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On his return to Britain he went to work as an apprentice at [[Armstrong Siddeley]]. Here in 1952 he met [[Tommy Sopwith]], son of Sir T.O.M. Sopwith, who was also doing a short apprenticeship at his father’s factory. They got on well and as Sopwith was interested in sports car racing and knew John was knowledgeable about cars he asked John to be his mechanic. Initially they used an Armstrong Siddeley 3 litre 6 cylinder Saphire engine, Allard JR chassis and preselecter gearbox. Sopwith won several races. Sopwith called his team Equipe Endeavour after his father's racing yacht.
On his return to Britain he went to work as an apprentice at [[Armstrong Siddeley]]. Here in 1952 he met [[Tommy Sopwith]], son of Sir T.O.M. Sopwith, who was also doing a short apprenticeship at his father’s factory. They got on well and as Sopwith was interested in sports car racing and knew John was knowledgeable about cars he asked John to be his mechanic. Initially they used an Armstrong Siddeley 3 litre 6 cylinder Saphire engine, Allard JR chassis and preselecter gearbox. Sopwith won several races. Sopwith called his team Equipe Endeavour after his father's racing yacht.


In 1954 Sopwith decided to expand Equipe Endeavour with some friends and ordered cars from Coopers. 1954/5 Crosthwaite worked with [[John Cooper]] of [[Cooper Cars]] supervising production and final design of Equipe Endeavour sports cars on Sopwith’s behalf. Crosthwaite did the rounds of the manufacturers to find suitable engines and decided on a [[Coventry Climax]] (which he had seen on a front engined [[Kieft]]) for low weight and small size and a Connaught engine for power and compactness. He found the people at Coventry Climax keen to develop their engine and increase bhp. Sopwith won many races with the bobtail Cooper Climax and broke the class record at Prescott Hill climb. [[Reg Parnell]] and [[Ivor Bueb]] raced for the team at several meetings.
In 1954 Sopwith decided to expand Equipe Endeavour with some friends and ordered cars from Coopers. 1954/5 Crosthwaite worked with [[John Cooper]] of [[Cooper Cars]] supervising production and final design of Equipe Endeavour sports cars on Sopwith’s behalf. Crosthwaite did the rounds of the manufacturers to find suitable engines and decided on a [[Coventry Climax]] (which he had seen on a front engined [[Kieft]]) for low weight and small size and a Connaught engine for power and compactness. He found the people at Coventry Climax keen to develop their engine and increase bhp. Sopwith won many races with the bobtail Cooper Climax and broke the class record at Prescott hill climb. [[Reg Parnell]] and [[Ivor Bueb]] raced for the team at several meetings.
John Crosthwaite was therefore in at the beginning of and influenced by the multi-cylinder rear engined revolution in motor racing. <ref>Vintage Drift magazine. Aug. 2003</ref>
John Crosthwaite was therefore in at the beginning of and influenced by the multi-cylinder rear engined revolution in motor racing. <ref>Vintage Drift magazine. Aug. 2003</ref>
[[File:Colin_Chapman_in_Lotus_J_Crosthwaite_leaning_on_car_(right).jpg|thumb|right|Colin Chapman in Lotus 11 at British Grand Prix, Formula 2 Race, Silverstone 1956 . John Crosthwaite on right leaning on car. Mike Costin on left]]
[[File:Colin_Chapman_in_Lotus_J_Crosthwaite_leaning_on_car_(right).jpg|thumb|right|Colin Chapman in Lotus 11 at British Grand Prix, Formula 2 Race, Silverstone 1956 . John Crosthwaite on right leaning on car. Mike Costin on left]]
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<ref>Sports Car and Lotus Owner (April 1957)</ref>
<ref>Sports Car and Lotus Owner (April 1957)</ref>


