1920 Ballot 3/8 LC Grand Prix Two-Seater

- March 23, 2026

The Ballot 3/8 LC was a cutting-edge French racing car, capable of 124mph at a time when many normal road cars struggled to hit half that. The engine’s double overhead camshafts, four valves-per-cylinder and hemi-spherical combustion chambers was the work of the genius mind belonging one of the “Charlatans”, Ernest Henry. The Charlatans were a secretive operation consisting of Robert Peugeot, two drivers Jules Goux and Georges Boillot, the designer Paolo Zuccarelli and, of course engineer Ernest Henry, who were pioneering the 4 valve Hemi Twin Cam design.

These innovations led to its victory at the Italian Grand Prix. The two French Ballots competing took first and second spots, while a Fiat 802 – the Italian crowd’s favourite – took third. But the Ballots won for their strategy, conserving fuel and tyres against the much faster Fiat, and not once stopping.

A three car team was sent to Indianapolis where the biggest rival looked to be the Duesenberg, which also featured a straight eight engine, be it of a slightly simpler design. The Ballots were easily the quickest cars out there but luck was certainly not on the French manufacturer's side. The team's fastest driver, Rene Thomas, crashed heavily in practice and only barely made it to the race. Various problems slowed the Ballots down in the race and eventually the team had to settle for second, fifth and seventh behind the winning car of Louis Chevrolet.

With racing resumed in Europe, Ballot focused on the continental Grands Prix in 1921. In the prestigious French Grand Prix, three-litre Ballots placed second and third. The company's biggest success came a few months later when Jules Goux won the inaugural Italian Grand Prix, held in Brescia. The cars were raced into the 1922 season both no major races were won. A maximum replacement reduction to two litres for the 1923 season was Ballot's cue to abandon Grand Prix racing and turn its full attention to road car production.

In 1923, the famous English racing driver Malcolm Campbell bought the Ballot, sold it to ‘Bentley Boy’ Jack Dunfee in 1927, and in 1933 the car went to Australia, where Michael Crowley-Milling bought it in 1940. #1006 remained in the family for 74 years.