1961 Lynx Type 2Formula Junior Chassis No. 105

• 1 of only 15 racing cars built by Australian manufacture Lynx.

• Completed in time for the 1961 Sydney Motor Show.

• Raced as a works entry, driven by well known Australian Kevin Bartlett.

• With a Lynx winning the race at Goodwood’s 73rd Members meeting this is a very rare and sure highly desirable entry to the ever popular and competitive Formula Junior grids around the globe.

Formula Junior racing has to be one of the most closely contested and prolific grids in historic motorsport today. With regular grids at both The Historics and The there is no other race organisation that produces such close and exciting racing across Europe. With strong grids also in New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and America the international appeal for Formula Junior is unsurpassed.

Originally the brainchild of well known Italian racer Count ‘Johnny’ Lurani, from 1958 to 1963 Formula Junior replaced the motorcycle engined 500cc F3 cars as the stepping stone into Formula 1. Designed as a class for essentially Grand Prix chassis running 1,000cc or 1,100cc production engines and gearbox; in its relatively short life time Formula Junior spanned a period that saw some of the most significant changes in motorsport design to this day and as such very quickly went from front to rear engine designs. A truly international series with 100‘s of cars regularly competing across the globe. Names such as , John , , and to name a few, are just some of the great Grand Prix drivers to have honed their craft in the cut a thrust world of Formula Junior.

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This cars history starts with two young men from Sydney, Australia who noticed the high demand for spare parts, when they were racing a pair of MG’s. John Bruderlin and Leon Thomas had bought a wrecked MG to use as a source of parts for themselves, and soon they found that almost all of the bits had sold. Buoyed by the success of the first wreck, the pair bought up more and more wrecks to break down into parts. This spares success led to more work being undertaken for customers, making parts such as manifolds and tuning their cars, before fitting a Marshall supercharger to one of their own TCs for the first time.

The supercharged TC proved to be very effective and took the New South Wales under 1500cc quarter mile record, along with the hill record for under 1500cc sports cars at Foley’s hill climb in 1958.

After two more years of competition, development, and business growth Bruderlin and Thomas teamed up with Peter Wilkins to form Lynx Engineering. Wilkins, a knowledgable enthusiast, had bought up all of the Ralt equipment and parts when Ron Taurenac had left for to work with Jack . Among these bits, was the nearly completed HRD-Vincent engined sprint car, which the partners set about finishing off. On it’s first outing, the car bettered the time set by their own MG’s. Enthused by the success of that first Lynx, development continued through three different Formula Junior types, the Type 1, 2, and 3.

Chassis 105 is a Type 2 and one in a total of 15 racing cars constructed by Australian manufacturer Lynx. Built in mid 1961 and completed in time for the 1961 Sydney Motor Show, 105 was raced as a works entry, driven by well known Australian Kevin Bartlett. Initially powered by a 1100cc BMC engine, with a Renault Dauphine 4 speed gearbox and fitted with drum brakes, Bartlett and chassis 105 competed across Australia from the end of 1961 through until late 1963, enjoying several podium results.

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Sold on in October 1963 by Lynx as a complete car, 105 remained in Australia for many years and was raced by various owners with a larger 1100cc Cooper S engine until June 1972 where the car was crashed at Oran Park. In 1982 it was bought by Don Black of New South Wales who set about rebuilding it and retained the car until 1991. From here, 105 was sold to Herbert Neal who completed the rebuild, before being brought over to England by the current owner in 2012.

Presented as rebuilt with a 0 hours engine, the car has sat for a few years and will require some gentle re-commissioning on parts such as the brakes, seat belts and fire system. With the Formula Junior Grids around the world continuing to be strong and often oversubscribed this very rare and attractive example will surely capture the interest of race organisers and racer alike.

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