From the archives of Bob Montgomery, motoring historian
REMEMBERING WALTER SEXTON: The Walter Sexton Memorial Trophy, to give it its correct and full title, is Irish motor sport's most famous award, and has been won by most of the greats down through the years of its existence.
It remains the one trophy with which the average motorsport enthusiast is familiar. Few, however, are aware of its origins or history.
Walter Sexton was the honorary secretary of the Royal Irish Automobile Club in the 1920s, as well as having been one of Ireland's pioneer motorists.
He was a quiet, self-effacing individual of great organisational ability, the sort without whom no significant organisation can exist. When the club brought forward the idea of commencing a series of races to be called the Irish International Grand Prix, Walter Sexton was the one who steered the idea to successful realisation.
Indeed, it was Walter Sexton who became the driving force behind the organisation of the races, and who made the event one in which the young Free State, out of which until then very little good news had emanated, could be proud. The first running of the Irish Grand Prix in 1929 was widely acclaimed across Europe as a tremendous success, and a model to which other international races should aspire.
Walter Sexton's role in this wonderful success was recognised from the start, and in honour of his enormous contribution, the Royal Irish Automobile Club commissioned a two-thirds replica of the trophy which had been awarded to the winning driver in the Grand Prix. That trophy in turn had been a magnificent replica, standing some 20 inches high, of the Phoenix Column which was removed from its original site and re-erected at the gates of Áras an Uachtaráin in order to leave the course clear for the Grand Prix race.
Both trophies were made of solid silver, and created by Messrs Chancellor & Son, silversmiths, of Grafton Street, Dublin.
Following Walter Sexton's death, his widow presented the trophy to the RIAC. It was decided to institute a new Speed Championship open to all Irish competition licence holders which would be decided on points gained in Irish Speed events each year. The trophy was awarded for the first time in 1948, when Dudley Colley became the winner.
Since then the Walter Sexton Trophy has become the most highly prized in Irish Motor sport, with the names of many of the sport's greatest drivers gracing it. In recent times it has been awarded - together with a very substantial cash prize - to drivers who have made an impact and show real potential in the early stages of their career. Walter Sexton, we can be sure, would have approved.
THE FIRST FULLY ENCLOSED CAR: The first car to have a fully enclosed body was the French 2 ½ hp Renault of 1898. Apart from its novel enclosed body, this was an outstanding design and one was driven from Paris to Rambouillet in 2 hours 49 minutes in 1899, covering the 65 miles at an average speed of almost 24 mph, quite outstanding for the time. The Renault was designed for the use of doctors on their rounds, and had a very short wheel-base which gave rise to it being described as having a "silhouette like a top hat on a roller skate".