Wella Hair Care Trophy

Thruxton, 16 Nov 1974

All cars are 1.6-litre F/Atl unless noted.

Notes on the cars:

1. March 73B [1] (Stephen Choularton): Stephen Choularton (Hale Barns, Cheshire) acquired the first production March 73B and raced it in libre events and in the British F/Atlantic series with support from Autovita Developments Ltd. His mechanic Jim Crawford also raced this car in a libre race that year. Choularton continued with the car in 1974 when it was driven by Crawford in one round, at Brands Hatch in September, after Crawford had damaged his usual car. The car was next seen in May 1975 when Choularton dusted it off for Cyd Williams to drive after Williams had wrecked Graham Eden's Brabham BT40. Choularton retained the car, unused, until 1977 when it was sold to Paul Gardner (Preston, Lancashire) and used in libre racing in 1977. It then travelled out to the West Indies, quite possibly via Manchester-based racing car dealer Bobby Howlings, who would have known Gardner well, and was a regular visitor to the West Indies series. Raced by Mark Moodie in 1978 and 1979, winning the 1979 Jamaican National Championship. Subsequent history unknown, but it may have gone to Gordon Gonsalves in Trinidad.
2. Brabham BT40 [14] (Ray Mallock): New to John Wingfield and raced in both F2 and Formula Atlantic in 1973, entered by Marshall Wingfield Limited. Raced by Ray Mallock in Formula Atlantic 1974, entered by The Chequered Flag, and retained for one early-season race in 1975, after Mallock wrecked his new March 742 at Thruxton. Then entered by Marshall Wingfield Ltd for South African Len Booysen to drive in a few Formula Atlantic races in June and July 1975, by which time it had acquired what looked like a March 73B nose, before Wingfield himself raced it once more at Silverstone in August. Subsequent history unknown.
3. Chevron B25 [25-73-12] (Nick May): New to Brett Lunger and run for him by Space Racing in F2 in 1973, starting at Nivelles-Baulers in June. To Nick May (Sutton, Surrey) in 1974, and converted to Formula Atlantic specification for the British series. Then to Gerry Kinnane (Belfast, Northern Ireland), and entered for John Pollock to race in the 1975 Irish Formula Atlantic series. Sold to Bill Gowdy (Banbridge, County Down, N. Ireland) for 1976, but crashed twice that year. Crashed again during 1977, and at some point in this period, the car is believed to have had a new chassis. Sold by Gowdy to Paddy Farrelly (Lucan, Dublin) for 1978, and again used in Formula Atlantic, but now quite uncompetitive. Sold to Tony Skinner (Terenure, Dublin, Ireland) and raced at Phoenix Park in 1981. He raced it again early in 1982, but then moved over to a friend's B42 later in the season. Tony sold the B25 to Cyril Lynch, who fitted a 4.4-litre Rover V8 engine, and first ran the car in the Galway MC Ballyvaughan in mid-1983. For 1984, Lynch ran the car for Shay Lawless, who dominated the Pioneer Hi-Fi Hill Climb Championship, setting nine records. It was sold to Paul Deveney for 1985, and he continued to run it in hillclimbs. The hillclimb championship was cancelled after 1986, and the Chevron was sold to Ken Moore (Iver Heath, Bucks), rebuilt by Bob Egginton of ASD in 1988/1989, and used in libre racing at Lydden. Then to Lew Wright (Haslemere, Surrey) who got HSCC papers for the car in 1999. By 2001, it was with Nick Overall (Petworth, West Sussex) who entered it in HSCC Derek Bell events, and still had it in 2006. Sold to Markus Kalbermatten (Grellingen, Switzerland) in 2006, and used in historic Bergrennen.
4. Brabham BT40 [21] (Tony Trimmer): New to Graham Eden Racing, and driven by Cyd Williams in the 1973 British Formula Atlantic championship. Retained by Eden and Williams for 1974. After Williams crashed the car at Brands Hatch in September 1974, it was raced by Richard Morgan and Tony Trimmer later that season. Retained by Eden again for 1975, with Cyd Williams again driving. To David Winstanley (Winsford, Cheshire) of Withers of Winsford for 1976, and raced in the Indylantic championship.
