Steve Hole tells the story of the glorious WB120 Special built between 1957-1963
A delightful little machine, conceived in 1957, called the WB 120 Special, for you this week.
‘WB’ stood for Bob WHITE and Dr John BEST, incidentally.
White was an electronics engineer and manager at Rank Research Laboratories, while Best was a physicist who had been an early customer of Colin Chapman’s Lotus when they were based in Hornsey, where he bought a Lotus Eleven in kit form in 1956. He took it to White to build it for him.
Best had gained first-class degrees in Maths and Physics at Cambridge University before joining EMI. Among other career highlights were his involvement with the introduction of television and devising an airborne radar system used by RAF Fighter Command during the Second World War.
The WB 120 Special is said to have come about following Best’s reported disgruntlement with Colin Chapman over his Eleven. It’s said that he’d suggested a few revisions but was dismissed.
He couldn’t have been that upset, though, because he bought a Lotus Elite in 1957. He was quoted as saying that he thought the Elite was ‘twitchy when pushed hard’.
Although the WB 120 Special is regarded as a Lotus Eleven Special, the only mechanical parts used from the iconic Lotus model were its Coventry Climax FWE engine, gearbox and rear axle.
Best came up with a spaceframe chassis and also designed the aerodynamic body. The car features fabricated wishbones and uprights cast from Elektron.
It was ready for the road in 1963 and was sufficiently streamlined and exploited its 730kg weight to manage 120mph on the M1 around Hertfordshire (this was a year before the introduction of the 70mph speed limit in the UK.
White and Best were said to have been delighted with the handling and performance, although following the tragic death of John’s wife in a road accident, he understandably lost interest in the car, and it was sold.
Only parts of its later history are known, with a 25-year chunk missing. A real mystery. The current owner discovered the car in 1990 and spent the next 12 years diligently researching its history and bringing it back to its original glory, and he still owns the car to this day.