Prince Birabongse Bhanudej Bhanubandh (15 July 1914 – 23 December 1985), better known as Prince Bira of Siam (now Thailand) or by his nom de course B. Bira, was a member of the Thai royal family, racing driver, sailor, and pilot. Thai: พีรพงศ์ภาณุเดช; RTGS: Phiraphong Phanudet. Info from Wiki
Bio by Stephen Latham
It is ironic that as well as royalty (George VI, Queen Elizabeth, Princess Margaret and Lord and Lady Mountbatten) attending the 1950
British GP, also competing in the race were Swiss Baron Emmanuel ‘Toulo’ de Graffenried and a Thai Prince.
Born in the Purabha palace in Bangkok in 1914, and a cousin of the King of Siam, the prince’s full name was Birabongse Bhanutej Bhanubandh though he became known to racing fans as Prince Bira. His father held key posts in government, including Field Marshall of the Royal Siamese Army, and was the younger brother of King Chulalongkorn while his grandfather, King Mongkut, was supposedly the inspiration for the monarch in the famous musical The King And I. Besides his racing, the prince also competed in sailing events at four Summer Olympic
Games and was a talented sculptor, with exhibitions at the Royal Academy.
After finishing studying at Eton, he started racing a Riley Imp in 1935 at Brooklands, which was followed by a blown MG Magnette. However after seeing the ERAs of Raymond Mays and Pat Fairfield in action, he managed to persuade his older cousin Prince Chula Chakmbongse to buy him one for his 21st birthday. Shortly afterwards he finished second in the Grand Prix de Dieppe, despite having to stop for repairs during the race, then finished second at Berne, fifth in the Donington Grand Prix and third in Brookland’s Mountain Championship (both times winning the voiturette class). They raced as White Mouse Racing (supposedly after Bira’s childhood nickname of ‘nou’-mouse) with Chula running it, assisted by skilled mechanics, including Stan Holgate and Lofty England. The team would eventually have three ERAs, named as ‘Romulus’, ‘Remus’ and ‘Hanuman’; after a rebuild of the third one it was called ‘Hanuman II’.
Cars raced during this time in colours which represented nationalities (blue for France, red for Italy) but his cars’ pale blue and yellow colour was supposedly inspired by the dress of a Scandinavian woman he met. However these became regarded as Thailand’s racing colours.
Prince Bira shone in the ERA and took seven wins, the first with Romulus at Monaco in 1936 and he cut quite a figure, stylishly attired in blue Thai silk overalls. Victories in the ERAs that season included the JCC International Trophy, the Grand Prix de Picardie and the Albi Grand Prix. He was second to Dick Seaman’s Delage on the Isle of Man and finished third at the Nürburgring plus won the first of his threeBRDC Road Racing Gold Stars.
The team purchased a Maserati 8CM and with it that year he took the Coupe de Prince Rainier at Monte Carlo, plus finished fifth at Donington and third at Brooklands, However, he almost did not start in the race at Monaco due to being temporarily blinded in his left eye the week before in the British Empire Trophy Race at Donington, when a stone smashed his goggles. Although some glass had been removed, the drops he used rendered him temporarily blind in that eye.
In 1937, they purchased Dick Seaman’s Delage and all of its spare parts and upgraded them with new chassis and independent suspension. However they were disappointing and he often had to revert back to his old ERAs, which were now outclassed by the new Maseratis. When Pat Fairfield was killed at Le Mans in 1937, the BRDC called on Prince Bira’s skills as a sculptor to design a memorial to him. He did this plus also donated the Fairfield Memorial Trophy and the Siam Trophy, to be awarded by them to the winner of the British Empire Trophy race. He was the first driver to lap Phoenix Park at over 100mph, and set 1500cc records at Donington and Crystal Palace which were never beaten before the war. In 1938, due to tightened finances, the team had to concentrate on British events to cut costs though victories included the Campbell Trophy at Brooklands, the Imperial Trophy at Crystal Palace, the Coronation Trophy, the London Grand Prix, the
Nuffield Trophy and the Siam Trophy. He also finished second seven times and third twice and the year saw him receive his second BRDC Gold Star.
