Posted 02 May 2015 - 08:19
Wikipedia (which is of course well known for its accuracy - e.g. 1.1 litre Coventry Climax FJ!) says the following:
The origins of Formula Ford began in the early 1960s, where motor racing schools such as The Jim Russell school and Motor Racing Stables featured single seat Formula Junior and Formula 3-like machines from world class constructors like Cooper and Lotus. Many aspiring Formula 1 stars looked to these schools in the hope of learning the craft and also looking the part. However, although there was no shortage of aspiring drivers, these schools had much trouble avoiding bankruptcy. The 1 litre Formula 3 engines, the 1.1 litre Coventry Climax FJ and later the Ford Anglia 105E, cost around £3,000 at the time in addition to the Dunlop racing tires which cost £80 a set. Furthermore, these engines were incredibly fragile to boot, meaning they had a tendency to self-destruct. All these factors contributed to a steep maintenance and upkeep cost of the schools.[1]
In 1963, Geoff Clarke; the owner of Motor Racing Stables, moved his racing school to the Brands Hatch circuit. This brought him in contact with John Webb; Managing Director of Developments at Brands Hatch. At about this time, two of the school’s Lotus Formula Junior chassis were fitted with a standard 1498cc Ford pushrod engine as featured in the then-recently introduced Cortina GT saloon. The 1500 Cortina, with its sensational reliability and horsepower output fairly close to “F3 proper” proved a resounding success in the school. The earliest experiments with radial tires bore fruit as well: the students of the day didn’t care that these weren’t the racing engines or racing tyres, just that the cars were equal.[2]
At an informal meeting at the December 1966 racing car show day at Olympia, John Webb and Geoff Clarke were discussing the possibility of building a fleet of identical open wheel race cars based on the success of combining the Ford power plant and road wheels, radial tyres, and Formula junior style chassis. Not only would they make ideal school cars, but would also provide a new entry level formula for a race series. They felt if they called it “Formula Ford” they could get backing from Ford itself. Webb was on the phone the next day to Ford competition manager Henry Taylor, who agreed to provide Clarke and MRS with 54 Cortina GT engines at £50 each (£15 below retail). Webb also approached the Royal Automobile Club's competition director, to establish rules for this new class. Late in 1967, Ford announced the new Formula Ford class to the world.[3]
