Francis Curzon, 5th Earl Howe
Francis Richard Henry Penn Curzon, 5th Earl Howe, styled as Viscount Curzon from 1900 to 1929, was a British naval officer, Member of Parliament, and racing driver and promoter. In the 1918 UK General Election he won the Battersea South seat as the candidate of the Conservative Party, which he held until 1929. While in Parliament he took up motor racing, and later won the 1931 24 Hours of Le Mans race. He ascended to the Peerage in 1929, succeeding his father as the 5th Earl Howe. Earl Howe co-founded the British Racing Drivers' Club with Dudley Benjafield in 1928, and served as its president until his death in 1964.
Francis Curzon, 5th Earl Howe
Earl Howe (right) and 'Tim' Birkin after their victory in the 1931 24 Hours of Le Mans race
Commodore The Earl Howe (right) with his son, Lieutenant Edward Curzon, on board the battleship HMS Howe during WWII
The 1931 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 9th Grand Prix of Endurance that took place at the Circuit de la Sarthe on 13 and 14 June 1931.
Winners: Birkin and Howe
Mercedes SSK
Bugatti Type 50
Alfa Romeo 8C-2300