Alan Mann Racing was a British

motor racing An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gene ...

team organised by Alan Mann (22 August 1936 – 21 March 2012), who was a part-time racing driver and team manager. The team ran a substantial part of the

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

works racing effort in Europe from 1964 to 1969, when it ceased operations. It was based in

Byfleet Byfleet is a village in Surrey, England. It is located in the far east of the borough of Woking, around east of West Byfleet, from which it is separated by the M25 motorway and the Wey Navigation. The village is of medieval origin. Its win ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, near the

Brooklands Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England, United Kingdom. It opened in 1907 and was the world's first purpose-built 'banked' motor racing circuit as well as one of Britain's first airfields, ...

race circuit.

History

Alan Mann ran

Ford Zephyr The Ford Zephyr is an executive car manufactured by Ford of Britain from 1950 until 1972. The Zephyr and its luxury variants, the Ford Zodiac and Ford Executive, were the largest passenger cars in the British Ford range from 1950 until their r ...

s and Anglias in 1962 under the entrant of Andrews Garage in British

saloon car A sedan (American English) or saloon (British English) is a automobile, passenger car in a three-box styling, three-box configuration with separate compartments for an engine, passengers, and cargo. The first recorded use of ''sedan'' in refer ...

races. In 1963 he prepared a

Ford Cortina The Ford Cortina is a medium-sized family car manufactured in various body styles from 1962 to 1982. It was the United Kingdom's best-selling car of the 1970s. The Cortina was produced in five generations (Mark I through to Mark V, although of ...

GT under Alan Andrews Racing for Henry Taylor in racing and rallying in a quasi-Ford Team. His team was included to run a Ford Cortina GT in the 3rd running of the Marlboro 12-hour, at

Marlboro Motor Raceway Marlboro Motor Raceway (MMR) is a now-defunct motorsports park located in Prince George's County, just outside Upper Marlboro, Maryland. MMR closed after the 1969 season and local Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) racing moved to the more advanced ...

, US, in August 1963 with the express purpose of winning its class, as

Volvo The Volvo Group (; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distribution and sale of truck ...

was reaping publicity from a string of victories. His Cortina, driven by Henry Taylor and Jimmy Blumer, came second to another Cortina of John Willment Automobiles driven by

Jack Sears Jack Sears (16 February 1930 – 6 August 2016) was a British race and rally driver, and was one of the principal organisers of the 1968 London-Sydney Marathon. Biography Sears was popularly known as "Gentleman Jack". His son David is a ...

and Bob Olthoff, which won the race overall. This made an impression on John Holman of Holman & Moody, Ford's top racing team in the US, who had already sold Willment a

Ford Galaxie The Ford Galaxie is a car that was marketed by Ford in North America from the 1959 to 1974 model years. Deriving its nameplate from a marketing tie-in with the excitement surrounding the Space Race, the Galaxie was offered as a sedan within the ...

and this subsequently attracted more of Ford's attention. For 1964 Alan Mann Racing became a Ford factory team. The team ran cars in events as diverse as the

Monte Carlo Rally The Monte Carlo Rally or Rallye Monte-Carlo (officially Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo) is a rallying event organized each year by the Automobile Club de Monaco. From its inception in 1911 by Albert I, Prince of Monaco, Prince Albert I, the rally ...

and the

Tour de France Automobile Tour de France Automobile was a sports car race held on roads around France regularly (mostly annually) between 1899 and 1986. History The first edition in 1899 was won by René de Knyff driving a Panhard et Levassor at 30 mph (50&nbs ...

to the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...

. Shelby won the Over 2000cc Division of the

1965 International Championship for GT Manufacturers The 1965 World Sportscar Championship season was the 13th season of FIA World Sportscar Championship racing. It featured the 1965 International Championship for GT Manufacturers and the 1965 International Trophy for GT Prototypes.Denis Jenkinson, ...

with Cobra Daytona and Cobra roadster models entered by various teams, including Alan Mann Racing. For the big Ford effort to win Le Mans in 1966, Alan Mann Racing developed a lightweight version of the GT40 with a light alloy body and other modifications. Five cars were ordered, but only two were built as the project was abandoned by Ford in favour of the MKII GT40. Alan Mann Racing entered two 7-litre MKII cars for Le Mans in 1966, but despite one of them leading early on in the race, both cars retired. The team's red and gold livery graced various Ford models including GT40, Cortina,

Falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Some small species of falcons with long, narrow wings are called hobbies, and some that hover while hunting are called kestrels. Falcons are widely distrib ...

, and Escort. The Ford F3L prototype was built and raced by Alan Mann Racing. Some of the best drivers of the period from

Graham Hill Norman Graham Hill (15 February 1929 – 29 November 1975) was a British racing driver, rower and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Nicknamed "Mr. Monaco", Hill won two Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles ...

and Sir

Jackie Stewart Sir John Young "Jackie" Stewart (born 11 June 1939) is a British former racing driver, sports broadcasting, broadcaster and motorsport executive from Scotland, who competed in Formula One from to . Nicknamed "the Flying Scottish people, Scot" ...

to Sir John Whitmore and Frank Gardner raced for the team, which achieved substantial successes in many different forms of the sport.

Film work

AMR also was involved in film and TV work. The company built the original

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'' is a 1968 children's film, children's Musical film, musical fantasy film directed by Ken Hughes and produced by Albert R. Broccoli. It stars Dick Van Dyke, Sally Ann Howes, Lionel Jeffries, Gert Fröbe, Anna Quayle, ...

s for the film of the same name. Work was also done for the

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

film Goldfinger, work for the aborted

Steve McQueen Terrence Stephen McQueen (March 24, 1930November 7, 1980) was an American actor. His antihero persona, emphasized during the height of counterculture of the 1960s, 1960s counterculture, made him a top box office draw for his films of the late ...

