Racing cars

[garethj]

When you look at Grand Prix racing now and it costs millions of pounds to put a single car on the grid every Sunday, it's hard to believe that it wasn't always like this. Back when life was simpler, there were blokes in a shed who tried hard with not much money to compete against the major teams. This is the kind of thing we can relate to on Autoshite

 

 

It looks like a Ford F3L prototype racing car....

 

....but uses a 165bhp Vegantune* Lotus Twin Cam, here it is in February 1968 still without paint

 

But first came a scale model that was used to try out the aerodynamics

If you don't have a windtunnel, you spray a mist of water on the front and look for vortices at the tail!

The original the idea of the tail section was to create a Vortex which in effect made the car 3 feet longer, very slippery in those days 165mph with 165hp.

 

What could have been the progenitor of this lightweight, gull-winged, mid-engined Group 6 racecar from 1967? The Chevron B6 and B8 were contemporary but the one that preceded all of these would certainly have been the Eric Broadley-built Lola GT. The Lola GT was almost a prototype for the car taking shape in Ford minds, a low, sleek GT coupe first displayed at the London Racing Car Show in January 1963. Its central structure was a monocoque, with tubular frames front and rear.

 

John Green's decision to build a GT car came about in 1967 when he raced a Diva. At 35 he was already national monoposto racing champion in Britain and at one time was also Fairthorpe's works manager. He had his own garage called JG Motors at Station Road, Leighton Buzzard. The decision to build a GT race car attracted the attention of David Taylor. David had worked for Ford before joining JW Automotive Products (thus becoming involved with the Mirage Ford) and was a potential customer of John’s before he got involved in the design of Daren. John himself worked on chassis design with mechanic Mike Aird. The end result was an exquisite shape that the press billed as being faultless with a sparkling engine.

 

 

 

John Green: "I was co-driving a Diva in long distance races in Europe in 1967 and decided I needed my own car for 1968, having looked around for a suitable car without luck I decided I could build a better car. Over the winter I built the Mk1 for my own use, space frame chassis alloy body, Lotus Vegentune engine, Mk5 Hewland gearbox, windscreen was from a John Wyer Mirage. I later made a de Dion rear end as a test rig. This was so successful that I had customers wanting me to build cars for them, hence the start of Daren Cars."

 

David Sewell: "David Taylor worked on the GT40 and Mirages before becoming involved with the Daren Mk1. He was a casual visitor to John's garage and saw the Mk1 under construction. Like myself he “volunteered†to help. At the time he was with JW. Hence the source of the screen... I came in as the modification to the de Dion rear were being completed so as far as I am concerned the detailed stuff was done but I did attend a few meetings. Then the CSI changed the rules and we started on the open MK2's and a small production run of an initial six - later another four I believe. (Two were destroyed in accidents and one in a garage fire).

 

 

Bodywork for the Mk1 was a joint project. John Green did some parts himself and Maurice Gohm Associates (a specialist sheet metal company) the other parts. Maurice Gohm also did the Ford F3L. Dave Taylor worked for Jeff Uren who ran the Ford saloons in the 60's that led to the JW Automotive set up. Dave was a traditional draftsman - no CADCAM in those days. John normally roughed out the design outline and Dave completed the drawings in detail.

 

It was about the time of John Green's return from the 1000 km that David Sewell became involved with Daren Cars. Sewell recalls that the Mk1 had had a carb fire that caused the retirement and it was after the event that John decided to fit the de Dion tube rear end whilst other work and the repairs were being carried out. The Merlyn rear uprights were discarded and the rear uprights became part of the fabricated tube assembly.

 

 

The little GT's debut was as Castle Combe with a class win. The following day (sounds like a busy weekend), John took an outright win at Llandow (15th April 1968), near Cardiff with a new lap record. Before heading for the Nurburgring 1000km (in 1968), there would be yet another win, at Silverstone. John tool a number of class wins and placings during the 1968/69 season, notably at Mallory Park, Snetterton and Silverstone.

 

A change in GT racing rules for 1969 meant that minimum weight restriction would be lifted, thus making the Daren Mk1 obsolete, and hence the sale of the car to a buyer in Singapore as the team began working on the Mk2.

