AUTOSPORT HISTORICS 25 JULY 2019 25AUTOSPORT HISTORICS STAR CARS
The former cotton mill in Bolton’s Old
Chorley Road was a hive of activity in
- Following widespread success with
its best-selling B8 ‘GT’ car on the world
stage the previous season, Derek Bennett
Engineering’s happy band of workers was
evolving its beautiful successor, but the
B16 would not debut until September’s
Nurburgring 500Km, in which Lancastrian
Brian Redman landed a sensational class
victory. The company needed to keep its
name in the spotlight in the meantime.
Demand for B8s was still strong, and a
run of new examples – some with 1600cc
Cosworth FVA F2 engines – was laid
down. Swede Reine Wisell, already racing
the works B15 F3 car, was seconded to
drive a factory-entered B8, chassis
CH-DBE-80, with a fuel-injected two-litre
BMW M10 engine in sportscar races for
which he was available. The programme
started with mixed results, second
in class (to Autosport scribe Paddy
McNally’s Porsche 910) at Silverstone
preceding a big practice shunt at
Snetterton the following weekend.
Young engineer Paul Owens and the
Chevron crew rebuilt the car in a week
and were rewarded when Wisell and
John Hine finished a class-winning
seventh in the BOAC 500 world sportscar
championship round at Brands Hatch.
Peter Gethin raced the car once, then
Hine contested the RAC Tourist Trophy
at Oulton Park. Bennett – a superb
driver himself – and Hine rounded
off the British season at Croft, before
the car was sold to South Africa.Engine tuner Jack Holme raced the B8
for four seasons before Peter Alterskye
converted it for road use. Two owners
later the car was acquired by Owens and
Tony Martin, then taken to the US in
1980 by Redman, now Florida-based.
Raced by Bob Fergus and Charlie Kolb
for almost 20 years, it returned home
in scruffy condition with current
owner Chris Lillingston-Price in- Following a full restoration
it has given great service since.
1969
CHEVRON B8
CH-DBE-80
CURRENT OWNER
CHRIS LILLINGSTON-PRICE
Designed by Australian Ron Tauranac –
the pragmatic genius behind the marque’s
cars since his and Jack Brabham’s first
Formula Junior debuted in 1961 – Motor
Racing Developments’ Brabham BT28 is
hallowed as one of the ultimate chassis of
Formula 3’s 1000cc era. Some 42 examples
were recorded as made in 1969-70, before
F3 embraced 1600cc engines.
Powered by high-revving Ford MAE
(Modified Anglia Engine) units breathing
through downdraught Weber IDA
carburettors, the ‘screamers’, as they came
to be known, provided some of the greatest
racing in history as dozens of competitors
slipstreamed throughout Europe. Ronnie
Peterson starred for Tecno in 1969, but
Tim Schenken was the most successful1970 BRABHAM BT28-37
CURRENT OWNER LEIF BOSSON
BT28 driver. Well-funded Lotus rivals
Emerson Fittipaldi, Dave Walker and
Carlos Pace won British titles, but Tony
Trimmer bagged one for Brabham in 1970.
Numerous BT28s were sold to Sweden
through MRD’s proactive agent Ulf
Svensson, a top F3 competitor who would
continue to represent Tauranac when
Brabham (by then in Bernie Ecclestone’s
ownership) ceased making customer cars
and Ron established his own formidable
Ralt concern in 1975. BT28 drivers
dominated the Swedish championship
in 1970, filling eight of the top 10 places,
interspersed with older BT21s.
Chassis 37 was supplied to Karlskoga
MK member Sten Gunnarsson, whose
programme was backed by Swedish
housebuilder Gullringshus AB. Although
victory eluded him, a close second to
Svensson at Falkenberg, a third and
two fourths put him third in the points
behind Torsten Palm and Ingvar
Pettersson in sister chassis.
The immaculate car is now owned by
Knutstorp circuit chairman Gunnarsson’s
neighbour Leif Bosson (alongside the
ex-Svensson/Conny Andersson BT28-4)
and campaigned enthusiastically by the
2015 HSCC champion. Jeremy Bennett
of Nemesis Racing in Gloucestershire
prepared both chassis and engine.JONESBLOXHAM