Prince Bira

Posted by Greg

November 8, 2007

Thai Karting Magazine, March 2006

Two days before Christmas in 1985, an elderly, snappily-dressed Asian man was waiting for the train at Baron’s Court station in London, when he fell over dead from a heart attack. Those who came to help found no identification save for a handwritten note in a strange language that no one had seen before. It sounds like the classic beginning to a hard-boiled detective novel but in fact, once the note – in Thai – was deciphered, Scotland Yard soon figured out that the man was Thai royalty, His Highness Prince Birabongse Bhanutej, also known as ‘Bira’. His near-anonymous death on a cold subway platform belied the exciting life of a daredevil race car driver who was once the toast of the racing world as he travelled the globe racing behind the wheel of some of the most advanced automobiles of the time.

Prince Bira was born on 15 July, 1914 in Bangkok, son of HRH Prince Bhanurangsri Sawangvongse and Mom Lek Bhanubhandhu na Ayudhya. His Uncle was the much revered King Rama V, with various Uncles and Cousins making up the bulk of the Thai Royal family who steered the country through a period of intense political and royal confusion that defined the era, as the country made the difficult transition from an absolute monarchy to one with a democratic government.

When he was 13, he and two other nephews of the King (Prince Abhas and Prince Chirasakti) arrived in England to further their studies. Tragically, both of Prince Bira’s parents would die before he was 15 – his mother when he was four, and his father when he was 13, while Bira was studying at the prestigious Eton. Sensing a kinship with the boy, his older cousin Prince Chula , who later studied at Cambridge along with Prince Bira, asked to act as legal guardian. But drawn to pursuits he felt more passionately about, Prince Bira left Cambridge to devote his time to sculpture at the Byam Shaw Art School. Fatefully, his other passion in life was driving – racing, to be precise. Ever since he had convinced his chauffer to let him drive when he was a young boy (would you say no to the prince?), he had been hooked on cars.

It was in 1932 that Birabongse got his first car, an MG Magna. It took him three years to finally get the permission from Chula to enter his first real race; at the Brooklands racetrack, he entered his unfortunately named Riley Imp. Much has been said about the color of the car – light blue and yellow – which Bira chose after seeing a girl wearing a dress of the same color at a reception, and which was soon adopted as the official Thai racing colors. He drove his first race under the name ‘B Bira’ and although he did a fine job, his car simply could not compete with the more advanced machines on the track. He soon replaced the Imp with an M3 Magnette, which he continued to race in local events all around the UK.

The race where his reputation as a skilled driver really started to grow took place on the north coast of France. He entered the 1935 Grand Prix de Dieppe with his shiny new ERA Voiturette B-type. The 1.5 litre cigar-shaped animal was given to him on his 21^st birthday by Chula – quite possibly the coolest birthday present ever – and christened Romulus (after the mythical founder of Rome, not the pointy-eared Star Trek rabble-rousers). Bira’s debut was sensational – despite having to stop halfway through for new spark-plugs, he still managed to place second. After this showing, the well-dressed little Thai with the thick glasses and lead foot soon found his name being uttered at race tracks all over Europe.

One month after this, in Berne, Bira and his Voiturette again finished second in a race that pitted him against some of the best known Voiturette racers around. The season ended with a fifth-place finish at the Donington GP and third-place at Brooklands. In both races, his little Voiturette went head-to-head with the meatier GP cars, but no matter – all but a few were left eating Prince Bira’s dust, as he finished first out of all the Voiturette racers.

The year after this, 1936, is when Prince Bira really set the racing world on fire. His team had laid their hands on a brand new ERA B, christened Remus (who, sadly, never got the chance to found a city due to his brother Romulus killing him). This new car was used solely for British events, while reliable Romulus raced in international competitions, both under the newly-formed ‘White Mouse Stable.’ Bira took his first victory this year at the Coupe Prince Rainier, the Voiturette race that takes place just before the famous Monaco Grand Prix. Successive wins followed at the JCC International Trophy, Grand Prix de Picardie and the Albi Grand Prix. A second-place win was his behind legendary but ill-fated racer Richard Seaman and his feisty French Delage on the Isle of Man, and a third-place trophy followed at Nuremburg, where he was beaten by two Maseratis. This must have stuck with him, because he soon had a beautiful Maserati GP himself, racing it to a fifth-place finish at the Donington GP and a third at Brooklands. His trophy shelf must truly have been crowded by this time, and he was rewarded with BRDC Road Racing Gold Stars in 1936, 1937 and 1938; not bad for someone in his early 20’s.

After Seaman signed with Mercedes-Benz, his old Delage was sold to Bira and his team, who also snapped up the only other GP Delage in England at the time – his fleet was steadily growing. Unfortunately, and despite serious modifications, the cars didn’t meet the expectations of the team, forcing Bira to fall back on reliable old twins Romulus and Remus; however, by this time, they had become rather inferior to the powerful new Maseratis currently burning up the tracks. This posed a rather big problem for Bira and his team – most of their budget had been spent in the attempt to trick-out the Delages, leaving them with a very tight budget to play with; as a result, preparation and development of their ERA cars fell behind. Despite victories in the Campbell Trophy at Brooklands (in the Maserati) and on the Isle of Man and Crystal palace with the ERA, Bira fell behind on many of his following races.