5. Chevron B27 [27-74-16] (Peter Williams): Sold to Peter Williams (Brentwood, Essex) in June 1974 for British Formula Atlantic; and retained for the 1975 season. To Porsche racer and driving instructor Mike Franey (London) later in 1975 and raced in F/Atlantic with Samatco Ltd backing. Unknown in 1976, but in early 1977, novice racer Martin Murphy (London) won a Formule Libre race at Thruxton in the "ex-Peter Williams Coin Monthly" B27. The car remained in Franey's possession until September 1979, when it was sold to Jeremy Bouckley (Sutton Coldfield, West Midands) as a rolling chassis. Bouckley cannot recall what happened to it, but this car was reportedly owned by Phil Sharp for hillclimbs in 1984. Subsequent history unknown.
6. Chevron B25 [25-73-04] (David Morgan): Displayed at the Racing Car Show in January 1973, then sold to Ed Reeves for Dave Morgan to race in Formula 2. Reeves withdrew his team in July 1973, and gifted the Chevron to Morgan, but without funding Morgan could not continue. Morgan retained the car for 1974 and raced it in the British Formula Atlantic series, run for him by Harry Stiller. Sold to property developer David Peck at the end of the year for his daughter Lorraine Peck, a remarkably talented kart racer who had finished second in the Junior World Championships in 1974, but she was tragically killed in the World Junior Championships at Fulda in July 1975, while still only 16. The Chevron was sold to former clubmans driver Derek Shortall (Malahide, County Dublin, Ireland) and raced in the 1976 Irish Formula Atlantic series, backed by Vista Blinds, his long time sponsors. Reported to have gone to Dermot O'Leary and Eddie Regan for 1977, but next seen when raced by David Lambe (Dublin) in 1978 and 1979. Taken in part-exchange by Belfast team owner Gerry Kinnane for his Lola T460 at the end of 1979, and sold on to Alwyn Bingham (Belfast, Northern Ireland), the reigning Irish Hill Climb Champion. Raced in hillclimbs in 1980 and 1981. Alwyn recalls that he sold it "down south", but does not recall the next owner's name. Subsequent history unknown.
7. Lola T360 [HU7] (Ted Wentz): Believed to be the new car loaned to Ken Bailey in August for British Formula Atlantic, after he had wrecked his original loan car at Silverstone two weeks earlier. Sold to Planer, owners of the Wella brand, for Ted Wentz, starting with the televised Thruxton race in November 1974. Raced by Wentz through 1974 until it was heavily damaged by Roy James in a testing accident in early October 1975. Wentz hired the works development car for the rest of the season, so it is assumed that HU7 was not repairable.
8. March 74B [U1] (Alan Jones): New to Harry Stiller Racing and entered for Bev Bond in a few late-season 1973 Formula Atlantic races, but only appeared once. Rebuilt by March to 74B specification over the winter and appeared as 74B chassis 'U1' for Bond in 1974, until he announced his retirement in June 1974. Alan Jones took over the drive for the rest of the season and won three races. Advertised by AW Brown (London) in January 1975. Briefly to Frank Blanchard in early 1975 but then to Bill Gowdy (Belfast, Northern Ireland) for Irish Formula Atlantic. To Gerry Kinnane for Des Donnelly to drive in 1976, then to Eddie Jordan (Dundrum, County Dublin, Republic of Ireland) for 1977. Subsequently to Colin Simpson (Dundee, Scotland) for Scottish hillclimbs in 1978 and 1979, when it was fitted with a 1800cc Cosworth BDE. It was then sold to Graham Brown, a Scot who emigrated to Australia and took two Formula Atlantic cars with him. Brown raced it in Scottish hillclimbs in 1980 before it went. Raced by Geoff Nicol in Australian Formula Pacific in 1981, and by John Blennerhasset in 1982. Then to Michael Miller, brothers Peter and Terry Simms, then the Kendall family, then to Bryan Miller in 2002. Sold by Bryan to Richard Carter (Berry, NSW) in September 2018, and shortly afterwards sold to Richard Ellingworth.
