This week’s famous face is one intrinsically woven into the history of motoring in this country - and one closely associated with the Run.

Sydney Charles Houghton  ‘Sammy’ Davis was an apprentice with Daimler before World War One, and competed in motor cycle trials with W. O. Bentley in the early years of the 20th century before progressing to racing cars. During WW1 he worked with W.O. Bentley on the development of the BR 1 and 2 rotary aero-engines, and after the war he became the Sports Editor of Autocar, where he wrote under the pen name ‘Casque’ (French for ‘helmet). 

As a journalist for Autocar, Davis was offered the first-ever test drive of the iconic 3.0-litre Bentley by his friend W. O. Bentley, and he also raced for the marque, winning Le Mans for them in 1927 with Dr Dudley Benjafield.

It’s no surprise that ‘Sammy’ Davis was a participant in the London to Brighton Run for several decades, driving an early 3 1/2 h.p. Benz and, most frequently, ‘Beelzebub’, his 1897 Bolleé tricar, which he drove on the Run into the 1960s. Shown here taking part in 1966, he finished almost every year, though on one occasion he had to push Beelzebub 12 miles in order to do so.

In 1930, having completed the Run, Davis and two other participants, Jackie Masters and John Wylie, sat together in the bar of Brighton’s Old Ship Hotel and hatched a plan to form a club for veteran cars. This led to the birth of Veteran Car Club of Great Britain, of which Davis would become the first President. He would also serve on the Competitions Committee of the Royal Automobile Club.

When he died in 1981 at the age of 94, ‘Sammy’ Davis left behind a remarkable legacy of achievements and writing – as detailed in Bill Boddy’s appreciation of this remarkable man in Motor Sport magazine that year.