Kaye “Kaye Don” Ernest Donsky was born in Dublin, Ireland on April 10th 1891 to a family of Polish ancestry. Don’s father would unfortunately die when Kaye was only 17. Don would abandon his studies at Wolverhampton Grammar School and around 1912 would begin entering road trials on motorcycles and worked as a tire tester for Avon Tire Company. In 1914 WWI would break out and Don would enlist as a pilot in the Royal Flying Corps. Don would eventually go on to serve as an artillery observer in R.E.8 reconnaissance plane on the Belgian front.
When racing resumed in 1919 after the war had ended, Don would try his hand at motorcycle racing. Kaye lived in Kingston-Upon-Thames at this point, and employed Charles Cooper as his full time mechanic and tuner. Cooper would later found the Cooper Car Company after WWII and would win two Formula 1 Championships with then revolutionary mid-engined monoposto designs. Cooper would remain Don’s Chief engineer until 1934.
On April 16th, 1921, Don would set a flying kilometer speed record of 69.62mph aboard a 250cc Diamond Motorcycle. An incredible speed for such a small machine of the time. The Diamond sported a 2 speed Sturmey-Atcher gearbox and overhead valves. However the Diamond was notable for many of the items that it did not sport. The Diamond lacked brakes, chain guards, fenders, “automatic” carburetors and had no mechanical oil pump. Roughly every mile Don would have to depress the manual oil pump plunger mounted on the motorcycle’s top tube. Additionally, the “front brake” lever actually operated a second oil pump that directly oiled the crankshaft’s big end. In addition to keeping the engine happily fed with lubricant, Don would have to constantly adjust the mixture of fuel and air flowing through the carburetor, a function that later carbs would perform “automatically.”
Later on in 1921, Don would shift his attention from two wheels to four. Don would buy a Hawker A.C. monoposto from Harry Hawker’s widow after Hawker was killed in an airplane accident. The Hawker had a well developed overhead cam 1.5 liter inline 4 cylinder and was the first 1.5 liter to surpass 100mph. The little Hawker would achieve 105.14mph over a flying half kilometer at Brooklands and later 100.4mph over a flying kilometer. Don’s next racing car was a Wolseley Viper which had an enormous 11.7 liter Hispano-Suiza V-8 aircraft motor stuffed under the bonnet.
Don would make quite a name for himself setting motorcycle speed records and performing 100mph laps around Brooklands and in 1925 was offered a works driver position at Sunbeam. During this time Don would drive 3 cars: The Cub, The Tiger and the Tigress. “The Cub” used a 1,988cc supercharged straight 6 producing roughly 145hp. In 1927 The Cub would win the Gold Vase at Brooklands after making a lap at over 118mph. The Tiger was powered by a 4.0 liter V-12 with an enormous Roots blower that produced 8 pounds of boost at 4000rpm. This combination resulted 292hp and in a chassis of 2200lbs, was quick enough to set a land speed record in 1926 in the hands of Henry Segrave when he posted a two run average of 152.336mph in the flying kilometer. The Tigress was also powered by a 4.0 liter supercharged V-12 and with Don at the wheel would set lap records at Brooklands of 131.76, 134.24 and eventually 137.58mph. Don was the only driver to post a lap of Brooklands exceeding 130mph in the 1920’s and this feat would earn him the “triple gold star.”
Throughout the 1920’s Don would become world famous through his driving exploits. In 1925 he would set another land speed record by going 65mph over 10 miles in a Jappic Cyclecar. In addition to his speed records, Don would prove his talent on a road course. In 1928 he won the Ulster TT driving a Lea-Francis. He was the British Motor Racing Champion in both 1928 an 1929 and also competed in the Isle of Man TT using an MG Magnette.