F1 film ' Day of the Champion', as well as pre-production work for McQueen's film

Le Mans Le Mans (; ) is a Communes of France, city in Northwestern France on the Sarthe (river), Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the Provinces of France, province of Maine (province), Maine, it is now the capital of ...

. They also built three cars with 'futuristic' appearance, based on

running gear and aluminium gullwing door bodyshells, for

Gerry Anderson Gerald Alexander Anderson (; 14 April 1929 – 26 December 2012) was an English television and film producer, director, writer and occasional voice artist, who is known for his futuristic television programmes, especially his 1960s production ...

and the 1969 film '

Doppelgänger A doppelgänger ( ), sometimes spelled doppelgaenger or doppelganger, is a ghostly double of a living person, especially one that haunts its own fleshly counterpart. In fiction and mythology, a doppelgänger is often portrayed as a ghostly or p ...

'. These were re-painted and re-used for the much better known

UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO) is an object or phenomenon seen in the sky but not yet identified or explained. The term was coined when United States Air Force (USAF) investigations into flying saucers found too broad a range of shapes ...

TV series of 1970. The cars were infamously unfinished, underpowered and unreliable.

Ed Straker Colonel Edward Straker, United States Air Force, Commander-in-Chief of SHADO, is the main character of British TV series ''UFO''. He is one of the original promoters of Project Angel, an international organisation to found the Supreme Headquarte ...

's car was later owned by DJ

Dave Lee Travis David Patrick Griffin (born 25 May 1945), known professionally as Dave Lee Travis, is an English disc jockey and television presenter. He currently presents a Sunday programme between 10 am and 12 noon on ''Heritage Chart Radio''. Travis began ...

, who hated it. Little survives of these cars, except for enough remains to build a modern replica.

Major victories

* 1964 Tour de France Automobile, Touring Division – won by

Peter Procter Peter Roderick Procter (16 January 1930 – 15 August 2024) was a British cycling champion, rally driver and racing driver. Life and career Procter was born on 16 January 1930. Shortly after his birth he moved to Harrogate, and then to Alne Ha ...

and

Andrew Cowan Andrew Cowan (13 December 1936 – 15 October 2019) was a Scottish rally driver, and the founder and senior director of Mitsubishi Ralliart until his retirement on 30 November 2005. Early years Cowan was raised in Duns, a small town in the ...

in a

Ford Mustang The Ford Mustang is a series of American Car, automobiles manufactured by Ford Motor Company, Ford. In continuous production since 1964, the Mustang is currently the longest-produced Ford car nameplate. Currently in its Ford Mustang (seventh ...

entered by AMR *

, Over 2000cc Division – won by Shelby, with cars entered by various teams including AMR * 1965 European Touring Car Challenge – won by Sir John Whitmore in a Ford Cortina Lotus entered by AMR * 1967 British Saloon Car Championship – won by Frank Gardner in a

Ford Falcon Sprint The Ford Falcon is a model line of cars that was produced by Ford from the 1960 to 1970 model years. Though preceded by the Rambler American, the Falcon was the first compact car marketed by the Big Three American manufacturers. In contrast to ...

entered by AMR * 1968 British Saloon Car Championship – won by Frank Gardner in a Ford Cortina Lotus and a

Ford Escort Twin Cam The Ford Escort is a small family car that was manufactured by Ford of Europe from 1968 until 2000. In total there were six generations, spread across three basic platforms: the original, rear-wheel-drive Mk.1/Mk.2 (1968–1980), the "Erika" ...

entered by AMR The team was resurrected in 2004 by Alan Mann, and is active in historic racing - featuring in such events as the

Silverstone Classic Silverstone Festival (previously known as Silverstone Classic) is an annual three-day Festival featuring historic motorsport, live music and family-friendly entertainment at the Silverstone Circuit, home of the British Grand Prix. The event attra ...

, the

Goodwood Festival of Speed The Goodwood Festival of Speed is an annual motorsports festival featuring modern and historic motor racing vehicles taking part in a hillclimbing, hillclimb and other events, held in Goodwood House, West Sussex, in late June or early July. Th ...

, the

Goodwood Revival The Goodwood Revival is a three-day festival held each September at Goodwood Circuit since 1998 for the types of road racing, racing cars and motorcycles that would have competed during the circuit's original period—1948–1966. History The ...

and regular appearances on the Masters Historic Pre-1966 Touring Cars competition.

References

*''Gentleman Jack: The Official Biography of Jack Sears'', Graham Gauld, {{ISBN, 978-1-84584-151-5 *

Denis Jenkinson Denis Sargent Jenkinson (11 December 1920 – 29 November 1996), "Jenks" or "DSJ" as he was known in the pages of ''Motor Sport'', was a British journalist deeply involved in motorsports. As Continental Correspondent of the UK-based ''Motor Spo ...

, ''

Motor Sport Motorsport or motor sport are sporting events, competitions and related activities that primarily involve the use of automobiles, motorcycles, motorboats and powered aircraft. For each of these vehicle types, the more specific terms ''automobile ...

'', March 1968, p. 170.

External links

*Official website
Alan Mann Racing
and a
archived version
*https://web.archive.org/web/20100204204940/http://homepage.mac.com/frank_de_jong/Races/1963%20Marlboro.html *http://www.pixelmatic.com.au/cortina/articles/whitmore.htm British auto racing teams 24 Hours of Le Mans teams

History

Film work

Major victories

See also

References

External links