In late 1956 the [[Suez Crisis]] meant that petrol was rationed in the UK and motor racing banned. Colin Chapman asked if Crosthwaite would go to the USA with Team Lotus as he needed a senior mechanic to prepare the Lotus cars for the Sebring 12 hour race in March 1957. Following the race Crosthwaite went to work for Jay Chamberlain the Lotus importer in California. He also found a lot of work successfully preparing Coopers and Lotus cars for races in California and Nevada.
In late 1956 the [[Suez Crisis]] meant that petrol was rationed in the UK and motor racing banned. Colin Chapman asked if Crosthwaite would go to the USA with Team Lotus as he needed a senior mechanic to prepare the Lotus cars for the Sebring 12 hour race in March 1957. Following the race Crosthwaite went to work for [[Jay Chamberlain]] the Lotus importer in California. He also found a lot of work successfully preparing Coopers and Lotus cars for races in California and Nevada.


[[File:John Crosthwaite on left Jack Brabham driver Bud Hull on right.jpg|thumb|right|John Crosthwaite on left. Bud Hall on right. Jack Brabham driver in Dolphin mk.1. Riverside Raceway 1960]]
[[File:John Crosthwaite on left Jack Brabham driver Bud Hull on right.jpg|thumb|right|John Crosthwaite on left. Bud Hall on right. Jack Brabham driver in Dolphin mk.1. Riverside Raceway 1960]]

Revision as of 19:15, 2 February 2011

John Crosthwaite (1925–2010) was an English race car designer and engineer, active in both the United Kingdom and the United States.

Early Life

John Crosthwaite was born at Thornaby Hall, Thornaby-on-Tees, Yorkshire on 9 October 1925. He was godson to Harold Macmillan a family friend and local MP. He had three older sisters and a younger brother.

His father, Cedric, was in the Royal Flying Corps in the Great War and raced cars and motor cycles. John had a fascination with cars, motorbikes and aeroplanes from an early age.

John Crosthwaite, standing, examining Ford Mercury. Front wheel in mine hole. Greece 1949

During World War II he worked at A.V. Roe & Co AVRO doing final assembly of Lancaster Bombers. Despite being in a reserved occupation he tried to join the RAF but during the medical discovered he was colour blind. He continued to volunteer for other services until AV Roe finally released him to join the Royal Marine Commandos.

Following the war in the far east he left the Royal Marine Commandos and joined the police force for a short period but he could not settle. He was offered a job in Malaya and as an adventure decided to travel overland. John bought a 1944 Canadian Ford Mercury V8 estate ex War Dept. and along with a friend travelled through France, Italy, then steamer to Greece. They encountered bandits, civil war in Greece, fuel shortages, mines and mine holed roads. They found a way across the closed border to Istanbul, Turkey where they were arrested and interrogated. On release they crossed into Syria through Damascus, then via Baghdad to Basra in Iraq and finally Ahwaz, Iran. Because of the awful state of the roads and despite ongoing repairs, the vehicle finally gave up. His friend joined the Iraq Petroleum Company but John returned home.

Career

Cooper Car Company - Tommy Sopwith

On his return to Britain he went to work as an apprentice at Armstrong Siddeley. Here in 1952 he met Tommy Sopwith, son of Sir T.O.M. Sopwith, who was also doing a short apprenticeship at his father’s factory. They got on well and as Sopwith was interested in sports car racing and knew John was knowledgeable about cars he asked John to be his mechanic. Initially they used an Armstrong Siddeley 3 litre 6 cylinder Saphire engine, Allard JR chassis and preselecter gearbox. Sopwith won several races. Sopwith called his team Equipe Endeavour after his father's racing yacht.

In 1954 Sopwith decided to expand Equipe Endeavour with some friends and ordered cars from Coopers. 1954/5 Crosthwaite worked with John Cooper of Cooper Cars supervising production and final design of Equipe Endeavour sports cars on Sopwith’s behalf. Crosthwaite did the rounds of the manufacturers to find suitable engines and decided on a Coventry Climax (which he had seen on a front engined Kieft) for low weight and small size and a Connaught engine for power and compactness. He found the people at Coventry Climax keen to develop their engine and increase bhp. Sopwith won many races with the bobtail Cooper Climax and broke the class record at Prescott hill climb. Reg Parnell and Ivor Bueb raced for the team at several meetings. John Crosthwaite was therefore in at the beginning of and influenced by the multi-cylinder rear engined revolution in motor racing. [1]

