The Swift Life of Archie Scott-Brown

By Pete Vack
Photos by Graham Gauld

The story of Archie Scott Brown is incredible, unbelievable, astonishing, inspiring, heart rendering and finally, tragic; and in today’s world, such accomplishments would be totally impossible.

He was born on Friday the 13th of May, 1927 in Glasgow, Scotland, with no proper right forearm, “merely and elementary thumb and palm, which started below the elbow.” His tiny legs lacked a shinbone, and the legs were “radically twisted and bowed, and the club-feet were tiny, with no discernible toes.” The right foot was twisted outwards about 90 degrees, the left foot almost 180 degrees. Of the limbs, only the left arm and hand were normal. His mother had the German measles (rubella) during her pregnancy.*

At the age of two, he began a series of 22 separate operations over a period of two years to straighten his legs and allow toes to form. While the operations were considered successful, Archie would grow to only 5 foot 1 inch in height, and walk with a limp. He would never have a full right arm or hand.

Equipped with these liabilities which would send most of us into deep and dark depressions, Archie Scott Brown instead became a world class driver who competed on even terms with Stirling Moss, Masten Gregory, Roy Salvadori, and won. He also participated in Formula One events with a Connaught, placing well in a car which did little but fill the grids. From 1951 to 1958 Archie scored at least 65 first place finishes in class or overall, driving everything from an MGTD to the latest Lister Jaguar, an astonishing record for a normal driver, much less one with only one fully formed arm.

A driver on the edge

If driving with only one arm (he was able to hold on to the steering wheel with his right stub arm) wasn’t enough, Archie perfected the four-wheel drift and was constantly at odd angles to the road, drifting from corner to corner in a display of unequaled car control.

As an eleven-year-old I read about the Scott Brown driving style in Sports Car Graphic, complete with the above map of Silverstone. While we couldn’t be there to see him in action, the diagram said volumes.

And while we were merely looking at magazines, VeloceToday correspondent Graham Gauld was busying photographing and meeting Archie, who was, after all, a fellow countryman. Gauld said that “Anyone who ever watched William Archibald Scott Brown drive a racing car, then met him face to face, simply had to marvel at his phenomenal car control.”

“Archie was a nice guy and great fun. But because of his birth defects, the RAC had initially refused him a racing license even though he had shown his brilliance in sprint meetings down south. Eventually he was given a full international racing license for the 1955 season,” recalled Graham.

At that time his career really got underway, driving primarily for Brian Lister who virtually built cars around him, powered by MG, Bristol, Maserati and later Jaguar engines.

Today of course, Archie would not be able to obtain a racing license. Graham wrote, “Sadly, he was killed in a racing accident at Spa in 1958 when driving one of Brian Lister’s Lister Jaguars, and though his accident could have happened to anyone, it created more stringent regulation regarding driver disabilities and the issuing of licenses.”

Archie’s driving style – almost unique – would also have a limited life. Most drivers knew that while drifting was spectacular, it was usually quicker to slide less. Archie achieved equally fast laps, but did so because tires were high and narrow, and had incredibly stiff sidewalls but limited grip. By 1958, Dunlop had developed the R5 racing tire, lower in profile and with much more flexible sidewalls, and offered a lot more grip. It put huge strains on the suspension systems and along with mid-engine layouts, spelled the end of drifting as the fastest way through a corner. The new R5 compound was installed on Archie’s last powerful Lister Jaguar, the extra load, causing several steering failures before his final race at Spa on May 18, 1958.

“Obviously there were those who blamed his infirmity, but Jim Clark – who was driving in his first international event at that same Spa meeting – was in no doubt that the changing conditions put Scott Brown in a situation he could not have avoided,” said Graham.

But Graham also noted that it was Archie’s accident that put Jim Clark off Spa. “Jim once remarked, ‘You know in Grand Prix racing, I love Monaco and never won a Grand Prix there, but I hated Spa and won there four times.’ He told me how he noticed that the rain had started over on the back of the circuit and then he saw a cloud of black smoke go up and drove past Archie’s burning car.”

We had help from Graham Gauld, who wrote quite a bit about Archie in his book, Scottish Motor Racing and Drivers, Havelock Publishing 2004. You can find a copy at Chaters chaters.co.uk. https://www.chaters.co.uk/advanced-search

A very readable, well written and thoroughly interesting book was written about Scott Brown in 1995 (Patrick Stephens, Ltd) by Robert Edwards, titled Archie and the Listers. Find it at a variety of booksellers for a variety of prices ranging from $80 on up.

*Quotes from book. Babies who are infected can have serious birth defects, called congenital rubella syndrome, according to Webmd.com.