Anson Cars was a British racing car constructor. In 1975,

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

mechanics Gary Anderson (who worked for

Brabham Motor Racing Developments Ltd., commonly known as Brabham ( ), was a British race car, racing car manufacturer and Formula One racing team. It was founded in 1960 by the Australian driver Jack Brabham and the British-Australian designer Ron Ta ...

) and Bob Simpson (who worked for Tyrrell), built a

Formula 3 Formula Three (F3) is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers. History Formula Three (adop ...

car called the Anson SA1. It was based on the Brabham BT38 and was raced by Anderson in

Formula Libre Formula Libre, also known as Formule Libre, is a form of automobile racing allowing a wide variety of types, ages and makes of purpose-built racing cars to compete "head to head". This can make for some interesting matchups, and provides the oppo ...

. Anderson left Brabham at the end of 1976 to focus on designing the Anson SA2 Formula 3 car for 1977. Last minute withdrawal of sponsorship left the project in great difficulties and part-way through 1977 the car was withdrawn. Anderson rejoined Formula One as chief mechanic at

McLaren McLaren Racing Limited ( ) is a British auto racing, motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. The team is a subsidiary of the McLaren Group, which owns a majority of the team. McLaren is best known a ...

. He remained there for two years after which he joined the

Ensign Ensign most often refers to: * Ensign (flag), a flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality * Ensign (rank), a navy (and former army) officer rank Ensign or The Ensign may also refer to: Places * Ensign, Alberta, Alberta, Canada * Ensign, Ka ...

team. In 1980, Anderson, Simpson and ex-Rolls-Royce employee Jeff Hills formed Anson Cars, which built Formula 3 and

Formula Super Vee Formula Super Vee was an open-wheel racing series that took place in Europe and the United States from 1970 to 1990. The formula was created as an extension of Formula Vee, a racing class that was introduced in 1959. Formula Super Vee in Europe w ...

cars for the next six years. In 1985, Anderson went to America to become the chief engineer of the Galles Indycar team. In 1988, Mike McHugh purchased the company, with the goal of building Super Vee cars in California. Two months later, the two top executives in Volkswagen America who were instrumental in VW's support of the Super Vee series were killed in the

Lockerbie air disaster Pan Am Flight 103 (PA103/PAA103) was a regularly scheduled Pan Am transatlantic flight from Frankfurt to Detroit via a stopover in London and another in New York City. Shortly after 19:00 on 21 December 1988, the Boeing 747 "Clipper Maid of th ...

and the market for the cars disappeared. Anson's greatest achievements as a constructor were Franz Konrad winning the 1983 German F3 Championship and Tommy Byrne finishing 6th in the 1984 European F3 Championship.

References

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External links

History of Anson F3 cars
British racecar constructors Formula Three constructors

See also

References

External links