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The Golden Age of British Stock Cars

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Senior (F1) Racing in the 1960's

60 more 1960's Seniors

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Sixty More 1960's Seniors

Watch out for pink labels for most recent additions

Here you can see the cars of Johnny Ayling, Barry Hebborn, USAF's Jim Berg, Roger Minkley, Barry Van den Oetelaar, Rog Taylor, USAF's Ted Janes, Jock Lloyd, Geoff Harrison,Reg Pryor, Darkie Wright, Melvyn Bassey, Alan England, Frankk Bourne, Brian Tuplin, Jim Esau, Rod Dore, George Ansell, John Pratt, Tony Wicks, Chick Woodroffe, John Scott, Karl Grossman, Jim Potter, Skid Skinner, and Bill Harrison. 

Above: the cars of Jock Lloyd 131 and Darkie Wright 7 --- classic racing and engineering.

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April 2008:  Terry "Chick" Henson is featured also in the "60 More Seniors" page, but since today my computer is refusing to let me edit that page, here are some new photos of Henson's exploits, all from 1962:  First, a snowy January photo of Chick's ex-Ron Pears car.  Then, at a cold test day at Brafield.  Then, a programme write-up of that test day, with several other famous names.

April 2008: Here's a no-nonsense character for you:  under the number 339, Arthur Townsend bought good cars one after the other, and went hell-for-leather against his many rivals.  The black/white car shown here was an ex-Toon car.  Next photo is of Arthur Townsend on parade at Brafield.  Townsend was Welsh, from Pontypridd,  growing up hard in the "dirty thirties", and moving to Leicestershire set about building his own grocery business alongside his father and brother (travelling vans/converted buses).  Before entering stock-cars, Arthur had done very well in the early days of kart racing.   Arthur advanced from B to A grade briefly, and contested the 1967 World Championship at Harringay, which was just one of the occasions he got into a real ding-dong with Ellis Ford.  Arthur also tangled with one of the Cayzers (John) at Brandon, getting them both suspensions, and Charles Ochiltree even wrote about it in the Brandon programme.   "Uncle Arthur took no crap from anyone", commented his nephew.   His team buddies in stock-car racing were "Davie" Crocket, Jack Lord, and Bryn Davies.  Although this website likes to emphasize a cheery all-friends image of our beloved sport, the whole truth has to include the fact that many if not most drivers had a tough side, and a full-contact sport means that tempers are lost and grudges are remembered.  As Ochiltree points out (and we all know) that wonderful big smile of Fred Mitchell's would be on his face just before and just after he stuffed you in the fence or gave you a warning in the pits ---.

After he left racing, Arthur turned his hand to several businesses, and ran the Tudor Hotel in Leicester and a flourishing bar, the "Tivoli", in Gibraltar.  Arthur passed away at age 76 in 2004 while living in Coalville Leicestershire (yes, also home of the Toons).  My thanks to Jim Patterson, who, as Arthur's young nephew 40 years ago, had the thrill of following the stox "circus" from track to track, and who first got me digging up these facts.  Thanks also to Steve Gateley, Ken Mason, and Rick Young.

March 2008:  I have had the following photo 'buried & lost' in my computer files for a long time, but now it has surfaced.  Dave Berresford #260, waiting calmly for the shale storm to start at White City stadium, with arms resting on each door.  He also appears in one of the sport's most spectacular "flying" photos by a track photographer, in the 1970's section of this site.

March 2008:  Undeservedly missing from this website till now (though he can be seen in a Darkie Wright photo further down this page):  Johnny Piper raced under numbers 365 and 10.  (photographer unknown).  He achieved red-top status and also had the honour (?!) of piloting that famous "COP CAR" at Brandon Stadium.  It was a WW2 Daimler armoured scout car which (fortunately?) had its two-pounder cannon removed from the turret.  Fans from the old days recall it was driven onto the track as a barrier to protect a car and driver that had been rolled and was vulnerable.  For old hands and newcomers I will insert a photograph and a drawing of the kind of armoured vehicle, often called a "Ferret" here:  Photo, and Drawing.  Johnny was from the London area, and raced at Harringay, West Ham, Ringwood, Belle Vue, and others from the late 1950's to the early 70's, and also held positions in the BSCDA.   He used an Olds Rocket motor, which was probably what powered him to a 3rd place in the 1968 British Championship at Harringay. Thanks to Rick Young and Roger Melanaphy for the  background info.

The golden lad, Alan Wardropper (still thriving in the motor business today).

