Lyncar Formula Atlantic car-by-car histories
John Nicholson in his Lyncar 003 at Brands Hatch in March 1973. Copyright Richard Bunyan 2007. Used with permission.
Martin Slater built five Formula Atlantic cars between 1972 and 1976, all to a very similar design. John Nicholson won the 1973 British Formula Atlantic title in his two cars, Lyncar 003 and Lyncar 005.
Having spent time on the design teams of Lola, March and Brabham, Martin Slater embarked on his own racing car project in 1971. The March director Graham Coaker was also involved with the project until he died in April 1971, so the car was named after Slater's wife Lynda and Coaker's wife Carol. It was built at Slater's workshop at Woodley in Buckinghamshire and was first displayed at the Showboat that year. Mike Endean bought the first car, Lyncar 001, and soon after John Nicholson placed an order for a second.
Nicholson wrecked 002 in April 1972 but in his next two Lyncars, 003 and 005, he won a total of 12 races over three seasons of British Formula Atlantic, winning the 1973 BP championship and the 1974 John Player championship. He was sponsored during 1973 and 1974 by Pinch Plant, Bruno Drury's plant hire company from Rainham in Essex. Drury would support Lyncar's move into Formula 1 in 1974 with Lyncar 006. Nicholson was however, the only person to achieve significant success in a Formula Atlantic Lyncar, the next best performances being David Oxton's fifth place at Silverstone in July 1974 in a one-off drive in 003, and Phil Sharp's fifth in 005 in 1975.
If you can add to our understanding of these cars, or have photographs that we can use, please email Allen at allen@oldracingcars.com.
New to Mike Endean (Twyford, Berkshire) and raced in the 1972 British Formula Atlantic series, using Ford twin cam engines. Endean fitted the car with a 1.8-litre Cosworth FVC engine during 1973, and raced it in Formule Libre events in 1974, mainly at Silverstone. Retained by Endean for 1975, scoring a number of good results in the BRDC Jaybrand Racewear Formule Libre championship. Then unseen until 1979, when Tony Broster (Romsey, Braishfield, Hampshire) raced the "ex-Endean" Lyncar in a club libre race at Silverstone. Broster converted the car to Monoposto Formula in 1980, using a 1600cc Ford Kent engine, and won six successive races in the Monoposto championship in 1981. It continued in Monoposto and was raced by Geoff Maddox and then by Peter Venn (Camberley, Surrey) in 1984, 1985 and 1986. Then unknown until 2001, when it was found in storage by Lew Wright, and sold to Nick Overall (East Horsley, Surrey) and Clive Hoare (Guildford, Surrey). Overall took over ownership of the car and had it fully restored by Slater in 2002/03, including fitting a BDA engine. Overall raced it in HSCC Derek Bell Trophy races in 2005, 2006 and 2007. It was sold to Bob Sellix (East Sussex) for the 2008 season, and raced by him through to 2011, after which he drove the freshly-restored Lyncar 005 instead. By April 2020, Sellix had sold it to former owner Peter Venn (Andover, Hampshire). Still owned by Venn in June 2024.
Driven by: Mike Endean, Tony Broster and Peter Venn. First race: Brands Hatch (R1), 5 Mar 1972. Total of 39 recorded races.
New for John Nicholson and raced in the 1972 British Formula Atlantic series, using Piper BDA engines. Nicholson had a series of strong results but caused "considerable damage" to the car at Brands Hatch in April when he hit the Armco at Hawthorns. He used the car for at least one more race, but it was then replaced by 003. The 002 chassis is believed to have been scrapped.
Driven by: John Nicholson. First race: Brands Hatch (R1), 5 Mar 1972. Total of 8 recorded races.
Martin Steele in Lyncar 003 at Prescott in September 1976. Copyright Steve Wilkinson 2019. Used with permission.
Martin Steele's Lyncar 003 in the Silverstone paddock in November 1985. Copyright Keith Lewcock 2019. Used with permission.