1939 saw victories at the Nuffield Trophy with Hanuman, the Sydenham Trophy and the Sydenham Plate with Romulus and the JCC International Trophy race at Brooklands with the Maserati. Unfortunately, in practice at the Coupe de la Commission Sportif at Reims-Gueux, Hanuman was destroyed in a crash; though Bira was thrown out he fortunately escaped with minor injuries. He shared an Alfa Romeo 6C with Raymond Sommer at Le Mans that year and began planning to organise a race in Siam but with the outbreak of the Second World War, racing came to an
end.
During the war Thailand came under Japanese occupation, and so was forced to declare war upon Britain, which, technically, made Bira and Chula enemy aliens. They spent most of their time in Cornwall and Chula ran the local Home Guard there. Prince Bira loved flying and had made made several long-distance flights in small planes and gliders and he became an instructor at St Merryn Royal Naval Air Station, specialising in teaching glider pilots. In 1952 he flew from London to Bangkok in his own twin-engine Miles Gemini aircraft.
When the War ended, he returned to racing, and finished sixth at Chimay in the Maserati 8CM in 1946 plus went on to win the Ulster TT with the rebuilt Hanuman ERA. After purchasing a new Maserati 4CL, he won the Grand Prix des Frontières with it and won as a works driver in F2 for Simca-Gordini at Reims and in the Manx Cup.
He continued racing the Maseratis but after he and Chula parted company, he raced Maseratis for Enrico Platé in 1949, winning the Swedish Grand Prix and took a number of podiums. His best results in 1950 with the Enrico Platé Maserati were fifth at Monaco and fourth in Switzerland, while in non championship races he was fifth at Zandvoort and second in the Goodwood Trophy. He continued the following year with an OSCA V12 powered Maserati 4CLT/48, as Ecurie Siam, but it performed poorly and he only entered one GP in it, in Spain. He won the Richmond Trophy at Goodwood and set a new lap record there, although a skiing accident would cause him to miss most of his racing that year. His next two seasons were frustrating ones, racing an Equipe Gordini in 1952 and the following year a Connaught and Scuderia Milano Maserati but didn’t take any championship points.
At 1954’s opening race in Argentina, he drove a works Maserati to sixth place and in an A6GCM he finished second in his heat of the International Trophy, sixth in the Bari Grand Prix and took a win at the Grand Prix des Frontières in Chimay. He drove his new Maserati 250F in the Belgian Grand Prix to sixth, while at the French Grand Prix, despite having to use third gear for most of the race, he finished in a strong fourth place. In his second Le Mans 24 Hour race, he shared an Aston Martin DB3S with Peter Collins though they retired from the race after an accident. While at Le Mans, he asked fellow Aston Martin driver Roy Salvadori if he would take his sister- in-law to bed that evening to which Roy mischievously replied “I’d rather have your wife!” Prince Bira thought about this for a moment, then said “No, I don’t think that’s on, Roy. It’s either my sister-in-law or nothing.”
At the end of the year he took the 250F to New Zealand and won the the Grand Prix at Ardmore, followed by third in the International Trophy at Teretonga. The win at Ardmore would he his final victory as, after racing in 1955’s non championship Valentino GP, Bordeaux GP and Silverstone’s International Trophy, where he finished third, he announced his retirement.
Prince Bira moved back to Thailand though he had a three-masted schooner at Cannes plus a home in the South of France. He went on to compete in sailing events in four Olympic Games, the 1956 Melbourne, 1960 Rome, 1964 Tokyo and in 1972 at Munich and at the 1960 Olympics he competed against another ex Formula One driver, Roberto Mieres.
Sadly, in 1985, Prince Bira died after suffering a heart attack at Barons Court tube station in London. However there was no identification with him except for a handwritten note which was found in his pocket by the Metropolitan Police and sent for analysis at the University of London. It was written in Thai and addressed to Prince Bira and once the Thai Embassy were informed they realised his identity. A Thai funeral service was held at the Wat Buddhapadipa in Wimbledon.
In 1985, the Bira Circuit (based just outside Pattaya, Thailand) was opened and named in honour of Prince Bira.
Prince Bira – The prince and I – from 
