge desire to build his own racing car. Now there are thousands of people who want that, but Snusher is not a dreamer, he gets to work and thus begins the adventure of building a car that has to compete against brands such as Lotus, Cooper, Elva and Trojeiro.
Snusher is a person with great technical insight and he wants to build a car that is competitive, not just for fun in events. The result is a racer that may have some visual resemblance to a Lotus from that time, but under the skin some things are even more ingenious than the cars of the major brands.
The basis of the car is a beautiful tubular frame of lightweight steel that is welded really beautifully and can effortlessly compete with the big boys in that area. The frame weighs only 22 kilograms, with the aluminum panels of the cockpit in place only 8 kilograms more. The front suspension consists of an overhead transverse leaf spring with a slanted shock absorber underneath. The whole thing is very well thought out, with wishbones in the shape of a horizontal Y, where the short arm is fixed in the middle of the car and the other is connected with a spring to the wishbone of the other side. Sounds complicated and it is, but it works. Snusher wants the suspension to be fully adjustable and the camber and caster to be the same in all conditions. He succeeds.
The rear axle is a bit more conventional, Snusher opts for a De Dion arrangement, where two parallel tubes are used instead of the usual single arm. At the rear, brake drums are placed against the differential, at the front the drums are mounted ‘in the wheels’ as standard.
Although Snusher’s main wish is a low weight, the power source is of course also essential. Under the hood is a Coventry-Climac FWA four-cylinder. Light weight, strong and the 1, 089 cc is fairly easy to tune and adjust, resulting in an output of around 71 hp.
Edwin starts the project in 1954 and is finished two years later, just before the start of the race at Crystal Palace in August. Snusher finishes his debut race in fourth place, an unprecedented achievement. He enters the race at Goodwood that year but is unable to start due to bad luck, but is on the start list. This may seem like an insignificant fact, but we will return to it in a moment. Snusher quits his motorsport career for unclear reasons and the EJS-Climax ends up in his shed. There it stands until 2001, without engine and gearbox, which it sold. After a few years, Snusher’s stepson takes care of the car and the EJS is completely restored. The restoration is one of the highest level, where everything has to be as beautiful and perfect as the original. That’s no problem at all because there are stacks of old photos from the 1950s, of the build, the frame, the suspension, everything. An original FW400 engine is found, identical to the one that once found its way into the tubular frame and a gearbox from MG. The engine and gearbox are so correct that FIA papers are present (Period E, 1947-1960, Special, HS4) and it is possible to participate in almost every classic racing class, but events such as the Mille Miglia should also be no problem. Perhaps the most important thing about being on the start list of the previously mentioned race at Goodwood in 1956: participation in the Goodwood Revival is therefore one of the possibilities and there is of course no event where this EJS-Climax comes into its own.
Standing next to the car, it is only noticeable how small the single-seater, weighing just over 400 kilograms, is. Small, low, snake-lined. Where many of these types of projects are just not quite right in terms of line, the EJS-Climax is of unprecedented beauty. The fiberglass body could have been drawn by a great designer.
Once in the small seat, the car feels like a jacket. One that is connected, that is. The pedals are difficult to operate, the small steering wheel also has to be operated with force. Driving away is no different: the racing clutch, the wild camshafts and the direct reactions to the accelerator immediately give the impression that this is a hardcore racer. Once on the road, the car comes into its own. The steering feels very precise, is no longer so heavy and small steering reactions are immediately converted into a course change. The EJS-Climax can be steered into corners with an incredible amount of precision and feeling. Where many cars have a somewhat ‘loose’ rear, the two rear wheels follow the front as if on rails. Unprecedented what Snusher managed to manufacture more than 65 years ago! A drive on public roads is actually an insult to the EJS-Climax, although the Mille Miglia must be a true experience. No, if you want the EJS-Climax to come into its own, we recommend driving the EJS to a circuit, having a fantastic day and then driving back home yourself.
The Goodwood Revival must be a real party to experience with this unique car. A car that came out of a dream, drives like a dream and is ready to make dreams come true for the next owner. That owner also receives the thick photo album with original black and white photos, a thick folder with documentation and the original registration certificate with the car.