 

 

John Green sold the car to Stanley Leong in Singapore in 1971. Stanley had already brought in a number of very interesting cars since returning back from Sydney with a works MGA and had a loosely built team – the team did remarkably well with an Elva Mk7S BMW, a Merlyn Mk7 and a Mk10 in Rodney Seow’s hand. Stanley was nearing the end of his racing exploits and when Indonesia racer Henkie Iriawan (best with karts but who raced Elfins, Pallisers, and a bent Brabham) approached, a deal was struck. Stanley entered the Daren in the Singapore GP of 1971 but decided he'd had enough of racing. The plan was therefore to let Henkie run in the Sport and GT car race at the Singapore Grand Prix in 1971. Henkie indicated that he was very impressed with the speed and handling (akin to a kart was how Henkie described the Daren) in a practice run, but had to rush back to Jakarta on short notice and so missed the event. Henkie never did buy the car as he was involved in a fatal accident while karting in Ipoh soon after. The car then went into hibernation - stripped off of all mechanicals. Stanley had some work done to get it restored for road use but after a number of attempts, laid it to rest at one of Tan Ah Bee's workshop.

 

Here's how it was discovered in 1986

Gullwing doors - Attached via Sisal string and pins. These were done as a way of jettisoning the "Gull Wing doors" in the event that the driver needed to exit rapidly. It worked for Peter Gaydon at Nurburgring in 1968! The string was later replaced by a nylon cord after the rebuild.

Gullwing doors, spaceframe rear.

 

Rear uprights would have been used before the de Dion modification was incorporated and the trailing arm links can still be seen from the earlier Merlyn suspension. The de Dion axle was done a year or so into the car's life, after the 1968 Nurburgring 1000km, the rear upright now becoming part of the de Dion axle. John did not continue with the de Dion tube in the subsequent Mk2 and M3 cars.

 

The switches and labeling was when David Sewell entered the scene. Stopping at John's garage one day David was looking at the MK1 undergoing the rebuild post Nurburgring and mentioned the switches/wiring harness etc and John said "If you can do it better come and do so" and that was the beginning of a very long involvement.

 

It looks beautiful in pictures, so lets have lots. I love the ones taken in the backstreet garage

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* Ex-B.R.M. mechanics George Robinson and John Sismey built up Vegantune after leaving the Owen Organization around 1964. They became of of the largest tuning outfits in the English Midlands, concentrating on racing engines - particularly Ford, BMC and Vauxhall. A favorite with Lotus owners (from Cortina to Elan) they also offered turnkey engines for lower Formulae and club racing.

[Barrett.in.the.USA]

Amazing stuff, this is totally new to me! I'm constantly surprised by how many cars there are out there that I've never seen or heard of before, especially when they are as beautiful as this.

 

One minor point though, Maurice 'Gohm' should actually be Maurice Gomm - metalworker extraordinaire who built my favourite of the the special bodied Jowett Jupiters

[Alexg]

WOW, great info and really interesting! I love old car racing pictures too so great thread!

[CreepingJesus]

Love the stories of these small teams, and I always wonder how many barns belonging to their well-heeled customers (the 'gentleman' racers of yore) hold obscure old GT and single-seat specials.

It's funny how many of the same names turn up over, and over again, isn't it? People who had 'something to do with' JW Automotive/Cosworth/Lotus and many others. Proper enthusiasts, I reckon. It's a pity stuff is committee built these days!

[AeroNautiCal]

What a gorgeous car, seems that they were ahead of their time.

[Rod/b]

Where that car was built is, I think, now a body repair place, although the building might be more recent. It's right opposite the main entrance to Leighton Buzzard station.

[Pete-M]

I'd never heard of these until this thread.

 

Pretty little thing innit?

[HillmanImp]

That was a good read. I wish I could be bothered to sit down learn about something and spew it all out for everyone to read. Thankfully I dont have to as the kind people of Autoshite will do that for me.

 

Top work, was very interesting.

[forddeliveryboy]

Great pics, love the entrepreneurial spirit - which still exists in sheds on old farms in the back of beyond, far from the tentacles of the authorities.

[flat4alfa]

Where that car was built is, I think, now a body repair place, although the building might be more recent. It's right opposite the main entrance to Leighton Buzzard station.

It's all gone now and three-storey flats are up. The body place is there but the garages are long gone. The Railway Hotel is just about still standing. I live across the hills a bit so might pop over and listen for ghosts.

 

 

This is a proper, proper thread and should be applauded! Brill!

[Formula Autos]

Great idea for a thread - racing cars with a touch of the Autoshite about them.

 

Speaking of which, how about this?

The Marcos XP.

Supposedly the only one ever made and, according to a recent Classic and Sportscar article, now road-registered.

Powered by a Repco-Brabham V8, and styled by the prolific Dennis Adams (of Probe 7 fame), I like this a lot.

Lovely, innit?

[hennabm]

Corgi did a model of the Marcos XP in Corgi Junior and Cori Rockets.

[morris_ital_lover]

...anybody else think it looks remarkably like those sh*te beetle based Nova kit cars?

 

 

m0rris