1950's Motorsport / 1172 Formula Racing / Ford sidevalve engines / Len Terry Lotus Designer / Peter Hampton / Buckler car / Ken Obee / Turner car / JVT Special / Silverstone /
The Shoestring Stable circa 1954 - 1957
1. Peter Hampton. From North London (Wood Green?). Using an 1172 Formula Buckler Mark 5, registration: 876 AMY. He was an aircraft fabricator and built an aluminium body to his own design. Competed in 1172 Formula circuit races at Silverstone, 8 Clubs and other events including, Rushmoor and Tempsford.
2. Len Terry. From Tottenham, London. Ran an 1172 Formula special called the JVT and based on a modified Lotus 3 space frame, built by John Vincent Teychenne. The body was by William's & Pritchard. Registration YHX 344. Competed in 1172 formula circuit races including Silverstone and Brands Hatch and in other events. Later became well known as a racing car designer of Formula 1 and other cars for Lotus and BRM etc. He designed the Lotus 17 and the Indy winning Lotus 38 and Dan Gurney's successful Eagle cars and many others.
3. Ken Obee Ran a Turner 818 HMG (or HMC?) with a non standard G.R.P. body. Competed in motor sports but not normally in circuit racing. Ken entered as the "Obee Turner" in the Brighton Speed Trials 1959/60/61 with a 1172cc Engine. The car was based on a Turner 803 chassis with a Microplas Stilleto Body, which was a quickly detachable. His chassis 30/031 was last known to exist in Sussex , England in 1985, and at that time fitted with a Triumph 998cc Engine and had at some stage been re-registered with 982 PMT.
4. Name unknown Little known about this 4th member, who joined for 1957, except that he ran a special with an all enveloping body and Morris or similar wire wheels. Competed but not normally in circuit races.
VERY FAMOUS SPECIAL - THE JVT-1. Account by Peter Ross.
When Colin teamed up with Nigel and Michael Allen to build the Mark III
Lotus sports racing 750 Formula car in 1951, his childhood friend John
Teychenne decided to build a similar car, but fit it with a Ford 1172cc
engine.
The story goes that Colin had already built chassis No.1 at his lock up
garage in Muswell Hill before meeting the Allen brothers, but after
seeing their palatial accommodation and extensive facilities at Vallance
Road, (Alexandra Park), it was decided to finish No.1 and make the next
two there. Johnny says that his frame, together with the next two Mk
III frames, were loaded on top of the Allen family Armstrong Siddeley,
and driven round to the workshop of Hazel Williams father, where the top
hat section frames were boxed in. As we know, the 2nd and 3rd cars were
never completed, No 2 becoming Adam Currie's Lotus IIIb, and the third
frame being sold to a so far untraceable gentleman in Wimbledon by
Michael Allen in 1955 (he still has the receipt for the money)
Johnny was helped in making his special by his school friend Bob Hester,
and by Dave Kelsey who was sweet on Bob's sister Beryl (they later
married), and with whom he later started the Progress Chassis Company to
make the Lotus Mark VI frames for Lotus.
John lived with his parents at 41 Church Lane, Tottenham which backed on
to 19 Ribblesdale Road which they also owned. John said: "I'm going to
start building a car" and his father replied "What can I do to help?"
During the war a bomb had fallen on to the stables at No 19 and John
created a workshop using an Anderson Shelter [more likely to have been
some other sort of shelter - PTR] alongside the remains of the stable.
It was here that he built his Austin-based car which was registered as a
JVT-1 Special, Reg. XHX 344 ( NB photos show YHX 344 ), about which one magistrate stated "And what on earth is that?" at one of John's early court appearances for vehicle irregularities on the public highway. The V standing for Vincent which was Johnny's middle name,
Colin helped his old friend by supplying the special casting needed to
adapt the Hillman four speed gearbox to the Ford engine. John
discovered Williams and Pritchard, who were at that time working in
Enfield, and they made the body for him in the style of the Lotus
Mk.III, but with headlamps outside the bonnet. Colin was so impressed
by the workmanship that all Lotus cars from the prototype Mark VI XML6
onwards were made by Williams & Pritchard. Frank Hines had made the
bodies for the Lotus Mk III and IV.
John himself did not race it (at least not on race circuits!), and the
car was later (what year?) sold to Len Terry, who joined
Lotus in 1958 and later became Lotus Chief Designer, and he raced it in
1172 Formula races. (which years? What results?) Later
(when?) Len stripped off all the components and used them in a
new space frame for his own very successful car, the Terrier. The
original frame was sold. It was owned from 1958 to 1962 by Tony
Butcher, who lived locally at Southgate. Although he re-registered it,
Tony always called it Terrier, and it eventually ended up with a Lotus
enthusiast Bill Friend, who, believing it to be the missing Mark III
chassis, had a replica body built for it in 1994 , re-registered it as
LMU5 and called it the Lotus IIIc. When this was shown to Johnny and
Dave they immediately recognised it as the old JVT-1.
It is now thought to be in the ownership of Dr.
David Harvey who lives in Enfield.
> Who owned it from 1962-1994?
> What components were sold with the body/chassis?
> What happened to the original body?
replies via bucklercars AT manx.net (correct to use)