9. Lola T360 [HU5] (Richard Scott): New to Nigel Clarkson (Cirencester, Gloucestershire) and raced by him and by Richard Scott (London) in British Formula Atlantic, backed by Hurford Jones Ltd. To Nick May (Sutton, Surrey) for the 1975 British series, entered as a T360B with Strakers of Wimbledon Ltd sponsorship and run by Dave Price Racing. To Brian Robinson (Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham) and fitted with a 2-litre Cosworth BDG engine for Shellsport Group 8 races in 1976. To John Brown for John Morrison (Warwick) to drive in Shellsport G8 and libre racing in 1977, then to Kevin Bowditch (Maidenhead) for a few race appearances in 1978. It was sold to Martin Mansell (Middlesex), who raced it as a Lola "FA79" with Winchmore Hill Garage sponsorship in Formula Atlantic in 1979. Mansell crashed heavily at Brands Hatch in April 1979, and did not appear again. It was next seen in 1990 when it was bought by Robert McGimpsey (Newtownards, County Down, Northern Ireland) from a dealer somewhere in the English midlands. It was then fitted with a 3-litre Weslake engine, and McGimpsey used it for one season in hillclimbing before the engine and chassis were sold separately. It was bought by two friends in 1993 or 1994, and in 2012 they still had it.
10. Chevron B27 [27-74-06] (Jim Crawford): New to Fred Opert Racing and the car raced by Bertil Roos in the British Formula Atlantic race at Brands Hatch in mid-March. Then fitted with a 2-litre Brian Hart Ford BDA for Roos at two F2 races, Montjuich Park and Hockenheim. Apparantly returned to Formula Atlantic specification and run by the Opert team in the UK series, initially for Héctor Rebaque, and later for Johnny Kastner, William Henderson III and then local man Jim Crawford. Sold to Derek Cook (Rotherham, South Yorkshire) for early 1975 Formula Atlantic races before being replaced by a newer B29. Retained for 1976 when Cook ran it in Indylantic, Shellsport G8, and libre racing, with either a Formula Atlantic BDA or a self-built 2-litre BDA. Retained again for early 1977 and used in F2 and in Shellsport, now with a 2-litre Alan Smith BDG, before Cook acquired a F1 Williams. Subsequent history unknown.
11. GRD A75 (Alex Dias Ribeiro): Late in the 1974 season, GRD produced a prototype Formula Atlantic car, the A75, which was entered by Mangals Racing Team for Alex Ribeiro for the last six races of the season. It last raced at Thruxton on 16 November, where Ribeiro spun off and damaged the bodywork. A week later, GRD MD Mike Warner announced that the company had stopped making racing cars. The factory was taken over just a week later by the Parnelli F1 team. However, GRD returned soon after, with a '375' on display at the January 1975 Racing Car Show, and this may well have been the 'A75'.
12. March 73B [18] (Geoff Friswell): According to surviving March records, this was a F/Atlantic car built for Geoff Friswell (Coventry) and raced by him in the UK series through 1973 and 1974. It was then sold to Andy Barton (Newcastle upon Tyne) as a libre car and upgraded to 74B and then 75B spec over the next two seasons, also acquiring a F2 BDG engine at times in 1976. Barton sold it to Bob Rollo (Prestonpans, Scotland) for 1977, as an Atlantic again, and it then went to Stewart Robb (Alloa, Scotland) during 1978 in F2 spec. The car was rebuilt on a "new" 752 tub after a crash in 1978 and then rebuilt to 782 spec by Robin Smith after the 1979 season. It was raced again by Robb as a "March 75/782" with steel 2-litre Cosworth BDG engine from 1980 to 1982 and was sold to Roger Andreason at the new Chevron Cars Ltd around 1984. A "March 75/782" which had been "completely rebuilt over winter" was advertised from an Epsom number in August 1985.