Page out of history --- Ron Knight kindly sent this scan from the stock-car album.  Ron and his wife at one time ran the Tony Allen fan club.

One-time Brafield deejay Rick Thomas sent this classic 1962 photo of "the usual suspects" on the job: Ralph Howley's V-8 Pilot spun, while Mick Lewis 191, Albert Chignall 186, 'Lightning" Bob Laurie 98, and Johnny Goodhall 200 find their way past. Crunch Crunch, in 1963 by the pits bend there was always head-banging fence action:  can anyone identify the cars?

   Stock-cars and Rock-stars? A message from "Rick" [Russ] Thomas the Brafield deejay during the early sixties, and who really knows his rock 'n' roll, tells me that a regular record-requester was Biddy Meek, the mother of the great British sound engineer and rock producer JOE MEEK.   Joe's memory lives on in the Joe Meek Appreciation Society [ www.rhis.co.uk/jmas ] .  If you jived or twisted to Heinz, Mike Berry, Lonnie Donegan, John Leyton, Dave Berry, and my own heroes "His Majesty Screaming Lord Sutch and His Savages", you were hearing Joe Meek productions.  Joe Meek wrote and produced the all-time hit "TELSTAR".  Joe's whole family, including brothers Eric and Arthur, loved stock-car racing.  Anyone reading this in summer 2006 should know there's a Joe Meek life-and-work exhibit at the Gloucester Folk Museum [Westgate St., Glos] until 30 September.

It happened so often that you could call it the "Fred-and-Frida" show --- so often did superstar Fred Mitchell collect the goodies from the wonderful Frida Arnold, wife of the sport's great ambassador Peter Arnold.

APRIL 2008 Update: Thanks to Ken Mason, here is a nice programme photo of Fred Mitchell as winner of the 1966 World Championship at Belle Vue, being congratulated by the NEWS OF THE WORLD SPONSOR.

From Aycliffe in 1967, two nice photos courtesy of racer John Rigg.  Two "little" F1 cars that look slim enough to be F2's but they aren't. Foreground is Earl Testo #389 in a space-framed Pontiac motor, and behind is Ron "Dixie" Dean the Aycliffe promoter in a space-framed Ford powered motor. 

One of the drivers who stayed faithful to Jaguar power was Terry Coell #133, who would tow his car all the way 'oop North' long before there was an M6.  Terry was from Plaistow, East London, the same as another Jag exponent, Les Suckling #132.  Now how did two Jag racers from the same place get numbers 132 and 133 assigned, I wonder?? Rick Young points out (from hard experience) in the photos that instead of today's luxury transporters, these guys towed the racer on dolly wheels.  Here is Terry's Mini-bodied Senior racer in the pits at Brafield, autograph added!  And for his fans, a choice of this sticker, or that sticker.   [Rick Young collection].

The car that changed the game.  Once in a decade or more, a car appears that moves stock-car racing 'up' or 'forward'.  This one did it for the sixties, built by Johnny Brise, who won the World Championship with it in 1959 and 1960 under number 103.  Johnny King inherited this car, [and it bears King's #6 in this photo].  Keith Barber's books and magazines have often described the machine -- a mix of Mercedes, Jeep, and Ford that simply revolutionized the idea of 'handling'.  Brise was a brilliant engineer, who also pioneered go-karts in the UK, and whose famous son Tim tragically died just as he was making a name for himself in Grand Prix F1 racing with Graham Hill. 

The family that races together ---- stock-car racing is known for its "tribal" character:  old hands can recite dozens of families in which different generations competed (The Scrivens had three generations on the track at one time) .  Here are the famous TOONS from Coalville ---and I suspect the Coalville phone book has dozens more.

I'm never sure just how many Toon brothers were racing -- but here are two shots of Jack Toon #199.  First, catching a ride with Ellis Ford in 1966;  then, his immaculate car, which was later raced by Brian Tuplin.

Spinning at Harringay in approx 1967.  Johnny Ayling # 299 going round and round, helped by Barry Hebborn # 282.  Now, that Ayling body looks to be from a pickup, and if so, did BriSCA ban him like they did to Keith Barber's F2 pickup?  Sadly, Harringay Stadium is no more.  Hebborn had raised the stakes in the mid sixties by importing a brand-new NASCAR racing 427 Ford V-8 motor built by Holman & Moody -- probably a thousand pounds even back then.

Barry Hebborn from Oxford ran this ex-Jim Berg (USAF) car under # 282.  

