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Captain Eyston

Captain George E.T. Eyston
George Eyston cropped.jpg
George Eyston in 1931
Born 28 June 1897
Bampton, Oxfordshire, England
Died 11 June 1979 (aged 83)
Lambeth, London, England
Nationality British
Occupation Engineer, inventor, racing driver
Awards Military Cross, (1917); Segrave Trophy, (1935); Légion d'honneur, (1938); OBE, (1948)

Captain George Edward Thomas Eyston MC OBE (28 June 1897 – 11 June 1979) was a British racing driver in the 1920s and 1930s, and he broke the land speed record three times between 1937 and 1939. He was also an engineer and inventor.

George Eyston was educated at Stonyhurst College and Trinity College, Cambridge. His study of engineering at Cambridge was interrupted by World War I when he was commissioned in the Dorset Regiment and later served in the Royal Field Artillery. After the war he returned to Trinity College and was captain of the First Trinity Boat Club.

Eyston's racing career began before World War One, when he was still a schoolboy, and raced motorcycles under an assumed name. After the war (in which he was awarded the Military Cross) he reverted to his own name, moved on to car racing and entered European road races, particularly in Bugattis, with success in races such as the 1921 and 1926 French Grand Prix

Later he became well known for racing supercharged MGs such as the Magic Midget and the K3 Magnette. His entries with the K3 included the 1933 Isle of Man and 1934 Northern Ireland Tourist Trophy events, and the 1934 Mille Miglia

He fitted a diesel engine from an AEC bus into a car built on a Chrysler chassis and used it to set high-speed endurance records at Brooklands, attaining 100.75 mph in 1933 and 106 mph in 1936.


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