New for John Nicholson in May or June 1972, replacing Lyncar 002, and raced in the British Formula Atlantic series, using Piper BDA engines. Nicholson was probably driving this car when he won at Mallory Park in late May. He was third in the championship in 1972. He retained the car for 1973, and won at Silverstone in May and at Oulton Park in July. Exactly when he moved to his new car, Lyncar 005, is unclear, but it appears to have been prior to the Oulton Park race in early July. David Oxton then raced 003 at Silverstone on 14 July. Lyncar 003 was sold to Martin Steele (Faringdon, Oxfordshire) who fitted a Ford twin cam engine and raced it in sprints until 1982. He generally appeared in club events, but ran in British Sprint Championship round at Wroughton and Bassingbourne, and later at Colerne in 1978 and 1979. After 1982, the car was refurbished and the engine rebuilt, before a final appearance in 1985. The car was in an H&H auction in March 2009 when it was described as having "had only three owners and has been carefully stored over the last twenty-one years". It was bought at the auction by John Pugsley (Dulverton, Devon), and was next seen in 2019, when it was advertised by Stuart Tarr on Pugsley's behalf. Pugsley sold it to Chris Alford in February 2022. Still with Alford in June 2024.
Driven by: John Nicholson, David Oxton and Martin Steele. First race: Snetterton (R9), 7 May 1972. Total of 35 recorded races.
Phil Sharp's Lyncar 005 in the paddock at Thruxton in 1975. Copyright Andrew Scriven 2010. Used with permission.
New for John Nicholson in mid 1973, and raced in the British Formula Atlantic series, using Nicholson BDA engines. He won six races in the car that season, five in the main BP series and one in the Yellow Pages series. He won the BP championship. Nicholson retained the car for 1974 and won four more rounds, on his way to winning the John Player championship. Lyncar 005 was then sold to Phil Sharp (Colnbrook, Berkshire) for 1975 and again raced in British Formula Atlantic. Then sold to Frank Potts, and raced by him in libre events in 1976, still with its Nicholson BDA engine. Then Chris Morris (Dursley, Gloucestershire) drove Lyncar 005 at Prescott in May 1978. After that, it was seen in the hands of Sandy Hutcheon (Cheltenham, Gloucestershire) sprinting at Colerne in 1979. Subsequent history unknown. It was acquired at some point by Lew Wright and restored for historic racing, until it was severely damaged in an accident at Pau in 2005. Acquired in 2006 by Bob Sellix (East Sussex) and rebuilt using a new monocoque supplied by Martin Slater. Sellix ran the car in historic racing from 2007 to 2013, when he retired from racing. Advertised by Sellix in February 2021. In June 2023, Peter Venn said that he owned both 001 and 005.
Driven by: John Nicholson, Philip Sharp, Frank Potts, Chris Morris and Sandy Hutcheon. First race: Oulton Park (R8), 7 Jul 1973. Total of 52 recorded races.
New for Kevin Bowditch (Maidenhead, Berkshire) for 1976, and entered for several rounds of the ShellSPORT 5000 European and Indylantic championships but it does not appear to have been present for any of these races. Raced by Bowditch in the 1977 ShellSPORT International championship when it was entered as Lyncar 005, but Martin Slater has said Bowditch's car was the 007 chassis. Subsequent history unknown but Bowditch bought the car back some time around 1994, and still had it according to Slater in 2009. At that time, it needed a full rebuild. The car remained stripped until after Martin Slater's death. It was then sold by Slater's widow Sally to Peter Venn as a tub and several boxes of bits.
Driven by: Kevin Bowditch. First race: Brands Hatch (R1), 4 Apr 1976. Total of 3 recorded races.
Acknowledgements
My thanks to Ted Walker, Alan Brown, Steve Wilkinson, Chris Townsend, Dan Rear, David McKinney, Ian Thompson, Mark Benson ('mpbenson' on 10 Tenths), Peter Alexander, Stuart Tarr, Marcus Pye and Bob Sellix; and to Richard Bunyan, Keith Lewcock, Steve Wilkinson and Andrew Scriven for allowing the use of their photographs. There is a useful two-page article on the early Lyncars by Bob Costanduros in Autosport 6 Dec 1973 pp34-35.
If you can add to our understanding of these cars, or have photographs that we can use, please email Allen at allen@oldracingcars.com.
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