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John Fenning


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#1 gerard BARATHIEU

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Posted 26 August 2005 - 10:00

This guy wins at REIMS in 1967 with a TYRREL MATRA and make soma good apparance


in F3.

Why does he couldn't access to F2 and what happens to him.

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#2 David McKinney

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Posted 26 August 2005 - 11:22

The second part's easy - he was a major player on the historic racing scene in the 1980s and 1990s, first with small single-seaters and latterly with F1 cars (Wolf, Ferrari etc). He still attends many of the big meetings, though no longer as a competitor.
I did an interview with him about ten years ago for a now-defunct publication, in which the first question would have been answered, but I can't now remember what he said, and don't have a copy of the interview...

#3 Mallory Dan

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Posted 26 August 2005 - 12:52

Did he own a company involved in the racing industry, seatbelts/harnesses maybe?

#4 monoposto

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Posted 26 August 2005 - 13:21

Yes, WILLANS seat belts - distinguishable by their blue colour as opposed to the red of long time rival Sabelt . Others are now in the F1 market notably the German company Schroth. Willans is based in Stockbridge, Hants and the company is called appropriately enough Stockbridge Racing.

#5 Macca

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Posted 26 August 2005 - 15:47

There was a picture of him rolling a Cooper 500 at the Goodwood Revival a few years ago with a caption like 'Oh dear, the chairman's testing the product again'.



Paul M

#6 Bjorn Kjer

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Posted 17 August 2010 - 18:13

Anything more on Stockbridge Racing and John Fenning ?

#7 arttidesco

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Posted 17 August 2010 - 18:22

History of Willans here Bjoern :-)

#8 EDWARD FITZGERALD

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Posted 17 August 2010 - 21:01

Was he the THRUXTON streaker or was it someone else ?

#9 RStock

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Posted 17 August 2010 - 21:04

I'd have to look it up to be certain but I think he did run some F2 events.

#10 arttidesco

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Posted 17 August 2010 - 21:09

Was he the THRUXTON streaker or was it someone else ?


Thruxton Streaker details here.

#11 Dutchy

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Posted 18 August 2010 - 11:33

There was a picture of him rolling a Cooper 500 at the Goodwood Revival a few years ago with a caption like 'Oh dear, the chairman's testing the product again'.



Paul M


It was actually an Erskine Staride which is significant as his father raced one in period - it might even have been the same car but I'm not sure of that.
IIRC it was at the very first Revival.

#12 simon drabble

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Posted 18 August 2010 - 11:41

Willans was sold by Fenning a couple of years ago and is now up near Hungerford. The site in Stockbrideg was sold (in fact it has just opened as a deli!) his collection of cars (I believe I am right in saying that he never sold any of his race cars) were kept in a seperate building he had behind the Grosvenor Hotel on the high street whether he still has them I do not know. The high street had one other motoring curiosity - a petrol station unchanged since 1920's housed in Lillie Langtry's brothel! Sadly the son of the original owner retired in 2008 and it also is being turned into a deli....

#13 arttidesco

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Posted 18 August 2010 - 11:47

Willans was sold by Fenning a couple of years ago and is now up near Hungerford. The site in Stockbrideg was sold (in fact it has just opened as a deli!) his collection of cars (I believe I am right in saying that he never sold any of his race cars) were kept in a seperate building he had behind the Grosvenor Hotel on the high street whether he still has them I do not know. The high street had one other motoring curiosity - a petrol station unchanged since 1920's housed in Lillie Langtry's brothel! Sadly the son of the original owner retired in 2008 and it also is being turned into a deli....


SOT seems to be a huge demand for deli's in Stockbridge Hampshire population 581 ?

#14 simon drabble

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Posted 18 August 2010 - 11:50

1 hotel, 4 pubs, 1 coffee shop and soon to be 2 deli's and gasto pubs - and there is only one main street to the village!!! However to be relevant to TNF Spitfires were made just outside it and within a 4 mile radius there are two high profile preppers (WDK and Foxcraft) and down the road Roach Coachworks and Sean Combs who between them did the Auto Union, Lancia D50 (?) and several other high profile restorations. Combined with several BRDC members including Alan Mann and boat designer Don Shead it is rich in racing pedigree!

Edited by simon drabble, 18 August 2010 - 11:56.


