Lyncar 006 history

John Nicholson gave his new Lyncar 006 its debut here at the 1974 Race of Champions. Copyright Richard Bunyan 2007. Used with permission.

Designed and built by Martin Slater for customer John Nicholson, the Lyncar was primarily used in non-championship F1 races, appearing in only a single Grand Prix, the 1975 British GP. It later won a round of the Shellsport G8 series with Emilio de Villota driving.

The Lyncar was a highly conventional F1 design, based in part on Martin Slater's Formula Atlantic cars but widened to accommodate the extra fuel requirement. The monocoque was fabricated by Maurice Gomm, and the car built up by Slater. Suspension was entirely orthodox, with double wishbones at the front, and lower wishbones, single top links and twin radius rods at the rear. Spring/damper units were outboard front and rear, as were the brakes, although inboard front brakes had become the norm. It was fitted with one of John Nicholson's own Nicholson-McLaren Cosworth DFV engines and a Hewland FG400 gearbox. It was interesting to contrast Slater's approach to the Lyncar with Gordon Fowell's approach to the Amon AF1, which was announced the same day. The much more ambitious Amon proved a complete flop.

Nicholson raced the Lyncar in the Race of Champions and International Trophy at the start of 1974, but was nowhere near qualifying speed for the British GP that summer. He was back for the same two non-championship races in 1975, but this time just squeezed onto the back of the grid for the British GP. Nicholson then moved into F2 and sold the Lyncar to dealer Bobby Howlings. His idea was to run it in the Race of Champions, but when he was not guaranteed a start, he withdrew and sold the car to Spanish bank manager and hillclimber Emilio de Villota for the Shellsport G8 series. After gaining experience in the car in 1976, the Spaniard had the Lyncar completely rebuilt for the start of 1977, including repositioning the old tank, and he took a surprise but well-deserved win in the opening round at Mallory Park.

De Villota replaced the Lyncar with a McLaren, but kept the Lyncar in Spain for many years. In early 2017, de Villota entrusted it to SMC Junior Motorsport for a sympathetic rebuild, and it was exhibited for the first time at the ClassicAuto Madrid later that year.

These histories last updated on 19 Jun 2017.