Posted 27 November 2006 - 18:51
Well you can't escape your past can you!
My 19 year old son Guy who has raced successfully in Caterhams for the last 3 years and is progressing to British GT in a Mosler for 2007, found this web site about my Cougar, so if anyone is interested I will tell you the full history.
I lived in Scunthorpe in Lincolnshire. started racing in 1964 with a Lotus 11 105E. it cost me £195 which the bank manager lent me! In 1965 we put a GT top on it and entered a race at Croft, determined to set the world alight. Unfortunately my preparation skills were not of the best and the intermediate steering column fell off its universal joint and left me with no steering. Somebody must have been looking after me because it happened at the hairpin so I went off into the bank, writing off the car. End of Lotus 11, and we sold bits for spares, So the kindly Scrutineer who had previously told me to 'sell it lad before it kills you' was not far wrong. If only we had kept the chassis plate! Hindsight is a wonderful thing.
There followed fallow years with no money until I bought the ex Mike Crabtree IRS Lotus Seven in a crashed state, at the end of 1966. This was rebuilt over the winter and was raced reasonably successfully although the cylinder head was distorted and and more often than not we did not finish races because of lack of water- no money for a new head and it had been planed too much.
Then went off to get a degree in Civil Engineering, on a Sandwich course where I was lucky to be paid a salary by the local Water Board, and
we bought a Merlin 11A to race in 1970 This cost £650, one year old! We had some success with this but engine specs had altered for 1970 and we could not afford a Scholar engine so we were down on power.
We struggled on with this for 1971 until I got my degree and then decided to build the Cougar. It may be similar to a Merlyn but we manufactured the chassis ourselves with subtle mods to the Merlyn spec. The intention was to use it as a learning curve to rogress further in the future. The Miners strike was on at the time with rotating power cuts so we built it mainly by the light of car batteries.
This was the original body version, the 72F with one side radiator and the very sloping nose. We welded up all our own wishbones and made the body moulds and body.
Again we were still short of funds and the engine was home prepared and very much down on power.
However, mid year a local Plant Hire Co (Archer and Sharpe, with Kass Construction, were persuaded to take an interest and we could afford a Scholar engine. This gave us success immediately and with promised support for 1973 we set to work on modifying the car.
We designed a new body with twin side radiators and a nose with only a small amount of downforce. A very attractive car. Alan Wardropper at Scholar was a star and his engines powered us to (I think) 22 victories in 1973, more than any other single seater in the UK.
This won us the Tate Championship and nearly the Wella Championship, but lack of funds were again becoming a problem.
In Oct 1973 I had a massive road accident where I succeeded in destroying no less than 3 articulated lorries in one go. when I came round a corner on a country road and lost it on mud at about 80mph. Bouncing off all 3 lorries coming towards me and ending up slamming into a telegraph pole sideways, throwing me out of the passenger door.
The result of this was a very badly smashed arm which took several operations and bone grafts to heal. We kept the Cougar and in July the following year appeared at Cadwell or the first race which we won.
Memory goes a little here. I think we sold it later that year, as I then had a job in Derby, I did not have the facilities to do any more work on it. A good frien Ed Praxel, an American who worked at the USAF base at Harrogate was racing a beautifully prepared Lotus 69 and he asked me to race this. (I think this is where the confusion comes in about the Cougar looking like a Lotus 69.) We did a few races in 1975 and als tried the latest Works Merlyn (Mk30?) which was a complete disaster.
So in 1976 we did a season with the Lotus and again won the Tate Trophy
That was it for a while. I decided that I was not going anywhere and as I was married in 1975, we concentrated on building up a business, ( Harrington Generators International, which we were pleased to sell out earlier this year to FKI plc.
In between I have raced a Classic F3 and Ginetta G27 with some success but over the last 3 years I have been main mechanic and preparer for Guy's Caterham exploits.
He won the Caterhan Academy in 2004, Roadsports in 2005 and came 2nd in Superlight Eurocup and 3rd in Autosport Cup this year
For 2007 we are buying a Mosler for British GT, should be very exciting.
Final word on the Cougar. I never cheat. Everything was always within the regulations and fully legal, as it has been ever since including Guy's Caterhams.
I think I have bored you all enough. Always pleased to talk cars, we live just south of Matlock if anyone fancies a natter and a noggin, mobile 07767 241106.
