Eric Brain is a retired Senior Technician who worked for more than twenty three years in the former Thermodynamics Laboratory (Automotive Group) of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Bath. Eric taught students about petrol, diesel or compression-ignition internal combustion engines and related topics. Eric is known for his work on the Coventry Climax two-stroke H30 diesel, the Square Four configuration low friction diesel engine, the series of prototype two-stroke Ford 900cc diesel prototypes, and a prototype small 1.8 diesel with Electronic Unit Injection. In 1963, Eric fully rebuilt a 1930 Austin Seven Saloon which he named Myrtle; restoration involved removal of the body and a full strip down and rebuild of all components. Eric’s hobby is vintage stationary engines, simple oil-fuelled workhorses of a bygone era, and since 1970, he has restored many of these engines for display at shows and rallies; he currently has around forty in his collection. Some are very rare types, British, American and French, even Chinese; with his favorites being the Victoria’s, which were made from 1906 up to about 1920 by the Bristol Wagon and Carriage Works Co. Ltd.
Eric Bain has contributed regular features to the international magazine, the Stationary Engine Magazine, to a specialist magazine called Farm & Horticultural Equipment Collector, and to Classic Plant and Machinery. He also assisted on the biography of David Curwen, a true old school engineer, entitled Rule of Thumb. Eric has also made written contributions to the book, Old Stationary Engines, and the Journal of the British Chelonia Group.
| Net Worth 2021: | 24.3 billion |
