Ford Anglias
'The ex-George Whitehead Ford Anglia'
BUILT : 1960s
CLASSIFICATION : 1960s special saloon
ENGINE : Ford crossflow 1760cc ( 155 bhp )
RACED BY : George Whitehead ( 1968-69 )
CURRENTLY : alive and well in the south-east
NOTES : Few genuine 1960s special saloons seem to still exist given there were hundreds of them racing in period. So to have a double-championship winning car is extra special. George Whitehead won BOTH the 1969 BRSCC and BARC titles, a remarkable achievement. His Purple and orange WRA Engineering Anglia was a high profile car for 1968 and 1969 taking 8 class wins ( 7 outright ) in `68 with a 1760 crossflow. Then with the engine enlarged to 1860cc took 12 class wins ( 10 outright ) in that superb following season.
George had his own editorial column in CCC magazine and they ran a colour track test in the May 1969 edition plus the car was featured in the Anglia tuning guide at the time.
The car had previously been owned by Mike Madden, who later became an MSA Chief Scrutineer. After George finished racing the car was sold on 1969/70 and the history becomes less clear as it slowy slipped off the radar. It may have been in Ireland in 1971, was certainly painted black around that time. Then was repainted over in white by the time Roberto Giordinelli raced it at Llandow april 1974. Later it had a Union Jack painted on the roof when Martin Ward from Oldham raced it in 1978 before disappearing in the late 80`s. Apparently it had been bought by Ian Higgins for its trick 5-speed box for his Ginetta then put into storage. For the record the colours painted over the purple livery were black, white with red and blue plus that union jack roof !, then all white again as discovered. Its only when these cars are sanded down do its true colours literally reveal themselves. Must have a ton with all that paint !
Then a lucky break when current owner Julian Townsend answered an add to buy the sorry remains of the famous DAF V8. Also at the place was the Anglia in white. 'We returned home with both cars and thinking back to the period when there was such a lack of value and appreciation of old/outdated racing cars, we suspect both cars would have been lost forever'. Julian moved the Daf back on to its creator Tony Hazelwood to restore and eventually restored the Anglia himself. 'With the Anglia being such a survivor we decided to rebuild the car as close to original specification as possible. Modified saloons of that era were virtually individual engineered unique cars, each reflecting the drivers/engineers character' he reflected.
After a few demonstration runs at Crystal Palace it was a pleasure to invite Julian to show the restored car at the CSCC round at Thruxton in 2018. The Daf was there too, the 2 survivors back where they belong at a race track, for a photo shoot. Top marks to Julian for his long term care of this historically important race car.
'The Neil Duke SHP Ford Anglia'
BUILT : 2016/17 using 1960s donor Anglia
CLASSIFICATION : special saloon
ENGINE : Ford Cosworth BDG 2000cc ( by Tim Swadkin )
RACED BY : Neil Duke ( 2017 to date )
CURRENTLY : alive and well in the south-east
NOTES : When CSCC series stalwart Neil Duke wanted to improve on his red Anglia race car with the next level up he asked SHP for help. SHP ( Sonny Howard Preperations ) in Cambridgeshire have been building high quality race cars for decades from oval racing to circuit racers. An old road Anglia was provided as the donor for the bodyshell and SHP did the rest making a superbly fabricated modern race car out of an old family saloon. A classic BDG engine was fitted and as this car is no plastic replica but made out of a real Anglia its included on this Register.
Neil has enjoyed 5 seasons of reliable racing in her since taking delivery in April 2017. It was displayed on the CSCC stand at Race Retro 2018 and continues to be a regular part of the CSCC series for special saloons.
'The Derek Bennett Ford Anglia'
BUILT : circa 1964
CLASSIFICATION : special saloon
ENGINE : Ford 1600
RACED BY : Derek Bennett and Dave Willars ( 1964 to 1966 )
CURRENTLY : alive and well in the north-west
NOTES : To Chevron aficionados this old Anglia has a special place in the marques history. It was one of the first race cars of any kind built and run by Derek Bennett, the founder of Chevron. The car was owned by his old pal Dave Willars from Prestwich who was one of the founder shareholders of Derek Bennett Engineering. The pair shared the racing through the middle of the 1960s, Bennett racing in the May BARC Spring Grove rounds at Oulton Park in both 1965 ( 9th ) and 1966
( 11th ).
'The car was lethal in the wet' wrote David Gordon in the Derek Bennett story book..'on its cheap, near-bald tires. But Derek found racing it in bad conditions amusing and enjoyed throwing it around'. The car seems to have had its colour scheme reversed to red on french blue during its race career. After it was retired Willars has kept the car ever since.
For 2018 it was restored for the Chevron B8 50th anniversary event at Oulton Park. See photo awaiting fitting of windscreen.
