Jack Walton was a club racer based in Yorkshire, who in 1953 had a "one and a half seater" widened, 6 cylinder, Cooper-Bristol built for racing, sprints and hillclimbs. In 1955 he removed the original Cooper body and commissioned a full alloy sports body from Williams & Pritchard - note the style similarities to the Warrior-Bristol. The car was raced successfully on Northern circuits and in Ireland, but sadly Jack only had one season's worth of racing in the newly bodied car before he fell victim to cancer. The car remained in the family before being sold in the mid-sixties. Sadly the chassis and body were separated in the mid-seventies and it is not known whether the W&P body survives, although the chassis is believed to survive with a more conventional Cooper body.

These amazing, previously unpublished, pictures of RUM 2's body in build were taken by Peter Mayes, who was a young voluteer mechanic at Lotus in the early days. Whilst poking around the workshop he took some photos of Lotus 9 bodies being built (also note the Lotus 6 nosecone in the foreground above), and was sufficiently intrigued by this "special" that was lurking in the corner to snap some pics. When he recently discovered them, he got in touch with the Register to share his pictures.

We are very grateful to Peter for the use of his photos, and to Peter Ross of the Historic Lotus Register for putting him in touch.

If you know any more about the history of this enigmatic car, or the whereabouts of the lost body, drop us an email!