Oliver Winterbottom – August Bulletin

BOOK BULLETIN AUGUST 2019

2 August  I agree to give Club Lotus Avon a talk on 7 April 2020. Now I have to work on
the subject, as this will be my third or fourth evening with them. “People Wot I Knew” is the theme I am researching, including Sir William Lyons of Jaguar and Colin Chapman of Lotus.

5 August  A copy of Lotus reMarque, the magazine for the Lotus Ltd Club in the USA, arrives through my letterbox. Kindly sent by William Taylor (Coterie Press) it features a superb article by Tom Smith, the owner of the Lotus M90 / X100 prototype. It describes the restoration of this unique vehicle and generously mentions my book. I particularly liked the comments on the exterior mirrors which are totally realistic, although made of wood, as we could not tool up for just one car! Supported by lavish photographs, Tom has done it and me proud - thank you Tom.

The opening page of the reMarque article.

6 August  Amazon UK appear to have sold two more books recently. Every one counts!

7 August  This is the big day! I leave Wymondham to drive to Kent, to see the JCL Mamba boat I designed in 1976. This visit was postponed from 31 July and I reached the meeting place, a few minutes early, for our 11:30 rendezvous. Once parked by the railway station, I managed to fail to download my text messages, so, as there was no Kevin off the train, I called him. He was so apologetic. Upon reaching Victoria Station in London to travel to meet me, a fire at the station had closed it. He was so apologetic but it was outside his control. I returned to Norfolk in time for a late lunch. We will try and arrange attempt Number 3.

8 August  We arrange a new date to go and see the Mamba boat I designed in 1976. Third time lucky, hopefully, on 22 August!

9 August  I am absolutely amazed to read that the Assistant Chief Constable of Lincolnshire Police collided with an oncoming car because she had strayed to the wrong side of the road when trying to find the Bluetooth telephone control in her car. Hardly hands-free, then. She was awarded £1,460 in fines and costs, and had seven points added to her licence. When will people understand that mobile phones are not compatible with driving. Why not telephone BEFORE driving off? Yes, I know I am old fashioned!

13 August  Following my supplying details of the talk I will give to the Bourne Motor Racing Club, I now have the overnight accommodation reserved at the Angel. Bourne, Lincolnshire has family connections through my mother's family and was the home of a distant cousin, Raymond Mays, who was behind the ERA and BRM racing cars. The talk is to be presented on Thursday 10 October.

15 August  Amazon UK appear to have run out of stock with more due in 3 or 4 days. That's good news for me.

17 August  I visit Malcolm Ricketts' race workshop open day annual charity barbecue at Wheathampstead in Hertfordshire. Malcolm has been a long time racing driver of Lotus cars. After a good drive down from Norfolk, I arrive at 11:30. There are a large number of interesting cars, with at least eight 1970s Lotus Elite type. Malcolm was very complimentary on my designs and was tireless  in organising the event. A superbly restored Lotus 38 race car dominated the cars on show, and after lunch was started up after Malcolm had received the OK from the local residents.

The Lotus 38 was the first rear-engined car to win the Indianapolis 500, in 1965, driven by Jim Clark. It was run by Lotus at Indianapolis from 1965 to 1967; a total of 8 were built, most for use by Lotus, but several were sold for use by other drivers. I met a number of people including Mike Hamlin, onetime pilot of the Lotus aircraft, Richard Woollaston, champion of the Lotus Elite, and various other interesting people. There was just about every Lotus road car-type represented and all done as
a sociable event. Hopefully the tickets raised plenty of charity money from this delightful event.

 General view of the Malcolm Ricketts' event, there were many more Lotus of all types around the venue.

22 August  I drive down to Kent to be reunited with a project I last saw in January 1977. The JCL Mamba was a design I did in 1976. I had never seen a production boat, as I left the company after the prototype was built. I'd been contacted by Kevin, the current owner, on 27 June and this visit is the third attempt to meet up, following various postponements. The vessel has been neglected for about 15 years but in general looks better than one would have expected. Kevin and I discussed what he would like to do and I hope I gave him some tips on what could, or could not, be technically feasible. This design was about half the weight of similar sized boats, achieved by utilising the furniture and bulkheads as a unitary structure. The two diesel engines are totally corroded and the cost of restoring them is prohibitive.

Myself with the Mamba!

We discussed various opportunities to get her back in the water and I am currently thinking these through! We repaired to good local pub and had a pleasant lunch before I volunteered to join the massive queue for the privilege of using the Dartford River Crossing and the return home. Interestingly, Kevin has yet to buy my book – but plans to do so immediately!

 Mamba needs a bit of a clean after 15 years of neglect.

25 August  A friend brings a copy of my book to the pub. Expecting a signature request I find its a Norfolk Library copy. I am very grateful the library holds a copy. We discussed various aspects of my story in it.

