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Harrison Racing Cars


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#1 Anthony999

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Posted 17 July 2011 - 15:12

We have recently purchased the Harrison Special No. 1

Built 1965 by Harrison Racing Cars of Forest Hill, London.

Reg No. EHP 999C

Little is known about the history and the current owner is conducting research to discover more.

The Coventry Transport Museum has records of the registration on 19th March 1965 with a chassis reference MJH1 and a 997cc engine (Ford 105E).

Harrison Racing Cars clearly had aspirations to compete with Lotus and certainly the design and build quality of the space frame chassis compares well with the Lotus 7.

Known History:
1965 – Harrison Racing Cars of Forest Hill London
Unknown
2005 to 2010 – Brian Purnell Esq of Bath
2010 to Jan 2011 – Jim Dudley Esq of Wisbech
Jan 2011 to date – Tony Bourn (Current Owner)

The car was re-engined to Ford x-flow (believed to have been done in 2000’s) and current owner intends to restore back to original engine spec.

We will be taking her to the Silverstone Classic (22-24 July) at the THE FAIRTHORPE SPORTS CAR CLUB stand.


Any information on history, etc, would be very much appreciated.


Tony Bourn
07759 221493
Bourn@Live.co.uk

PS. To our knowledge Harrison Racing Cars London were not linked to J Frank Harrison/Jerry Eisert, although we would of course be interested to discover if it was.




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#2 Mistron

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Posted 17 July 2011 - 16:32

Given the date and the likeness to a Lotus seven, it sounds like it might be an early Clubmans formula car. The first few years had 1000cc and 1500cc classes.

Here's a couple of shots of my old 1000cc Clubmans car (No. 8, the Coldwell Mink) on the grid at Silverstone in '65 / '66. Perhaps the Harrison is in the background?

Posted Image

Posted Image

Post some pics of the car and it's far more likely someone will recognise it and help you in your search. This has worked well for me with a couple of WWOOs I have owned (WWOO being my favoured abbreviation for Weird and Wonderfull One Offs! :drunk: )

Sadly, I found that the Classic Clubmans register had little info on the very early years of the formula, But TNF is usually pretty good at this sort of thing!

#3 Anthony999

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Posted 17 July 2011 - 17:22

Posted Image
2010

Posted Image
2011


The first (red) is how it was when we bought it and the second (green) how she is now.

Edited by Anthony999, 17 July 2011 - 20:32.


#4 Mistron

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Posted 17 July 2011 - 17:40

thought I recognised the name Harrison and the reg number! I saw the car when it was advertised for sale earlier in the year

#5 Anthony999

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Posted 17 July 2011 - 20:47

This shows a letter from Harrison Racing Cars written in the period BUT not believed to be regarding this car.


Posted Image











#6 Cirrus

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Posted 17 July 2011 - 21:20

I've always associated the name Harrison with Imp-powered F4 cars. The "KH" prefix to the model number also rings a bell. I might well be wrong, though...

#7 John Saunders

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Posted 18 July 2011 - 15:21

Ken Harrison built the Imp powed F4 cars late 60s/early 70s. The Griffiths brothers Dave & Ron race a pair of KH2s in F4 early 70s

I think he also built the Tetranychus Telarlus (Little Red Spider) for Mike (Abacus) Taylor, raced in F1200 in the early 70s

He was based at 19 Fernheath Way, Wilmington, Dartford Kent. he was still at this address in the late 70s.

#8 Anthony999

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Posted 18 July 2011 - 22:10

John, this is certainly the same Harrison as on the letterhead.

It seems that he moved from that address in 2002, do you know if his wife's name was Gwendoline M Harrison, if so she may live in Sandwich Kent.

Do you have any information on Ken Harrison?



#9 richie

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Posted 19 July 2011 - 11:54

John, this is certainly the same Harrison as on the letterhead.

It seems that he moved from that address in 2002, do you know if his wife's name was Gwendoline M Harrison, if so she may live in Sandwich Kent.

Do you have any information on Ken Harrison?


