John (Jack) Lemon Burton was born in 1911, the son of engineer John Lemon Burton senior whose unusual middle name came from his mother Charlotte Lemon. At the time of Jack’s birth John senior was living in 27 Hopefield Avenue Brondesbury but then moved several times before settling at 17 Cavendish Road Kilburn in 1930 where he died in 1954. .jpg)
17 Cavendish Road in 2012
Jack in the garden with his home-made pedal car
As a teenager, Jack sometimes drove his father’s car, and to hide his age, wore his father’s bowler hat while his father sat beside him wearing Jack’s Kilburn Grammar school cap. Jack was fascinated by Bugattis, and bought his first when he was aged 16. Later his father bought Jack the blue Type 37A which Sir Malcolm Campbell (the world land speed record holder) had driven in competition. Jack began racing Bugattis in Brookwood and broke the lap record in 1939. 
Malcolm Campbell’s Bugatti owned by Jack Lemon Burton
In 1927 with help from his father, Jack established a company to service and sell Bugatti automobiles from 55 Netherwood Street Kilburn.
1955 OS map of Kilburn showing 17 Cavendish Road (left) and 55 Netherwood Street (right)
As the business grew, Jack became a global dealer with the largest stock of used Bugatti cars in the world. In 1946 he owned the Bugatti Type 41 ‘La Royale’, called the biggest car in the world, which was 20-feet long. This amazing car had luxurious bodywork by the Park Ward company in Willesden. Jack bought it ‘sight unseen’ for £500 from Captain Cuthbert Foster who had jacked it up on blocks throughout the War. In 1956 Jack sold the Royale to the collector, John W. Shakespear from Illinois. 
A Bugatti Royale, one of only seven built
By 1957 Jack had moved the workshop from Netherwood Street to 2 Lonsdale Road in Queens Park.
The 1963 phone book shows Jack had left Kilburn and moved to Aldbourne Green in West Sussex, where he built his Paynesfield miniature railway, a two mile long 15-inch gauge line, taking seven years to lay, served by two steam locos, a diesel engine, and seven wagons. Jack died here, aged 83, on October 1994.
The Bugatti Owners Club (BOC)
On 18 December 1929, over drinks and cigars in Simpson’s in the Strand, Col. Godfrey Giles, Douglas Bloise Madeley and T. Ambrose Varley came up with idea of setting up a club for owners and people interested in Bugatti cars. The Club became a Limited Company, incorporated on 22 March 1930.
The first meeting was held six days later at Colonel Giles’ house 10 Cambridge Gate Regents Park. Varley became the Secretary, Madeley was the Treasurer, and a Committee or Council was formed with the Colonel as Chairman. Jack Lemon Burton was an early member and later, President.
By the end of 1930 there were about 40 BOC members, a year later their number had doubled, and in 1932 there were 150. Motoring enthusiasts who did not own a Bugatti applied for membership, and to add interest in the Club, some were admitted.
The club was supported by Ettore Bugatti who had been born in Milan in 1881 and co-founded the car company that bears his name. With support from his father he set up a factory in Molsheim in North-East France in 1909. ‘Le Patron’ as Ettore was known, and his son Jean, gave the Club silver cups for competitions and a Type 51 Bugatti which could be used by members who did not own their own car.
The present home of the Club is Prescott House near Cheltenham. Col. Giles and his brother Eric acquired the property in 1937 and set up a hill climbing course for the Bugatti owners on the 69 acres estate.
Jack in 1989
Here is an interesting 15-minute interview with Jack Lemon Burton recorded in 1989.
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