‘Political upheavals and the Suez Crisis were disastrous for Flower’s Le Mans plans. The ACO turned down his entry’
Colour was rare in motoring books of the 1960s, but as a car-mad youngster I was absorbed for hours by a series of compact titles sponsored by The Sunday Times. Measuring just 31 2in square, A Picture History of The Motor Car ran to 20 volumes, with atmospheric illustrations by Dutch enthusiast Piet Olyslager, a former Bugatti mechanic.
As well as all-time greats, Olyslager featured many lesser-known cars, with Gatso V8 and Grand Prix Cisitalia 360 among the surprising cover subjects. But it was a violet sports-racer on the front of volume 18 that fascinated me. The only clue to the Egyptian origins of the Phoenix SR150 were the Sphinx and pyramids in the background of the surreal image.
For years I could find little information on this sleek machine, until the much-missed Mike Lawrence told me it was the project of Raymond Flower, a former rally and racing driver with business links to Egypt. As well as six Alpine events, Flower also braved the dangerous Tourist Trophy in Dundrod. With George Philips he finished 12th, but in 1955 his Porsche 550 was involved in a grim multi-car accident.
From 1908, the Flower family had been selling cars in Egypt, including Rolls-Royces and Bentleys. During the 1930s it started assembling Morris commercials in Cairo, but after WW2 the business suffered a big fire during local nationalist riots.
Flower regularly travelled to England and hung out at Londonʼs Steering Wheel Club. Aspirations to launch an Egyptian sports car were initiated by a meeting with Kieft designer and aviation engineer Gordon Bedson. Various projects were planned under the Phoenix name, including the Flamebird, using Morris parts and a tubular chassis. To promote the marque and Egyptian prestige, Flower was keen to build a sports-racing car and, to save time, a chassis was acquired from Brian Lister, while a Lea-Francis/Connaught engine was developed by Jack Turner (accounts vary about the 2-litre unitʼs specification).
The project attracted the interest of the Hon FitzRoy Somerset, a young racing enthusiast who was encouraged by Flower to design the bodywork. The chassis and engine were sent to Egypt, where the impressive aluminium body was built. The Phoenix SR150 was tested
