Death
He was killed at Pendine Sands on 3 March 1927 while trying to regain his own world land speed record that had been broken just weeks earlier by Malcolm Campbell on the same beach. He was suffering from influenza and turned down a lucky black cat charm from a little girl, announcing "I will put my faith in my maker!" His Liberty-engined car, Babs, used exposed chains to connect the engine to the drive wheels, and the high engine cover required him to drive with his head tilted to one side – the right. On his final run the right-hand drive chain broke at a speed of 170 mph (270 km/h), causing a fatal head injury.
Parry-Thomas was buried in St Mary's Churchyard in Byfleet, Surrey, close to the Brooklands Circuit. His car was buried at Pendine Sands close to where he died. Some 40 years later, and not without controversy, it was recovered and over the next 15 years restored by Owen Wyn Owen at the time a member of Bangor University. For parts of every summer, Babs is on display at the Pendine Museum of Speed, Carmarthenshire, and occasionally at Brooklands Museum.
Read more about this topic: J. G. Parry-Thomas
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