13. March 73B [21] (Val Musetti): New to Stan Mathews (Wicken, Wolverton, Bucks) in June 1973, and raced in British Formula Atlantic. To Chris Oates (Kimberley, Notts) for 1974, but sold mid-season to Val Musetti (London). Retained by Musetti for 1975, when it was updated to 74B specification. It was also rebuilt on another tub about this time, but the details are obscure. Damaged by Derek Cook's March 73B in practice at Silverstone in July, and rebuilt in time for the race on the car's original tub - only to be crashed and damaged again in the race. At the end of 1975, Musetti built up a March "742", which could be said to have inherited the identity of 73B-21, but as the tub had been changed, the chassis plate had long gone, and its appearance and description were radically different, it could be argued that 73B-21 had dissipated by the end of 1975. The successor "742" later went to Bill Wood, then Ray Rowan, before spending much of the 1980s in Monoposto and then being rebuilt as a "712M" for historic racing in the late 1980s.
14. Chevron B27 [27-74-14] (Derek Cook): Chevron build record says sold to Derek Cook, August 1974, so Cook's late season car in British Formula Atlantic. To Peter Munro (Birmingham) for 1975, but his sponsorship fell through, and he loaned the car back to Cook at the British GP meeting after he had wrecked his own car in practice. Cook then managed to wreck the Chevron on lap 1 of the race, and it did not appear again in 1975. To Jeremy Sumner for the 1976 Indyatlantic series, where it was also driven by Mike Wilds and John Scannell. Thought to have been the B27 bought by Christian Bonnifet in 1977, and used in French hillclimbs between 1979 and 1983. In 1997, Jean-Michel Coll (Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales, France) advertised chassis 74-14 as a rolling chassis. It was later reported to be under restoration in the UK.
15. Surtees TS15 [06] (Peter Wardle): New to Peter Wardle (Wimbledon, London) and raced in British Formula Atlantic in 1973, winning from pole position at one race Brands Hatch in August. Retained for 1974, again in British Formula Atlantic, and then retained for a third season in 1975. However, towards the end of 1975, Wardle was entering Steve Carvill (Wimbledon, London) in some races, and it is unclear whether the team had a second TS15 by this point, as the pair never appeared together in the same race. Wardle acquired sponsorship from Radio Luxembourg and Applied Racing Techniques for 1976, and both Wardle and Carvill appeared in Indylantic and in Shellsport G8 during that season, presumably both still in chassis 06. Wardle advertised a TS15 in 1983, with FG400 but no engine and a mountain of spares. According to researcher David McKinney, chassis 06 and chassis 07 were with Tony Collinson in 1990, and chassis 06 appears to stayed with its sister through the ownership of Gerry Wainwright, John Elliott, Mark Griffiths and Crispian Besley, who had both cars in 2010. Beesley sold chassis 06 to Dean Forward in 2019, still in unrestored component form.
16. March 73B [722-24] (Roy Baker): New to Bill Gubelmann (Oyster Bay, NY) to use in the 1972 Yellow Pages Formula Atlantic championship. The car was blue and yellow, and wore #16 all season. Gubelmann won six races and narrowly pipped Cyd Williams to the championship title. The car was sold to fellow American Jas Patterson (Rosslyn Heights, NY) for 1973, repainted red and white, and entered for him by Texaco Team Racing/RIR in the 1973 British season. Patterson crashed heavily at Oulton Park in May 1973, and although the car was rebuilt, he appeared a few races later in what appears to be a new 73B. Patterson raced the 73B for the remainder of 1973 and through 1974, but the 722 reappeared in early November 1974 when an ex-Patterson "722/73B" was acquired by Roy Baker (Ferndown, Dorset) and raced regularly by him through the 1975 season. Subsequent history unknown.