#15 arttidesco

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Posted 18 August 2010 - 12:07

1 hotel, 4 pubs, 1 coffee shop and soon to be 2 deli's and gasto pubs - and there is only one main street to the village!!! However to be relevant to TNF Spitfires were made just outside it and within a 4 mile radius there are two high profile preppers (WDK and Foxcraft) and down the road Roach Coachworks and Sean Combs who between them did the Auto Union, Lancia D50 (?) and several other high profile restorations. Combined with several BRDC members including Alan Mann and boat designer Don Shead it is rich in racing pedigree!


Sounds like it's all happening in Stockbridge, Hampshire !

#16 HiRich

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Posted 18 August 2010 - 13:34

It was actually an Erskine Staride which is significant as his father raced one in period - it might even have been the same car but I'm not sure of that.
IIRC it was at the very first Revival.

John and dad Eric Fenning owned a Mk 3 Staride bought from the factory in 1953 - John finally getting his hands on it about 1958. That chassis went to John Streets in the US. Having been restored to original condition (in the 1960s John had made it as lowline as a Lotus 22), Skip Streets had it over the 2005 Revival (you may remember the team of yanks). It has a nice two-family history, although I believe the Streets might have it up for sale. So I guess it wasn't his own car, although I can't recall another Stardie at Goodwood.

There appears to be an interview with John in the current edition of Vintage Racecar journal (sample here ). I'm struggling to tally my records with his memories so far (more likely my nootes than his memory), but he seems to have raced the Staride in late 1958. In 1959, he again does not appear until late season, this time in a Cooper Mk IX.

I believe he then moved to FJunior and on. A road accident curtailed his racing, but it seems he was already establishing Willans Harnesses with Terence Willans, a move for which many of us are most grateful.

#17 simon drabble

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Posted 18 August 2010 - 13:38

I stand corrected - I am under the impression he still has a number of his cars including a FJ he raced in period

#18 Giraffe

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Posted 18 August 2010 - 13:43

a 4 mile radius there are two high profile preppers (WDK and Foxcraft)


IIRC, 'WDK' stands for 'Wife Doesn't Know'................ ;)

#19 Dutchy

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Posted 18 August 2010 - 14:16

John and dad Eric Fenning owned a Mk 3 Staride bought from the factory in 1953 - John finally getting his hands on it about 1958. That chassis went to John Streets in the US. Having been restored to original condition (in the 1960s John had made it as lowline as a Lotus 22), Skip Streets had it over the 2005 Revival (you may remember the team of yanks). It has a nice two-family history, although I believe the Streets might have it up for sale. So I guess it wasn't his own car, although I can't recall another Stardie at Goodwood.

There appears to be an interview with John in the current edition of Vintage Racecar journal (sample here ). I'm struggling to tally my records with his memories so far (more likely my nootes than his memory), but he seems to have raced the Staride in late 1958. In 1959, he again does not appear until late season, this time in a Cooper Mk IX.

I believe he then moved to FJunior and on. A road accident curtailed his racing, but it seems he was already establishing Willans Harnesses with Terence Willans, a move for which many of us are most grateful.


Rich I'm pretty sure it was the same car that both Fenning and Streets raced at Goodwood.
I thought it was made into a "lowline" by Streets in the US and not here by Fenning?


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#20 Bjorn Kjer

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Posted 18 August 2010 - 14:31

Amongst , John Fenning was a works Lola driver in 62 and Lotus in 63 both years under the ron Harris name (F2)l

#21 HiRich

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Posted 19 August 2010 - 13:06

Rich I'm pretty sure it was the same car that both Fenning and Streets raced at Goodwood.
I thought it was made into a "lowline" by Streets in the US and not here by Fenning?

Yes, it was John Streets who modified the car. Was John Fenning at Goodwood in 2005? By then the car was back to standard, barring the V-groove in the nose (courtesy of Rodney Delves' rear tyre).

#22 GMiranda

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Posted 06 October 2015 - 22:32

Is Fenning still alive?



#23 Robin Fairservice

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Posted 06 October 2015 - 23:40

I have a picture of John Fenning driving a red Formula Ford, # 8, at Silverstone in September 1962.  The picture is a scan of a dirty slide, so I wouldn't even attempt to post it, even if I knew how to nowadays.