Realising that their resources were stretched, the team picked up another ERA (a C-type with a Zoller vane supercharger dubbed Hanuman) and tried but failed to sell the Delages. To minimise expenses, they stuck to racing only in the UK, where victory laps followed races at the Coronation Trophy, the Cork Grand Prix, the London Grand Prix and the Nuffield Trophy. It was clear to everyone that Bira’s talents as a racer singled him out as one of the best there was.

In 1939, even a wide yellow line (and cool yellow tires!) added to the fleet’s day-glow repertoire couldn’t disguise the fact that the ERA’s were being outclassed by the leaner, meaner Maseratis. Nevertheless, Bira still managed to win the Nuffield Trophy with Hanuman, the Sydenham Trophy and Crystal Palace cup with Romulus and a handicap race at Brooklands with the Maserati. But even the most diligent of racers make mistakes sometimes, and at the Coupe de la Comission Sportif at Reims-Gueux, Bira crashed his Maserati during practice. He only sustained minor injuries, but the crash was spectacular, and the car was totalled.

But in typical Thai ‘mai pen rai’ fashion, Bira bounded back stronger than ever, with plans for bringing the Voiturette race to Thailand. The date for the first ever Bangkok Grand Prix was set for 10^th December 1939, but unfortunately, Hitler and his loopy plans for world domination got in the way when WWII put the kibosh on most of the international events around the globe.

More races and more wins resumed after the war, both with his newly-refurbished Maserati and Hanuman. In 1947, a Maserati 4CL was added to the roster, with which Bira won the Grand Prix des Frontieres, also becoming a works driver for Simca-Gordini, winning at Reims as well as the Manx cup.

The long partnership between Bira and Prince Chula/White Mouse came to an end in 1948. In 1949, Bira started racing his Maserati for the Swiss Enrico Plate stable, where he won the Swedish Grand Prix, and consistently placed in the top three. The relationship continued to prosper, as Bira managed to take 5 points in the 1950 World Championship but, as before, his reliable old cars were again being outperformed by the growling young punks of the motor circuit, this time the new Alfa Romeos. Bira raced an OSCA V12 Maserati in 1951 – after much of the season was a write-off due to a skiing accident – but soon after this, it seems that he started to lose interest in racing. A few middling races in Gordinis and Connaughts didn’t do much to reignite the fire, as Bira spent more and more time in Thailand.

But much like Sean Connery did with Never Say Never Again, Bira returned with a vengeance, whipping a works car around the track at the Argentine Grand Prix to finish 6^th, second in his heat at the International Trophy and the Bari Grand Prix, and took what would be his final victory at the GP de Frontieres in Chimay.

The 1954 French Grand Prix was especially interesting, both for Bira and for the racing world in general. It would prove to be a comeback of sorts for Mercedes-Benz after their sensational year in the 1934 French Grand Prix. Indeed, seven of their reliable 250F’s were racing in this one, as were three brand-spaking new W196 Streamliners. They were joined by three works Ferraris and two private ones, a Maserati A6GCM, a HWM-Alta, with various other growling machines filling out the group. The pilots behind the wheel of these cars read like a who’s who of the racing world at the time; Rosier, Manzon, Berger, Macklin Schell, Villoresi, Marimon – and the near-sighted Prince Bira, who was racing his 250F under his own name.

Bira started the race in the third row, but the dramatic battle that followed soon saw him near the front. While several of his opponents were experiencing various types of engine trouble, Bira’s bullet-proof Maserati kept on going. The laps flew by, as Bira edged ever closer to the front, passing and lagging, swerving and squealing his tires as he blazed his path. On the lucky 13^th lap, Bira found himself in the wake of leaders Fangio and Kling, both driving powerful new Mercedes cars. On lap 20, it looked like Bira would be muscled out by Behra in his Gordini and Trintignant in his Ferarri, as they both came up beside him. Then Behra erred, smashing his car into a fence, causing Tringtignant to swerve onto the grass – Bira powered forward. Mother nature tried her hand too, as a spot of rain caused Bira to fall back a bit, before it stopped, allowing him to regain his podium position. But fate, the cruel mistress that she is, decided that it was about time for Bira’s gas to run out, forcing him to drop back to fourth place as a Ferarri blazed past his Maserati and across the finish line. It was the last three championship points that Bira would ever take.

After this, Bira took things easy, setting up a small car company in Thailand, where he moved after he ended his racing career. He grew restless though, and soon moved back to France, and eventually England, where he lived a quiet life until that fateful day in 1985 at the Baron’s Court tube station.

To his competitors and those involved in racing with the Prince, his reputation as a gentleman was well known, despite his dominant competitive streak. His talents were never in doubt, as many often wonder how high his career would have soared if not for the untimely intervention of WWII. He remains a role model for not only Thai racers, but Thais in general. For Bira, the sky was the limit, and he proved it every time he piloted his car around another bend.

Commisions