The Midget Racing Car Club of Ireland was
formed in 1936 by Dudley Colley, Count Cyril
McCormack, Cyril Murray (Car Rentals), George
Reddy and Leo Manthorpe. They were a group of
well respected gentlemen in the motor and horse
trade and one of their main ideals was to keep the
sport inexpensive. They laid down specifications
for the building of single seater racing cars,
constructed to a very high
safety standard and
racing under the rules and regulations as laid
down by the Royal Irish Automobile Club. Their
ideals certainly appealed to the man in the street
and they enjoyed many seasons racing in front of
large crowds on cinder surfaced tracks in Raheny,
Santry, Chapelizod, Portmarnock and Shelbourne
Park. With the outbreak of war all of these cars
were garaged and the sport interrupted. With the end of the war the cars were taken back
to the racetracks and the sport enjoyed a boom. A
son of one of the founder members returned from
the USA and brought with him what was known
as a Bantam car. This was quickly adopted for
Midget Car Racing and with a group of already
organised competitors from County Wicklow the
basics were laid for the sport as we know it
today. In fact the famous Bantam car silhouette is
still displayed on club membership cards. Also
with the end of the war came rapid industrial
development which signified the end of the
cinder tracks. The club was now faced with a very
serious situation. A decision was taken to race the
cars on grass. This was to prove a huge success,
for it was not confined to stadiums but could now
be held anywhere around the country and this is
exactly how the sport survives today.
