A century ago there were precious few cars on Kent's roads.
But in one part of the county, the sight and sound of huge racing machines in the countryside was a familiar one to locals.

At the wheel was Count Louis Zborowski, a 'gentleman driver' who, at the age of 16, had reportedly become the fourth richest under 21-year-old in the world following the death of his fabulously wealthy mother.

His exploits and self-built cars later caught the attention of James Bond author Ian Fleming and inspired him to write the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang children's story which spawned the musical film about a car which could fly.

The young Count was able to indulge his passion for motor racing after inheriting £11 million in cash - an eye-watering £1.3 billion in today's money - plus real estate in the United States, including seven acres of Manhattan and several blocks on Fifth Avenue in New York.

He lived at Higham Park at Bridge near Canterbury - now known as Highland Court - which his widowed mother, Margaret Zborowski, who was related to the Astors, bought in 1910 for £17,500, and included 225 acres of farmland and 12 houses.

She then spent £50,000 refurbishing the properties.

Louis, who was half Polish and half American, was determined to be a racing driver, despite the death of his own father, William, who fatally crashed at La Turbie hillclimb in Nice, France, in 1903.

He became a patron of Aston Martin and raced for the marque at Brooklands and in the 1922 French Grand Prix. The following year he competed in the Indianapolis 500 in a Bugatti and the Italian Grand Prix.

But he found more fame with his own race car creations, built in the stables at Higham Park.

Working with engineer and co-driver Captain Clive Gallop, who was later racing engineer to the 'Bentley Boys', they produced a monster 23-litre Maybach-powered racer, which became the first in series of cars they called Chitty Bang Bang.

Locals became familiar with the roar of the cars as the young Count tested them out on his long driveway and the surrounding roads.

He also had an auto workshop in St Radigun's Street in Canterbury where the racing cars were developed.

It is said that the vehicles were so loud that a by-law was passed prohibiting them from entering within the city walls.

In all he built five cars, racing them with some success at Brooklands, the last being a 27 litre aero-engined monster he called 'The Higham Special'.

Ever the adventurer, in 1922 Louis, his wife Vi and Clive Gallop together with a couple of mechanics took two Chitty Bang Bangs across the Mediterranean for a drive into the Sahara desert.

The following year, he competed in the Indianapolis 500 in a Bugatti and then drove in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza in a car designed by American engineer Harry Arminius Miller.

Count Zborowski was also a railway enthusiast and created a 15-inch gauge track called the Higham Railway, around his estate near Canterbury on which he ran a steam engine.

Recently, a 70-year-old film was discovered in a cupboard and found to be one of a series of home movies made by the Count and Clive Gallop who attempted to recreate favourite scenes from popular Hollywood silent films.

Louis starred as a villain in search of hidden treasure and many scenes featured the mile-long private railway at Higham.

It was discovered in a collection of amateur films owned by well known Canterbury businessman Sidney Bligh who died in 1942.

The footage has now been edited and digitised by Canterbury Christ Church University film lecturer Tim Jones for the Canterbury Amateur Film Archive and can be seen here.

The Count's personal railway became the inspiration for him and another racing friend, Captain J.E.P. Howey to construct a long-distance passenger-carrying railway line in the same gauge.

Together they founded the 14-mile long Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway for which the Count ordered the manufacturer of several locomotives. Now run by a trust, the line remains a popular tourist attraction and means of local transport.

But perhaps inevitably, after surviving a number of crashes, Louis's luck eventually ran out.

He had joined the Mercedes team in 1924 but died in one of their cars, after hitting a tree during the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. He was just 29 years old.

He never saw the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway in action because of his untimely death but the project was continued by Capt Howey.

And after Louis's death there was another tragedy, this time related to one of his own cars.

His prized Higham Special was bought by J.G. Parry-Thomas to make bids on the land speed record. But in an attempt at the Pendine Sands in 1927, the car overturned at more than 100mph and caught fire, killing Mr Parry-Thomas.

Following his death, villagers in Patrixbourne began to see visions of the a ghostly Chitty Chitty Bang Bang thundering through the lanes.

Author Ian Fleming had long been a fan of Count Zborowski, first watching in awe as a boy when he raced at Brooklands.

Later when his friend Walter Whigham acquired Higham Park, re-naming it Highland Court, he visited the estate and learned more about the Count's exploits which inspired him to write the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang story.

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