Sir Henry Ralph Stanley Birkin, 3rd Baronet, known as Tim Birkin, was a British racing driver, one of the "Bentley Boys" of the 1920s.
15 Facts About Tim Birkin
2.
In childhood, Henry Birkin gained the nickname "Tim", after the children's comic book character Tiger Tim, created by Julius Stafford Baker, who was extremely popular at the time.
3.
Tim Birkin married Audrey Clara Lilian Latham, daughter of Sir Thomas Paul Latham, 1st Baronet, and Florence Clara Walley, on 12 July 1921; they divorced in 1928.
4.
Tim Birkin had seven children including wildlife film-maker Cindy Buxton.
5.
Tim Birkin joined the Royal Flying Corps during World War I and gained the rank of Lieutenant in the service of the 108th Field Brigade, serving in Palestine where he contracted malaria, a disease from which he would suffer for the rest of his life.
6.
In 1921 Tim Birkin turned to motor racing, competing in a few races at Brooklands.
7.
Soon Tim Birkin, racing with a blue and white spotted silk scarf around his neck, would be a familiar sight on the race tracks driving with the works team.
8.
The next year Tim Birkin was back as winner, racing the "Speed Six" as co-driver to Woolf Barnato.
9.
When Bentley Motors refused to create the supercharged model Tim Birkin sought he determined to develop it himself.
10.
At lap ten "Sabipa" crashed and was thrown out of his Bugatti, Tim Birkin only avoiding the injured driver by the slightest of margins.
11.
Tim Birkin continued however to support Birkin's red single seater track car, the original Blower No 1.
12.
Tim Birkin kept his motor workshop going by entering into a partnership with Mike Couper and developing a business specialising in tuning high performance cars.
13.
The traditional view is that the wound turned septic, whilst others say Tim Birkin suffered from a malaria attack.
14.
Tim Birkin was buried in the churchyard at St Nicholas Church, Blakeney, Norfolk.
15.
Tim Birkin's life was portrayed in the 1995 TV drama Full Throttle with comedian Rowan Atkinson in the role of Tim Birkin.