#24 Tim Murray

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Posted 07 October 2015 - 04:15

If it's 1962 I suspect it was a Formula Junior race, as Formula Ford didn't come along until a few years later. The only race I can find on Stefan Ornerdal's site where Fenning raced car #8 at Silverstone in 1962 is the FJ race at the Aston Martin OC meeting on 14th July. Fenning won the race in a Ron Harris Lotus 20:

http://www.formula2.net/FJ62_GB45.htm

#25 Rupertlt1

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Posted 07 October 2015 - 08:56

THIRTEENTH BRUNTON HILL CLIMB, 16th September, 1956

F.T.D.- T.E.B. Sopwith (Lotus-Climax, 1489 c.c.), 24.91 sec

F.T.D. by S.W. Centre Member- A.M. Park (Tojeiro, 1971 c.c.) 24.10 sec

Ladies' F.T.D..- Miss P.M. Burt (Aston Martin DB3S, 2922 c.c.), 25.92 sec

Novice Award- J.E. Fenning (Staride, 499 c.c.), 26.41 sec

Class Awards:

Saloons up to 950 c.c.:

1st- A.J. Lumsden-Cook (Standard 10, 948 c.c.), 39.56

951-1400 c.c.:

1st- Mrs. J. Bloxham (Ford, 1172 c.c.), 39.42

1401-1900 c.c.:

1st- G.C. Langdon (M.G. Magnette ZA,

1489 c.c.), 35.11

1901-2750 c.c.:

1st- E.B. Wadsworth (Healey, 2443 c.c.),

30.62

Over 2750 c.c.:

1st- J.A. Shutler (Invicta, 4667 c.c.), 29.13

Closed cars up to 2000 c.c.:

1st- J. Burke (Porsche, 1498 c.c.), 28.25

2nd- A.M. Park (A.C., 1991 c.c.), 29.09

Over 2000 c.c.:

1st- T.E.B. Sopwith (Mercedes-Benz 300SL,

2996 c.c.), 26.62 sec

Sports Cars up to 950 c.c.

1st- N.E. Davis (Austin, 750 c.c.), 32.13 sec

951-1400 c.c.:

1st- J.M. Sparrowe (M.G.,1098 c.c.), 29.40

2nd- S.C. Gray (Grayford, 1172 c.c.), 29.91

3rd- G.V. Coles (M.G., 746 c.c. s/c), 30.51

1401-1900 c.c.:

1st- M.J. Reid (M.G.A., 1489 c.c.), 31.58

1901-2750 c.c.:

1st- J.R. Rudd (Frazer-Nash, 1971 c.c.), 26.07

2nd- N.A. Wood (R.G.S. Atalanta, 2580 c.c.), 26.07

3rd- J.B. Banbury (Morgan, 1991 c.c.), 28.46

Over 2750 c.c.:

1st- D.L. Mather (S.S.100, 3485 c.c.), 29.54

Sports Racing Cars up to 1200 c.c.

1st- J.K.W. Hickman (Elva, 1098 c.c.), 26.42

1201-2000 c.c.:

1st- J.R. Rudd (Frazer-Nash, 1971 c.c.), 26.04

2nd- E.G. Willmott (Lotus, 1467 c.c.), 27.72

3rd- T.G. Cunane (Lotus, 1467 c.c.), 27.90

Over 2000 c.c.:

1st- W.L. Cripps (Cripps Special, 5300 c.c. s/c), 26.56

2nd- P.L. Farquharson (Allard, 4375 c.c.), 26.96

 

[Notes: Park faster than F.T.D. but see below.]

The Autocar, 28 September 1956, Page 439:

B.A.R.C.-The new surface put on Brunton

hill earlier in the year has now settled down,

and its excellent condition was reflected in

the fast times achieved during the hill-climb

there on Sunday, September 16. For the

third time in succession Tommy Sopwith, in

his Lotus-Climax, made the fastest run of

the day. Miss Patsy Burt's time of 25.92 sec

in her Aston Martin DB2-4 won her the

ladies' award and was a record for lady

drivers. The novice award went to J.E.

Fenning, who was taking part in his first hill-

climb, driving his father's Staride; he beat his

father's time by 0.03 sec. Seventy drivers took

part in what was judged to be the best closed

meeting ever run by the South-Western

Centre of the club.

RESULTS

Fastest time of the day: Lotus-Climax 1,498

(T.E. Sopwith), 24.91 sec. Runner up and f.t.d.

by S.W. Centre member: Tojeiro 1,971 (A. M.