Kaye Don in his Lea-Francis
In 1927 Sunbeam had built the Sunbeam 1000HP to attempt to set the world land speed record. The 1000 HP was the first non American car to run at Daytona Beach for a land speed record. The car was piloted by Henry Segrave and would achieve a speed of 203.79mph, the first land vehicle to surpass the 200mph barrier. As a follow up to this enormous achievement, Sunbeam would build the Silver Bullet for Kaye Don to hopefully achieve a speed of 250mph. The car was powered by two 24 liter supercharged V-12 engines which produced 2,000hp each. Eschewing a normal radiator, the engines were cooled by melting ice held in a tank with capacity for roughly 500lbs. Additionally the V-12’s used an angle of 50 degrees instead of the more balanced 60 degree arrangement in an effort to reduce the vehicle’s width and therefore its frontal area and drag. While the Silver Bullet was aesthetically striking, its performance proved to be underwhelming. The Silver Bullet was assembled hastily and the two V-12’s were the only examples of their type and proved unreliable. Ultimately the Silver Bullet would fall short of its predecessor, having never exceeded the 200mph barrier.
In addition to the notoriety gained on land, Don was arguably more prolific on the water. Don would travel extensively chasing the water speed record to locales including Australia, South Africa, Italy and the U.S.A. In the early 1930’s Don was embroiled in a battle for the water speed record with American Gar Wood. In 1931 Don was invited to compete in the Hemsworth Trophy Race on the Detroit River. The race was billed as a showdown between England and the USA with Don representing the crown and the Wood brothers, Gar and George, representing America. While preparing for the race, Gar would become the first man to surpass 100mph on water. Only three short days later, Gar would be bested by Don in Miss England II, who had exceeded his speed by only 1.25mph. The race itself would prove contentious with Don winning the first heat, beating out Gar in Miss America IX and George in Miss America VIII. Miss America IX would take damage in the first heat and her crew would work overnight to repair her hull. Gar requested a delay to allow more time for repairs, but was denied by Don’s adherence to the rules. Miss America IX would compete in the second and final heat and would finish first, while Don and his co-driver would capsize Miss England II without injury. Ultimately George would win the race overall as both Gar and Don were disqualified for jumping the starter’s gun by 7 seconds in the second heat.
Don would also leave auto racing in 1934 after an accident during practice for the Isle of Man TT while driving an MG Magnette race car. After an initial drive in practice, Don would complain about the steering and brakes to his mechanic Frank Tayler. Around 10:00pm Don and Tayler would then take the car out for a shakedown run after repairs and improvements had been made. At the time of the shakedown, the TT course had been reopened to public traffic, it was dark outside and being a race car, the MG did not have any lights mounted. Don performed the shakedown run at closed course racing speeds on an open public road and would crash into an oncoming vehicle. The MG lost one of its wheels and overturned, injuring both Don and Tayler. The pair would be admitted to the hospital around 10:45pm, with Tayler later dying at 5:15am. The 5 passengers of the other vehicle were fortunately not injured.
Don was charged with manslaughter on the grounds of negligence as he had been driving at full racing speeds, on a public road, in an unregistered, uninsured and unlit race car. Despite an enormous public outcry from the world of auto racing and the motoring press that Tayler very well knew the risks when he hopped in the MG, Don would still be convicted. Don would serve 5 months in jail for this. Don’s case would be appealed 16 times, but all were ultimately rejected. Don would be released on December 10th, 1934 on medical grounds and would take over a year to fully recover from the injuries sustained in the crash.
Don would attempt a motor racing comeback in 1936 that would prove to be difficult and unsuccessful, but would return to testing tires for Avon. He would predominantly test new compounds at high speeds, sometimes even using his old Wolseley Viper as a test vehicle. In 1946 Don would found ambassador motorcycles which proved to be a successful venture. Ambassadors predominantly used 2 stroke engines built by Villiers and were placed in very well built chassis. Don would sell Ambassador Motorcycles to DMW Motorcycles in 1963, but the brand would be discontinued in 1965, with DMW closing its doors in 1971.
Don would remain retired after the sale of Ambassador Motorcycles until his death at the age of 90 on August 29th 1981. To live such a long and storied life is a feat rarely achieved by racers of the period and almost an impossibility for someone who held speed records on water, 2 wheels, 4 wheels and was also a WWI pilot and airman.