speed of almost 150 kp/h (95 mph) and three were entered. Managed by former Bentley driver Bertie Kensington-Moir, he had former other ex-Bentley drivers Baron André d’Erlanger, Douglas Hawkes and Clive Gallop alongside regular drivers Francis Samuelson and Frank King (also Lagonda sales-manager). Alvis had also established itself in the British racing scene in the 1920s and was now concentrating on touring-car racing. The new FA12/50 model featured innovative front-wheel drive and could get up to 135 kp/h (85 mph) with its 1.5-litre 50 bhp engine. Two cars were entered for their racing debut, driven by Major Morris Harvey and George Purdy and Sammy Davis (race winner with Bentley) with Bill Urquhart-Dykes. However, only Harvey was really familiar with the different driving style of front-wheel drive. Salmson was back with just a two-car team but looking to emulate their success in 1927 it was strong on paper. The Grand Sport had proven reliability and was entered in the Biennial Cup with 1927 winners, works drivers Georges Casse and André Rousseau. The team also entered the only supercharged car to get to the starting line. With the new rules permitting blown engines taking effect this year, they were ineligible for the ’27-28 Biennial Cup. The 1.1-litre engine with a Cozette supercharger was equivalent to a 1.43-litre engine and therefore had 20 more laps added to its target distance. It was driven by Jean Hasley / Albert Perrot. After an acrimonious departure from Salmson in 1923, André Lombard was barred from competing for five years. In that time he founded his open company, Automobiles Lombard, making small voiturettes like Salmson. The first production model was the AL3, designed by Edmond Vareille (another ex-Salmson employee). Low-slung, the standard double-overhead-cam 1.1-litre engine had a 4-speed gearbox and had a top speed of 130 kp/h (80 mph). Lombard got ex-Salmson works driver Lucien Desvaux to drive. A second car arrived for Amilcar co-founder André Morel but did not practice. A new challenger to Salmson for Index honours this year was Bollack Netter and Co (BNC). Founded in 1923, they started with small, quick cyclecars and then introducing models with bigger engines that proved competitive in racing. Three versions of their new Type H were offered (named after famous race-tracks), including the supercharged “Montlhéry” but it was a regular “Monza” model that was bought to Le Mans. This small 2-seater had a Ruby DS 1100 pushrod