17. GRD 274 [372 036-F3] (Reg James): New to Robin Smythe (Hounslow, Greater London) replacing a March 723 he had raced earlier in the season. Smythe converted the car to Formula Atlantic specification for 1973 and although it was often entered for BP Formula Atlantic events, Smythe's actual race starts were rare. Throughout that season, his older March 723 was raced as a Formula Atlantic by Johnny Dimsdale and by Reg James. In 1974, the GRD was described as a 274 and continued to fail to appear or fail to start championship events, but was a regular starter in Formule Libre events at Silverstone and at Brands Hatch. It was not seen in 1975, but made a couple of entries in ShellSport championship events in 1976, predictably failing to appear. The car is believed to have gone to Dave Saunders in 1976, but that may have been a hire deal, and then later spent time in French hillclimbs before returning to the UK.
18. March 712M [2?] (Howard Rose): Ian Barrowman (Hungerford, Berkshire) bought a March 712M from Frank Williams for Mike Campbell-Cole to race in Formula Atlantic in 1972. The chassis number of the car is unknown but it was said to be ex-Carlos Pace. At their first race, at Snetterton, the engine ingested a piece of metal during practice and, following a sponsor pulling out, they did not have the budget to have it rebuilt. After a season of unfilled entries, it was sold to Richard Longman (Christchurch, Hampshire) for 1973. The car was fitted with a BDA engine but Longman made only a single entry, at Thruxton in May 1973, and did not appear. He advertised the car in December 1973, and it was bought by Howard Rose (Wokingham, Berkshire). Rose raced the car for the next three seasons, but his actual appearances were quite limited, and his race finishes exceedingly rare. Rose retained the car after he retired from racing, and it was in storage for several decades, still in its mid-1970s livery. He described the car as being "712M-20". In November 2016, it was sold to Jeremy Caine (High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire) and taken to Neil Fowler Motorsport for restoration.
19. Brabham BT28/35 [25] (Paul Butler): New to Allan McCully in very late 1969 for British and occasional European F3 races through the first half of 1970, using Holbay engines. Then to Alan Jones and raced by him from September 1970 onwards, including the Torneio Brasileiro in early 1971. Jones was part of the Australian Intl Racing Organisation in F3 in 1971 with this car, upgraded to 1600cc specification and using Vegantune engines. To Paul Butler (Chessington, Surrey) for British F3 in 1972, again using Vegantune twin cams and entered by Barwell Automotive. Retained for libre racing in 1973 when it was upgraded to BT35 specification and Butler started sharing the car with Evan Clements (Whyteleafe, Surrey). Modified to Formula Atlantic specification and raced in libre and some Atlantic races by Butler and Clements in 1974 and 1975. According to a later HVIF, it went to Tony Allinson in 1975, then to Paul Hobbs in 1977, then Mike Harrison in 1984, then to Hugo Studer in 1986 and finally Sepp Mayer from 1995 to 2007. In 2007 it was owned by Klaus Bergs.
20. March 74B [73B] (Wes Dawn): Australian John Gillmeister had a red and white March 73B in British Formula Atlantic 1974. Gillmeister had a workshop making bodywork for March, and acquired a monocoque, suspension and other parts. This was built up for him by Ralph Hume over the winter of 1973/74 using a Richardson BDA engine with the intention of running in the British series. After a sponsor pulled out, Gillmeister sold the car mid-season to Gil Nickel Racing, and it was run by Bob Eggington for Wes Dawn to drive. Dawn was from Hollywood, California, and was a very successful makeup artist in film and TV. He and Gil Nickel (Park Hill, Oklahoma) finished fifth in the 1975 Cannonball Run in a Mercedes-Benz 450SL. He later took the 73B/74B back to the US where he used it in minor Formula Atlantic races. Dawn advertised the car in 1983, but still had it when he died in 1990, aged just 51. His widow sold the car in April 1991. Subsequent history withheld.

Sources

Note that the identification of individual cars in these results is based on the material presented elsewhere in this site and may in some cases contradict the organisers' published results.

The British race results have been compiled by Chris Townsend based on material in Autosport and Motoring News reports in the UK plus the information supplied by a wide range of contributors.

All comments, clarifications, corrections and additions are most welcome. Please email Allen (allen@oldracingcars.com) if you can help in any way with our research.