26 August  I am driving on the B1108 Norwich to Watton Road and when I reach Kimberley I find the railway crossing gates closed. Very slowly, the huge steam locomotive Union of South Africa crosses hauling a Mid Norfolk Railway train. One of six surviving Gresley A4 engines built in 1937; I was amazed and excited by this huge piece of superb engineering.

27 August  I am delighted that Club Lotus and the Lotus Elite/Eclat/Excel Clubs post information on the Hinckley Classic Car Show, on 15 September, to their websites. It is possibly the biggest town centre show in the country. I will attend and have copies of my book available.

The Elder Statesmen of Racing

The motor industry and motor sport industry has lost a significant number of elder statesmen in this past month, and with them a huge base of knowledge, entrepreneurialism and respect. In each case, these people were present at the beginning of an era, made a difference, and in the oft overused phrase, left a legacy of cars, businesses and stories that will be repeated down the years, whenever the words Ferrari, McLaren or Jaguar are brought up.

The person whose passing left the largest media footprint was, of course, Niki Lauda. At the time of his death he was a chairman of Mercedes F1, and had been world champion racing driver three times, although it is unlikely that it it is either of these things that he will be remembered for. He will be remembered for his stunning bravery and stoicism after a crash and fire left him near dead in Germany, 1976. It was a new thing for motor racing drivers to apply fitness and diet to their armoury, and Lauda was the butt of many jokes for his adherence to fitness guru Willi Dungle’s regime

though it was this fitness that ultimately saved his life. One could say that his own brand of pragmatism, brought him through the traumatic incident, thinning every decision and polemic to the bone, and uttering his infamous, succinctly staccato answers, which left everyone wondering why they hadn’t thought it through that way.

The fiery accident undoubtedly led to an operation to replace his lungs in late 2018, and he never totally recovered.

Lauda’s last world championship win was in a McLaren car, a marque which by then was one of the strongest and most successful in Formula One. Like everything, McLaren had to start somewhere, and two of the people who helped start McLaren on the road to success have now joined Bruce McLaren, the founder, in the firmament.

A few people have made the claim to be Bruce’s first employee, but Wally Willmott, an automotive electrician at the time, was definitely one of the first to join Bruce in building the Tasman Coopers that were, in effect, the first McLaren cars. New Zealander Wally Willmott was a friend as well as employee, and would have followed Bruce to the ends of the earth. He was a brilliant fabricator and engineer and his versatility made the McLaren staff count look considerably bulkier than it was. He retired back to NZ, where he will be sadly missed.

Bruce McLaren advertised for a racing car designer in 1965, realising that he couldn’t do everything. The person he chose was an Oxford Graduate, who was working on Concorde. His name was Robin Herd.

Robin had never designed a racing car before, but his first McLaren was revolutionary, being made of a Mallite aluminium and wood sandwich, pressed hard together, a material used in aircraft manufacture. The car was good but the Ford engine far too heavy, and the lighter Serranissima engine not powerful enough. It was also difficult to repair so Robin’s next design was more conventional, yet again let down by its BRM engine.

When Robin got his hands on a Ford DFV, McLaren soon scored his first victory in a car of his own manufacture. Herd had also designed a series of highly successful Can-Am cars, where the McLaren team really earned their money.

Robin was tempted to join Cosworth, to design their abortive 4WD F1 car, and soon after joined Max Moseley, Alan Rees and Graham Coker to form the MARCH (the letters of their names) racing car firm. Their March 701 cars were the most numerous on the grids for their first year, and had won three out of four Formula One races by April of their first year. It was not form that they could keep up, but in their second year they finished second in the World Championship with the adventurous March 711, the car Niki Lauda made his debut in.

March only won two GPs after that, but were always numerous on the grids, and were dominant in F2 and F3. Robin left the team in the late Seventies, and applied his brain to pursuits as diverse as Green Waste disposal and owning Oxford City football club.

Of the most recent losses, Norman Dewis of Jaguar died two years short of his target, to do 100mph on his 100^th birthday. Whilst Norman’s competition career was sparse, his contribution was immense. As Chief test driver for Jaguar, he claimed land speed records, developed the C-Type and D-Type Jaguars that won Le Mans so many times in the Fifties, and had a hand in proving every new Jaguar model from 1952 to 1986 was fit for purpose. Most significantly he developed disc brakes for use on cars, a major contribution to road safety, which is something that is applied every car we drive today. 

Having retired he nursed his disabled wife, Nan, until her death, and then embarked on a Jaguar ambassadorial World Tour that continued into 2019. Jaguar aficionados never tired of hearing the little man’s recollections, and he never tired of telling them.

Four significant losses to the motor world over the past month – a time for reflection indeed.

Written by Tim Nevinson