Scary bit of drama at Harringay in 1966 with Barry Hebborn's 282 car:  this clipping is taken from the Veteran driver's newsletter.  Barry H. had asked Fred Mitchell to try out that new 427 motor -- Fred hit the gas and the throttle stuck open at the end of the home stretch.  The car rode up the fence wires, hit the floodlight pole, dropped down sideways, and the steel RSJ pierced the car just 6 inches behind the driver's seat!  Mechanic Pete Schafer ran over and found Fred uninjured still in the seat.  You can see that both axles were torn off, and the tire 'cushions' that probably saved this from being a lot worse.

Dick Young points out that Barry's Topolino came from famous USAF airman Jim Berg* # 471 (stationed at Chelveston, Northants).
* Ex-USAF veteran Clayton Sampson tells me about working with Jim to build an early stock-car with a Canadian 3/4 ton chassis, Morris body, and a 6-cylinder Bedford lorry engine.  Clayton was buddies with folks like Jim and Doc Kelly, mentioned elsewhere.  

Thanks to Steve Gateley for this 1960-ish snap of Jim Berg at work with mechanic Bob Green, and Jim's car being built at USAF Chelveston.  When Jim raced, it was # 471, but when he couldn't make a race, Bob would get out the paint and race under # 470!

More "Yanks": Clayton Sampson sent me these two bits of identification:  his BSCDA membership, and his wife's membership of the USAF Chelveston car club, from 1960.

Roger Minkley, from Gamston, Notts, was an occasional racer who was known as dealer and collector of diecast models;  this car was an ex-Rod Falding motor.

Barry Van den Oetelaar, a Dutch driver from Reading,  # 386 , was one of those cheery characters the crowds always welcomed when he appeared on the track. I believe Barry was later the Dutch promoter of Spedeworth racing, and had a brother who raced in Holland.

Can you squeeze an American V-8 motor into a Mini? Yes, and still leave room for Rog Taylor in his 198 car.

A nostalgia special: Ted Janes was a USAF airman who raced with the Alconbury Spartans stock-car team based at USAF Alconbury (Huntingdonshire).  Here he is in 1966 but with a new car that harks back to the 1950's -- Ted built this #66 as a nostalgia exercise for demonstration runs.  Dick Young provided the photo, but tells me that those shiny chrome wheel trims were removed before Ted ran this thing in anger. And here from another fan is Ted's autograph: janesauto.jpg

Jock Lloyd -- King on shale and a threat everywhere.  Jock ran the Whitehouse Garage in Ashford, Kent.  This version of his car might heart attacks to snobby Jaguar XK140 collectors.  He won the World at West Ham in 1961, with a different body on, and even up-market magazines like AUTOCAR sat up and reported it. Thanks to Tony Organ for this colour pic. Jock Lloyd's 1961championship-winning XK Jaguar

October 2007 Jock Lloyd update: Much thanks to Chris Holmes for the following photos and facts.  Chris apprenticed to Jock at his White House garage, and travelled with Jock as race mechanic --- what a great way to learn your trade.   Chris could be found in the garage by the age of 12 and was stripping and rebuilding Jaguar engines by the age of 16.  But Jock taught something else, just as important: total professionalism with the job and with people. Here are three scans of Stock Car News as it gave the wonderful results of the 1961 World Final at West Ham:  The cover (Jock almost invisible in the background), and the two page write up with results (1) (2) .  Sorry if I can't make the image clearer. 

April 2008: Big thanks to the sender of this document:  someone at the 1961 WF at West Ham carefully noted the placings of that meeting and the results in their programme.  Here is history!

Also, Jock's Mk 7 Jag, his Morris-bodied stock-car, and finally Chris Holmes himself with his  MG Magnette saloon at his first (Spedeworth) race.  With this car Chris won the Walker Bennett Trophy for white-tops, then was promoted to blue top status. The MG raced and also hit fences at Aldershot, Eastbourne, and Wimbledon until it gave up the ghost.  Chris recals the long-ago pleasures of travelling and racing for TWO QUID start money, towing the Magnette on a converted caravan chassis behind his trusty Mk II Zephyr.  "Those were the days".

Thanks to Chris "TOTTER" Holmes: this car in the Brafield pits, Jock's Andy Capp Special , is a Morry MINOR on an XK140 chassis, and it won the World in 1961. "Totter" recalls the signwriting being done by a brilliant paint man named Frank Howlett, who taught Chris the art.  Frank Howlett was the starter at the Staines track in 1958.  Chris still remembers the joy of Victory 46 years ago, AND the next morning's hangover!   'Totter' Holmes worked for Jock in the 1950's and 1960's, and he gratefully remembers the late Jock Lloyd's character as a man -- something that several veteran drivers' friends and mechanics have mentioned to me --- there seemed to be something just a bit special about that generation of drivers.