Park), 25.10 sec.

Ladies' award: Aston Martin DB2-4 2,922 (Miss

P. Burt), 25.92 sec.

Novice award: Staride 500 (J. E. Fenning),

26.41 sec

Saloon cars up to 950 c.c.: Standard 948 (A. J.

Lumsden-Cook), 39.56 sec. 951 to 1,400: Ford 1,172

(Mrs. J. Bloxam), 39.42 sec. 1,401 to 1,900: M.G.

Magnette 1,489 (G. C. Langdon), 35.11 sec. 1,901

to 2,750: Healey 2,443 (E. B. Wadsworth), 30.62 sec.

Over 2,750: Invicta 4,467 (J. A. Shutler), 29.13 sec.

Closed cars up to 2,000: Porsche 1,498 (J. Burke).

Over 2,000: Mercedes-Benz 2,996 (T.E. Sopwith),

26.62 sec.

Sports cars up to 950 c.c.: Austin 750 (N. E.

Davis), 32.13 sec. 951 to 1,400: 1. M.G. 1,250 (J. M.

Sparrowe), 29.40 sec; 2. Grayford 1,172 (S. C.

Gray), 29.91 sec; 3. M.G. 746 s (G. V. Coles),

30.51 sec. 1,401 to 1,900: M.G.A 1,489 (M. J. Reid),

31.58 sec. 1,901 to 2,750: 1. Frazer-Nash 1,971

(J. R. Rudd), 26.07 sec; R.G.S.-Atalanta 2,580

(N. A. Wood), 27.93 sec; Morgan 1,991 (J. B.

Banbury), 28.46 sec. Over 2,750: S.S. 100 3,485

(D. L. Mather), 29.54 sec. Sports-racing cars up to

1,200: Elva 1,098 (J. K. W. Hickman), 26.42 sec.

1,201 to 2,000: 1. Frazer-Nash 1,971 (J. R. Rudd),

26.04 sec; 2. Lotus 1,467 (E. G. Willmott), 27.72 sec.

3. Lotus 1,467 (T. G. Cunane), 27.90 sec. Over

2,000: 1. Cripps Spl 5,300 s (W. L. Cripps),

26.56 sec; 2. Allard 4,375 (P. L. Farquharson),

26.96 sec. Racing cars up to 500: 1. Cooper (C. A. N.

May), 25.22 sec; 2. Cooper (R. W. Colton), 25.34 sec.

 

RGDS RLT



#26 Morris S

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Posted 07 October 2015 - 09:13

Fenning also raced a Mini Cooper / S for Jan Odor in '62/'63, I think he held the lap record at Goodwood in the 997 Cooper.



#27 Rupertlt1

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Posted 07 October 2015 - 09:53

Goodwood Easter Monday 1964 programme:

Saloon car lap records

Up to 1300 c.c. J. Fenning, (Morris Cooper) 1 min 48.6 sec, 79.56 mph



#28 GMiranda

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Posted 07 October 2015 - 12:27

May you confirm me that John E.Fenning from Stockbridge is John Fenning, the race driver; please?



#29 ReWind

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Posted 07 October 2015 - 12:55

Yes, John Eric Fenning, b. 05 December 1938, son of Eric Edward Fenning (1913 - 2006), is the racing driver.



#30 GMiranda

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Posted 07 October 2015 - 12:58

Ahh I am looking to contact him, but I think the address I found is still from Willans


Edited by GMiranda, 07 October 2015 - 13:00.


#31 Sisyphus

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Posted 07 October 2015 - 17:44

I used to watch a "Skip" Streets race a custom built Formula V at Riverside in the late 70's and 80's--HiRich do you happen to know if that is the same guy?  Was he based in SoCal?



#32 sstiel

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Posted 28 January 2020 - 12:16

John Fenning is mentioned in Ed McDonough's series of the F3 screamer cars in Auto Tradition.



#33 GMiranda

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Posted 28 January 2020 - 13:58

John Fenning is mentioned in Ed McDonough's series of the F3 screamer cars in Auto Tradition.

Yes, I read it, he was one of the best drivers of the era, I think he wanted to try any upper classes but never had money.



#34 sstiel

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Posted 28 January 2020 - 18:55

https://vintageracec...m/john-fenning/ Mike interviewed him



#35 GMiranda

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Posted 28 January 2020 - 19:00

I know, it was Mike that gave me his address.