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Len Bailey

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Born:

25 Jul 1926
Newtown, Birmingham

Died:

23 Jun 1997
Slough, Berkshire

Nationality:

Great Britain

Teams:

Theodore, Williams (1972-1978)

Engineer and designer from the 1950's onwards, Bailey went solo in 1970 and later worked as a design consultant. Bailey, son of a machine tool fitter, started his career at Austin, after graduating from the Birmingham College of Technology. Austin, at the time, were building Short Stirling bombers for the RAF. Bailey then worked at Rover and Daimler before moving back to Austin, who were once again concentrating on car design. After a spell with Ford in the US and also in Canada (where he married in 1954), Bailey became a draughtsman for the sportscar effort Ford were putting together with Lola. Bailey then became integral in Ford's sportscar efforts in the 1960's, whilst also working in touring cars and rallying. Bailey left Ford in 1969 to become a freelance designer which included Formula 1, rallying and sportscars, carrying on his independent design work until the late 1980's. He also worked at the Alan Mann Racing Company designing Ford cars.

Biography last updated 18 Aug 2020