In the next photo, Jock had made the car think it was a Le Mans racer by bolting on 3 twin-choke Weber carbs etc; tough stuff: Jock's "supermodified". In 1968 Rick Young snapped the 'supermodified' Jock Lloyd Jag at Swindon's track. Fans could buy this neat transfer to show their appreciation [Dick Young]    Jock first raced at Staines in 1955, and his last win was in 1966 at Harringay.  Jock died in 2000, and is missed especially by VSCA members, for whom he was president for years.  

Les Wesley 127, son of Ben Wesley, and note the programme says he "looks like a parson, but ---"! [Scanned by Di Sutton]

Wish I knew more about Geoff Harrison and his tidy # 127 "Senior" at Brandon (Coventry) 1966, Geoff's bomb Anyone know Geoff?  Thanks, Roger Harris, who was mechanic for Geoff.  Harrison was one of the Cheltenham drivers, sponsored by Denis Blunt.  Geoff was also in the Malvern "A" skittles team which was made up mostly of stock-car drivers and mechanics! It is sad to record Geoff Harrison's passing, April 2004 at the age of 75. 

 Thanks to Di Sutton, here's a programme photo of Geoff Harrison "The Cheltenham Flyer".

Geoff Harrison is visible on the left, white overalls, in this Brandon photograph that shows the high-reach crane they used in the fifties and sixties to unload stock-cars from their transporters --- younger fans may not know the ingenious ways that drivers carried their cars; at least one chap would arrive with a dump-truck with a stock-car inn the dumper!  At Brafield they would drive off the flatbed onto the back slope of the spectator banking! [Photo courtesy of Steve Gateley]

Dick Young tells me the rear bodywork on Reg Pryor's car (1968) is from a BMW Isetta bubble car. Reg Pryor # 109  Reg was from East London. Whatever became of bubble cars?

Londoner Darkie Wright built quality racers: sheer craftsmanship.  His cars were spotless, a fabricator's dream.  Darkie's trademark was the Mercedes grille which looked like Mercedes-Benz had designed it specially for a stocker. There may have been some cleverer cars, but none were more neatly and thoroughly built. This photograph is Brandon (Coventry) 1966.  Later he even shoehorned a big Jaguar V-12 motor into his Senior.  Having begun at the sport's inception, 1954 at New Cross, where Darkie scored a 3rd place, he was still bouncing off steel girders at an age when most men have retired quietly to slippers and a footstool.  Here is Darkie sharing the limelight with George Ansell; Darkie on the right of course.

Darkie celebrates another victory at Brafield, with Miss Brafield (Maggie Ford).  Note the white-painted regulation petrol-can "tank", and does anybody drink Ceres Danish beer today?  [Photo from Carol Cockings]

Thanks to Steve Gateley, a Brafield shot of Darkie's car in 1962.  Of the three guys together, Darkie is on the left, then Johnny Piper #10, who after retiring from racing drove the famous Coventry "Cop Car" scout car, then Doug Warner #313.  Darkie hung up his helmet at 62 years of age.  Few people actually knew his name was William.  Darkie lived to be 88 years old, bless him, and died in late 1999.

Mel Bassey, #17, was not only Darkie Wright's son-in-law, but he obviously drove a Wright special;  here escaping after a tangle with the Brafield fence. [Dick Young photo]

Check the quality of this Alan England car : it's a Darkie Wright special of course. Alan's in the pits at Brandon (Coventry) in 1966.

May 2008 update: Here is Alan England in the Brafield pits, a photo I just dug out after 44 years!!

Frank Bourne raced another Darkie Wright special, which was originally built for Jim Potter in 1967, with a 1935 Ford Model Y body. This car represents the classic design a "golden age" stock-car, with 4"x2" RHS steel frame, Darkie's trademark Mercedes grille, transverse springs, powered by Buick. Frank Bourne, a farmer from Cheswardine, raced under # 16. [Dick Y. photo, and facts from a 1985 issue of Keith Barber's invaluable Stock Car Magazine.]

February 2008 Update: Thanks to David Collins and Ant Jenkins for passing on this photo (possibly a Mike Greenwood pic?) of Frank Bourne #16, car and driver basking in brilliant sunshine at Hednesford Hills Raceway in approx 1968/69.  Rick Young for one reckons these Y bodies were well and truly "The Business" as far as stock-car looks!

Another Ford Y body can be seen on this sunny pits shot of 155 Brian Tuplin, of Lincolnshire.

