Restoration

A true 'barn find' of a notable car is a rare thing these days, Here we look at the re-discovery, by Neil Wakeling, of a that was generally thought to be lost- the car that launched the racing career of . We begin the story with a bn.ef account of the car's famous first owner, how Neil came to acquire it and the plans for its restoration. Michael Calvert guides us through Neil's tale.

RouTES INTO SEVEN OWNERSHIP can be as varied and diverse as the cars themselves, but the story of Neil Wakeling and his Lotus Seven S2 (registration oo 9149) is perhaps more unusual than most. Whether in photographs or in person, some Club members may have seen Neil drivi ng his car up the hill at this year's Goodwood Festival of Speed or at other events such as the Goodwood Revival. This is a brief story of the car, of its famous first owner, of the vehicle's sad fall into disrepair and its recent restoration.

00 9149's first owner: Piers Courage, driving the fa mily Morris Minor Traveller Jonathan becoming good friends, supporting future Formula 1 driver around the ex-RA F base at Chalgrove (when each other in their racing aspirations. Little Piers Courage was born on 27th May l942 site security was looking the other way) cer­ did Piers know at this point what a role Frank in Colchester, heir to the famous Courage tainly got the competitive juices flowing. Williams was to play in his future. brewing dynasty He received a top-class Eton Having failed his entrance examinations for After a final attempt to direct his son down education, no doubt intended to prepare him Cambridge, Piers seemed certain in his mind a 'professional' path (having arranged a stint for a future in the family business (as six that his future should be in racing, but it was working for WH Smith in Paris) Piers' father generations o f Courages had done before). far from clear how that could be achieved. It agreed to stump up the £399 required for the Instead, Eton's active Automobile Society, was at this po int that he met Jonathan purchase of a Lotus Seven kit for him to combined with the glamorous lure of great Williams, a car fanatic who had just started attem pt to launch a racing career. Ordered in British racers of the time such as Stirling Moss competing in club racing in a red Mini, and 1962- as an early 2oth birthday present-father and Mike Hawthorn conspired to make Piers who was to become his closest friend. Piers and son buill the car together, but from this catch the racing bug. Under the strict school suppor ted jonathan at various events (no point on, and despite the fa mily wealth, Piers regime of course, he was unable to fully doubt wishing he was driving himself) and it was pretty much left to fund his ambitions pursue racing, although there are tales of him was at a wet that, having crashed himself and, as a consequence, had to live disappearing at weekends in his family's at Gerrard's, jonathan met his namesake and hand-to-mouth to survive. Competing in his Morris, and of a Renault 750 hidden under the the future founder of the Williams Formula Seven, Piers showed an ability to set quick arches in Windsor to facilitate clandestine One team, Frank Will iams. Frank, (at the times, al though he was hampered by a limited nigh-time outings. beginning of his racing career also) had just budget and a penchant for spinning. A varied Once he left Eto n, he was able to devote wrecked his Austin A35 at the sam e corner; set of results confirmed significant driving more time to actuall y d riving. Illicit races this commo n bond led to Frank, Piers and talent, although his fin al race appearance in

-18 Lowflying November 2012 the car, at the Aintree GP circuit, ended in drive by . He drove a Lotus-BRM 25 deciding to move instead to Frank Williams to disaster as the gearbox jammed and he fo r the first race in South Africa, although he drive his Brabham. Although he crashed out careered into a Grand National fence (the retired with a fuel system problem. At the next of the , Courage had an extremely solid bases of these fences remain a race in Monaco, he spun off on lap 64 and excellent year, with two podium fi nishes, and hazard to our Sprint Series competitors. ED). retired again, after which the team decided to two other points-scoring results. Eighth in the In 1964, he took the opportunity to team up drop him for the remainder of the season. drivers' championship reflected a career on with Jonathan Williams, and race in the (Jonathan Williams drove sports prototypes the up and a driver tipped for greatness. European Formula 3 championship in a Lotus and, briefly, Fl for and also F2 with Sad ly, it was a career that would soon end in 22, under the banner of Anglo-Swiss Racing Frank Williams. ED) tragedy. In 1970, Williams chose to run the Team. A second place at Zandvoort and a third With his reputation somewhat tarnished, newly-designed 505 in place of the at Reims encouraged Piers to contest the full Courage fou nd himself without a drive and Brabham. Unfortunately, it turned out to be championship in 1965. A successful season led took a stint as a privateer in the unreliable and overweight. For the firs t half to the offer from of a drive in driving ' F2 McLaren M4A . of the season, Courage did not record a single the for the 1966 Formula 3 season. H aving proved his speed here, he was offered a finish . At the at Zandvoort Although not in a class-leading car, Courage second chance in Formula 1 in 1968, with the on 21st June 1970, things were looking slightly managed some podium finishes and wins, Reg Parnell Racing Team at the wheel of a better. Courage qualified in ninth place, a resulting in Ron Harris (who rrm the quasi­ BRM P261. His performance here was more significant improvement o n previous per­ works Lotus F2 team) asking him to drive in solid - no crashes and four points-scoring formances. During the race, however, he ran Formula 2 for one race. His break into Fl came finishes. An offer to take 's place at wide on a bend, the car rode up an embank­ the following year when he was offered a Lotus was made, but Courage declined, ment, and rolled upside-down, bursting into flames. Less than a month after his 28th birthday, and just eighteen months into a promising collaboration with his friend Frank Williams, Courage was killed. ll

Lowflying November 201Z- 19 Piers Courage in action in the birthday present that set him on the road to Grand Prix racing. The Le Mans-style start, on the left, is at Snetterton.

