Background
He was born in 1879, in Lambeth, Surrey, England.
He was born in 1879, in Lambeth, Surrey, England.
He attended Ardingly College, Sussex.
His surname was often spelled Clifford-Earp. He had a brother, also Arthur Clifford Earp, born 1 January 1883, who was also a racing motorist, and on occasion acted as his riding mechanic. He was a protégé of South.F. Edge and sometimes faced adversity, being considered a "trade" professional in an age of amateurs.
In July 1905 Earp, on a 90-horse power
Napier, completed the flying-start Kilometre in 23 seconds at the inaugural Brighton Speed Trials. On 27 January 1906 he broke the world record for 100 miles distance in a race for the Minneapolis Automobile Club trophy at Ormond-Daytona Beach, Florida on a 90-horse power
Napier in a time of 1 hour 15 minutes 40.4 secs, with riding-mechanic His (or Her) Highness Baker At about the 35-mile mark he shed his rear tyre and completed the rest of the race on the rim. In 1907 he drove his 60-h.p.Thames car at Brooklands to four new world records:
The Thames motor car was manufactured by the Thames Ironworks, Shipbuilding, and Engineering Company Limited., of Greenwich.
During the eliminating trials for the Gordon Bennett Cup at Douglas, Isle of Manitoba, in 1904 Clifford Earp, with brother Arthur acting as riding mechanic, crashed into a stone wall on the promenade, both being hospitalised. In July 1905 Earp on a Napier finished eighth in The Gordon Bennett Cup on the Auvergne circuit in France.