Jim Esau 244  DY photo in 1968.  “Big Jim” was from Heston, Middlesex.   (If you squint into the background you may see the famous Roll-Royce radiator grille on car 394 of John Pratt, a car that is still in the Pratt family.)

Here is a Keith Barber drawing of Jim's car, from Keith's book WILD BILL TO WILDCAT: Jim Esau Art Drawing.  It's Keith's copyright, so if you want to see more, track down the book second-hand. 

Big Jim Esau in the Brafield fence; [Dick Young photo]

Rod Dore's pint-sized Senior at Brafield.  A Fiat 600 body squeezed over a Bedford chassis with an Oldsmobile Rocket V-8 and -- really -- a Ferrari SuperAmerica gearbox.  The explanation might be that in the late 1950's Rod Dore was a racing mechanic for the Britain’s Vanwall and Connaught Grand Prix teams -- so he was familiar with high-class machinery. In 1959 he first raced at Staines.  Also, those are Dunlop R5 circuit-racing tyres, not dodgy old remoulds off a wreck.  Look behind it and you'll see Terry "The Toff" Haywood's cut-out top hat welded to Terry's roof.  Rod emigrated to New Zealand, and passed away in 1999. Rod Dore # 35

Another day, another shot, with a few more dents, of Rod's 35 car at Brafield.

George Ansell. A big thanks to Ian Snoad (who you may have seen racing bangers, late 70s early 80s in car #331 and 509, as "Ian Williams").  Ian has obtained a fabulous set of professional photos, and has kindly sent me 9 files for this page.   Ian wishes to remind everyone out there that the grand title "KING OF TAR" belongs to George Ansell, especially for his blinding speed at Harringay.  Ian counts himself as the No 1 Ansell fan from the age of 8, and at age 10 he also painted cars for banger champion Roy Syme (#55) of the notorious Harringay "Teddy Bears" team.  A buddy of mine knew the Teddy Bears well, and tells me that suspicious minded people thought the ownership history of some of those cars was not exactly clear ----- say no more, guv.

A winner: Ansell1.jpg   And again: Ansell2.jpg    On parade: Ansell3.jpg Brands Hatch Victory :  Ansell4.jpg  George mokin' tyres: Ansell5.jpg   Bouncin' barrels: Ansell6.jpg  Congratulations from (Johnny Hoskins??): Ansell7.jpg   Another trophy: Ansell8.jpg   Next, a stunning shot of George, power on, look at his hands on steering wheel, what a driver: Ansell10.jpg   Ian, thanks a ton for these great photos.  Ian is in touch with George again, who is still fighting fit at 70+yrs, and with George's ex mechanic Jim Bunyan.  Ansell is a true gent, and presented Ian with a Harringay trophy and some programmes.  I have added a nice trophy photo of George with Darkie Wright, up the page in Darkie's section.

That unforgiving Brafield fence:  John Pratt stuffs Tony Wicks into the steel post-and-cable track fence. Tony Wicks #93 was from Wisbech.  Tony Wicks was racing as early as 1961, powered by Oldsmobile, when a second place at Harringay brought him the fortune of ten pounds.   Tony's grandson Steve Taylor is racing today, and has been assigned his grandad's number #93.  That 494 was famous for its Rolls-Royce radiator grille, which appeared on several Pratt cars -- much to the anguish of the Rolls Royce company. Thanks to Andrew Pratt (John Pratt's son), Brian Goodspeed, and to Stan and Diane of Farnborough for their race programme info.

John Pratt on the trailer, showing that famous grille in the 1980's, with what might be a genuine Roller grille, or maybe a nice bit of replica work?

Thanks to Steve Morralee, in Canada, one of the mighty Pratt clan, for these two photos of Johnny Pratt.  Steve is John Pratt's nephew, and recalls with pleasure following the stock-car "family" across England during holiday breaks.  JP 1, and JP 2.

Time-travelling forwards to the 1980's, here is Richard Pratt's F1, still keeping up the "Rolls Royce" tradition, and still based in Oxfordshire.  But I'm not sure the Rolls-Royce factory actually made that grille ---!

Sixth = A Happy Tony beside his car. 

March 2008 update:  I hope visitors to this site scroll down this far:  a terrific colour photo of Jim Potter 146, distinctly more colourful than the old b/w shot above.  Here he is at (??? probably a London track) some time in the mid-to-late 1960's.

SKID SKINNER 316! Here's the famous Coventry incident, with Ron in the car, grinning at the camera!  Thanks to Les Cotton for passing on this photo about a year ago.

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