Our thanks go to the Courage family, Neil Wakeling and James Whiting for the use of their photographs.

Looking back on a different world ...

In reading of Piers Courage's early career, I was The l,OOOkms of Monza taking place that same sharing an Alfa T33 with , reminded, curiously, of a day on which I didn't weekend (a round of the World Championship the Fl car was practiced briefly by former Lotus see him drive. It was in 1970 at Silverstone and for Makes) depleted the Silverstone entry some­ F3 driver Roy Pike. was probably only the 3rd or 4th Formula 1 what, but several drivers competed in both. For The then World Champion, , was event I had been to, and several aspects of that example, - who had set what would driving the Tyrrell March; at the end of practice meeting highlight just how much top-flight be pole-position time for March on the he was offered a run in the de Tomaso to further racing has changed in recent years. previous day at Silverstone-had flown to Italy shake down the newly-built car. He accepted, to drive for Ferrari in the endurance race and It was the second day of practice (or 'qualify­ partly as a favour to Williams and partly as a would return for the race Fl the following day. ing') for the Daily Express International Trophy fact-finding exercise- he'd already recognized On a similar double-duty schedule was Jack Race. At that time 'Formula 1' was a specifica­ that the March had little development potential. Brabham who drove a Matra at Monza. Such tion for a type of car, some of the races for One can't imagine such a thing happening now. shuttling between events for Grand Prix drivers which counted towards the World Championship, is unthinkable now- and indeed, not permitted­ Courage was allowed to qualify on raceday whereas now 'Fl' seems to have assumed and for a long time they've not been allowed to morning and started the two-heat race from the the status of a distinct sport in its own right. compete in the support races. back with 'no time', but finished third overall. There were numerous non-championship races, For the record, Amon won at Silverstone, while most of which were considered important; this Courage was entered at Silverstone for the Frank at Monza Amon was 4th and Courage 13th. particular event was one of three that year Williams de Tomaso but a new , replacing in England, although in this case it was open to a previously crash-damaged one, wasn't ready Silverstone was also the UK race debut - and my F5000 cars as well. for the first day. Whilst Piers was away at Monza, fi rst glimpse - of the Lotus 72. Ed

20 Lowflying November 2012 00 9149, after Piers sold the car was locked away in a garage, whi ch itself former glory. The car came with some docu- Having kicked-off his racing career in his collapsed in the late 1970s. The remains of the mentation, and Neil got into contact with Lotus Seven, Piers managed to convince his car, ravaged by the effects of time, sand and John Watson, the historian and archivist who f~ther to stump up money one final time for salt corrosion, were later moved (by digger!) maiulains the Lotus Seven Register. john veri- him, to help fund his ambitions to move up to into another lockup garage where it remained, fied the car's heritage and confirmed that it Form ula Junior. This resulted in the purchase rotting, until 2009. had previously been considered 'lost'. of a Merlyn sports car, but the Lotus Seven, of Neil was also able to get into contact with course, had to be sold to contribute towards The car's rediscovery Don Gin, who was able to provide invaluable the o n-going funding of his racing ca reer. It oo 9149 was saved by current owner Neil information to help return the car to the was sold via the famous Chequered Flag Wakeling. Neil takes up the story of how he condition and setup that it was in when Piers Garage in Chiswick to its new owner Don Gin, came by the car: "On 9th May 2009, I was sup­ raced it. who used it for a couple of seasons of circuit posed to be competing with my Porsche GT3 in After the ravages of time, it was clear that racing in the UK. It was then sold on to Phillip a French hillclimb. However, I wasn't feeling Neil would have to rely on specialists to Smart, who used oo 9149 as a daily driver, well, so I decided to go and spectate at the undertake a total rebuild of the car. "John firstly on the UK mainland and then, from Bouley Bay hillclimb (which is right on my Watson's advice was invaluable. He pointed 1971, in jersey where he m oved as a school­ doorstep) instead. I got chatting with some of me in the direction of the people he viewed master. Current owner Neil Wakeling reports the local motorsports enthusiasts and it hap­ as best placed to handle the car's ground-up that he has met motoring enthusiasts on Jersey pened to come up in conversation that one of restoration. today who fondly remember being driven to them was aware of someone locally with a car "I chose James Whiting Sevens to manage school in it! However, its days as a daily driver for sale that was in a terrible condition, but the restoration itself, with Alan Wesson of were numbered when Phillip started compet­ had been owned by an ex-racing driver. As Xtraspecialsevens to supply the new chassis ing in local speed events and using it for beach soon as I heard that the driver had been parts that were required. Because of the effects racing. Modifications fo r driving on the sand Courage, I was extremely interested, as, having of the sand and salt, much of the original included signifi cant changes to the cooling been an avid F1 fan as a kid, Piers Courage chassis was rotten to the point that you could system, with a radiator mounted on a frame at was someone whose career I had followed. just push your finger through. However, our the rear of the car, connected by coolant pipes Within the hour, I was at Phillip's house, and aim was to keep and re-use every single running, under covers, down the sides of the thirty minutes later, I had bought the car. The original part possible." flared wings. chassis was brought straight back to my garage And so began two years of painstaking Fitted with a Formula Junior engine, origi­ before anyone could change their mind!" restoration. Next time, we'll report on the nally installed by second owner Don Gin, this A year of detective work then lay ahead to restoration process, reveal the concours condi­ phase of the oo 9149's existence came to an uncover the ca r's history, and m ore impor­ tion car which resulted and the unexpected end when the engine threw a con-rod. The car tantly, to work out how to bring it back to its doors which it opened for its owner Neil. •

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