If you look on www.192.com there's a G Harrison in Sandwich

#10 John Saunders

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Posted 19 July 2011 - 16:01

Sorry Anthony999
I only meet Ken Harrison a few times at race meetings at Brands & Lydden about 40 years ago.













#11 Anthony999

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Posted 30 July 2011 - 22:25

Sorry Anthony999
I only meet Ken Harrison a few times at race meetings at Brands & Lydden about 40 years ago.



It seems that the reference to Harrison Racing Cars was a red herring as we were starting to suspect.

Good news it that we have tracked down the original builder Michael Harrison near Coventry and he is more than happy to tell us about her - he hopes to have some original photographs.

There are many similarities to the Lotus 7 of the same period such as use of triumph and ford components, plus many parts were made from scratch by Michael himself.

We will post some original photographs in due course.

#12 275 GTB-4

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Posted 30 July 2011 - 23:24

Harrison Racing Cars clearly had aspirations to compete with Lotus and certainly the design and build quality of the space frame chassis compares well with the Lotus 7.


If you have ever seen a bare Lotus 7 chassis, Harrison should have modified his aspirations somewhat!! Great little jiggers....but the build quality and questionable minimalist engineering is something else again :)

#13 woody7

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Posted 29 December 2014 - 09:32

I have just came across this post & was so surprised to see my old car! I owned EHP 99C in 1973; previously the car was owned by a friend of mine, Ken Holmes. It was then quite tatty and he decided to rebuild the car - a very clever chap - all the fibreglass panels you see on the car today he made himself, constructing his own moulds and then the panels, new screen, dash, etc.  I eventually managed to persuade him to sell me the car - it had a pre-crossflow 1000cc engine running twin SUs, which I managed to destroy, so I decided to build a new engine, keeping the same block but getting as much power as I could at the time. A decent exhaust manifold was made by modifying a Lotus 7 one, which came from Jeff Howe in Dartford. It was superb and very quick in it's day. A mate of mine had a twin cam 7 and there was not much between them up to 60. It was my only car and I drove many miles in it, including frequent trips from  Essex to Leeds of a weekend. It always was the topic of conversation at the 7 club meetings - some people insisting that it was a modified Lotus 6 and not a Special but I did beg to differ. I did have problems with the front lower wishbones breaking, this was after fitting the bigger wheels - I did strengthen them. I then sold the car to my brother to buy a Series 3 7, something I have always regretted. My brother later sold the car to a dealer in Epping. A few years later, I was contacted by a chap in the 7 club, saying that his friend had bought the car but had subsequently damaged it and asking if I knew who had made the panels. As luck would have it, I still had the moulds, they had been left by my brother in my garage, so the guy was very pleased and managed to repair the car, using the original moulds. Don't know whether these are now in your possession? I did try to trace the car a few years later, but with no success so was absolutely gob-smacked when I saw this post on this Forum and had to reply, even if I am 2 years late!!! Good luck with the car. Regards, Larry.

 



#14 Anthony999

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Posted 25 January 2015 - 19:37

Here are some photographs from the mid 1960's during Michael Harrison's ownership.

 

 

 

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Edited by Anthony999, 25 January 2015 - 19:38.


#15 Anthony999

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Posted 25 January 2015 - 19:41

These are some rather sad photographs from the 1980's (?) after the car had unfortunately been crashed by a butcher in Weston Super Mare (?), who we have been unable to locate.

 

 

jTGweJ.jpg57TpsH.jpg


Edited by Anthony999, 25 January 2015 - 19:48.


#16 Anthony999

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Posted 25 January 2015 - 19:48

Here are photographs of the chassis during restoration, we believe that Mike H extended the chassis behind the rear wheels. The chassis was purchased in the early 60's for £5 and may have been late 50's or early 60's fabrication. We would like to identify the chassis if anyone has any ideas, thank you.

 

 

WzbDQy.jpg2w1Tsc.jpg0FGTG1.jpg

 

THcyn3.jpgUktUox.jpg


Edited by Anthony999, 25 January 2015 - 20:24.


