The roots of the 500 movement go back to before the war when two overlapping groups of enthusiasts built and competed in cars based on similar principles to those of the 500 Club, namely simple, light weight cars, using relatively small capacity engines and aimed at the amateur.

Pre-history; CAPA and the Specials

The roots of the 500 movement go back to before the war when two overlapping groups of enthusiasts built and competed in cars based on similar principles to those of the 500 Club, namely simple, light weight cars, using relatively small capacity engines and aimed at the amateur.

The first influential group consisted of a number of racing enthusiasts in Bristol who set out to enjoy themselves with some low budget motor sport. They formed a club which they called CAPA (after the initials of the five founding members: (Dick) Caesar and (Franklin) Coombs, (Keith) Aldridge, (Bobby) Price, and Adrian (Butler). The members also included Joe Fry (who allowed members to compete on his estate at Lulsgate), his cousin David Fry, Keith Steadman, and others. The CAPA cars were mainly based on Austin Sevens with body work removed and a mild tune.

Start of a CAPA race

The second group is usually referred to as Shelsley Specials, simple chassis cars with all unnecessary parts removed and highly tuned engines used for competing in hill climbs, notably Shelsley Walsh. One good example is the Wasp of Jack Moor. He built three cars prior to the war for this category and later took over the Freikaiserwagen 500 of David Fry which he further developed into Wasp IV, one of the most successful and long serving 500 specials. The other great example was the original Freikaiserwagen itself, built by David Fry and Hugh Dunsterville in 1936 around a GN chassis and V twin Anzani engine, a highly successful car.

Three classic specials, Wasp, Spider and GNat