#17 Anthony999

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Posted 25 January 2015 - 20:19

Here is a photograph of the steering showing the removable/adjustable and handmade steering wheel.6KGk0G.jpg


Edited by Anthony999, 25 January 2015 - 20:22.


#18 Anthony999

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Posted 25 January 2015 - 20:21

Here are photographs of the front and rear suspension setups.

 

BZ58M2.jpgIi1t7h.jpgiylLCT.jpg8AIRaP.jpgJNCR8z.jpg



#19 woody7

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Posted 26 January 2015 - 08:44

Love the photos - the early ones are exactly how the car was when Ken bought it. He used it for a while before rebuilding it to the car you have now, changing the style slightly. Shame to see it in such a state in the '80s;  the car seems to have been damaged a couple of times because, when it was first repaired, the colour changed to blue which I can see some evidence of on the scuttle. When I saw the car again, which must have been in the early '80s,  it was back to red, then it must have been damaged for a second time. The rebuild looks a superb job - the lower wishbones look a lot stronger now. Thanks for posting the photos - good to see it again. 



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#20 Anthony999

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Posted 26 January 2015 - 11:27

Do you know if Ken bought the car from Mike or were there other owners in-between?

 

Sounds like you saw the car in the 80's before the second crash, can you remember where that was and who owned it?

 

Did you or Ken come to any conclusions on the chassis?

 

Thanks for the info which is much appreciated.



#21 woody7

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Posted 26 January 2015 - 18:04

Can't remember if Ken bought the car from Mike - he might have ............ I do remember he had the  car for a fair time before he rebuilt it and I do know that he advertised for a Lotus 6 and this is what he was offered. It's a shame that I've lost contact with him.  I did see the car in the '80s - can't remember the owner's name but he lived in the Tottenham/Walthamstow area. As for the chassis - it's always been a mystery - Ken always thought that it was a modified Lotus but because of the round tubes that can't be the case? 



#22 Peter Morley

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Posted 27 January 2015 - 10:28

Lotus 6 chassis (which was then used as the base for 8, 9 & 10) had round bottom tubes but of a larger diameter than this car, they also finished at the seat bulkhead.

Size and type of tubes makes it look like a 60s chassis to me but no idea what.



#23 Anthony999

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Posted 27 January 2015 - 23:09

I understand that the tubes originally finished at the seat area and Mike added the rear section.

 

The chassis shown here (Lotus 6?) seems to have some square tubes as well, unlike the Harrison.

 

https://jtautomotive...-greatest-hits/


Edited by Anthony999, 27 January 2015 - 23:13.


#24 woody7

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Posted 28 January 2015 - 08:45

Ken always said it was a modified Lotus 6 frame but I was always sceptical of this theory because of the round tubes, but with Peter's information, then maybe Ken's theory could be right. Having said that, in the '70s there was a regular 7 club meeting and most of us, including Graeme Nearne said it was a Special, well constructed, to replicate a Lotus 6 but the handling of the car is so superb it seems too good to be a backyard Special.  I always thought that it could have been an early round tubed Ginetta frame with some mods?(but I'm sure someone will probably put me right on that?!)  It would be really good to know, so any ideas?



#25 Peter Morley

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Posted 28 January 2015 - 11:06

Here's a picture of a Lotus 6 frame.

A mixture of round and square tubes but I do think the lower tubes are larger.

 

MK6-frame-smaller.jpg



#26 woody7

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Posted 28 January 2015 - 11:28

Peter - I can see what you mean about the lower tubes being larger and the square top tubes, though it must have been inspired by the Lotus, but the quality of the frame was superb and very strong. After selling the car I went on to having a few Lotus Sevens and the Harrison was every bit as good (in my humble opinion!) so it's a credit to it's designer - the mystery carries on!!



#27 Anthony999

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Posted 28 January 2015 - 15:53

The suggestion from Mike Harrison was that it was a professionally built frame, he thought that it might have come from Ferguson for whom he worked but he wasn't sure.



#28 Stephen W

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Posted 16 February 2015 - 09:44

10370975_10153072015298560_4187851373550

 

NB the photo is of an "ex-Harrison" chassied trials car.