Colin Chapman in Lotus 11 at British Grand Prix, Formula 2 Race, Silverstone 1956 . John Crosthwaite on right leaning on car. Mike Costin on left

Because of Equipe Endeavour's success, John was approached by other teams and drivers but he was quite happy with Tommy. However at the end of the 1955 season at Oulton Park, Tommy had an accident, rolled his Cooper Climax and was quite badly hurt after he ‘overcooked it’ on one of the corners. Tommy's father told him he could continue racing but only in saloon cars. John did not want to work in saloon car racing so he thanked Tommy and decided to move on. Whilst racing at Aintree John had met a young lady, Joan, and was smitten. They married in April 1955 and with a baby on the way he needed to support his family so tried to decide on the best team to join.

Lotus Engineering

In autumn 1955 he joined Colin Chapman who was starting Lotus cars. Crosthwaite worked in the Experimental Department at Lotus Engineering and helped develop and refine the Lotus 11 and Type 14 Elite. He also acted as Chapman’s senior racing mechanic and they competed all over the UK, as well as Le Mans, Imola and Monza. He worked alongside Graham Hill, then a gearbox mechanic and Mike Costin, the 'Cos' in Cosworth. Keith Duckworth worked there during holidays from university. [2] [3]

In late 1956 the Suez Crisis meant that petrol was rationed in the UK and motor racing banned. Colin Chapman asked if Crosthwaite would go to the USA with Team Lotus as he needed a senior mechanic to prepare the Lotus cars for the Sebring 12 hour race in March 1957. Following the race Crosthwaite went to work for Jay Chamberlain the Lotus importer in California. He also found a lot of work successfully preparing Coopers and Lotus cars for races in California and Nevada.

John Crosthwaite on left. Bud Hall on right. Jack Brabham driver in Dolphin mk.1. Riverside Raceway 1960

Dolphin Engineering

Early in 1959 racing driver John Biel introduced Crosthwaite to anglophile and race car enthusiast Buddy Hull. Buddy had come into some money and was very keen to get involved in building race cars himself. They started as a partnership, Hull as MD and financier and John Crosthwaite to design and build a Formula Junior for their company Dolphin Engineering. This was a single seater mid-engined car with a fibreglass body. The regulations stated that the car’s engine/gearbox were based on a production car of 1000cc or less. The chassis, suspension and bodywork were unrestricted. The chassis was a straight tubular steel space frame. The engine was a 1000cc Fiat, the gearbox an inverted Fiat 600, it had pressed steel wheels and the fibreglass body was made with the advice of a local boatbuilder. The front suspension and brakes were modified parts from a non-runner N.S.U. Prinze that John had. The rear suspension he designed and manufactured himself. Late in 1959 the prototype was raced at San Diego and finished 5th. They decided to tidy up the prototype and go into production with the Mk 1 Dolphin. This tidying up turned into a lot more than that so the only thing left of the prototype was the basic chassis frame and bodywork. World Champion Jack Brabham test drove the Mk 1 Dolphin at the Riverside track

Dolphin Mk 2 in 1961

John then designed a Dolphin Mk 2 with a tuned Ford Anglia 105E engine sourced from Mike Costin in the UK. The new body was drawn to be as small,smooth and aerodynamic as possible. After all the hours spent making Mk 1 body moulds they decided to produce a master 'plug' made of aluminium for the fibreglass body of the Mk 2. They tooled up with jigs for all the welded parts and John designed cast magnesium wheels for the car. The Mk2 was successfully raced by ex pat Ken Miles. Count Giovanni Lurani, who was instrumental in persuading the FIA to make Formula Junior an international class, called the Dolphin the best American Junior constructed. Original Dolphin cars are still raced today at historic car events.

[4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13]

Indianapolis 500 - Mickey Thompson

Following the achievements of the Dolphin he came to the attention of Mickey Thompson who was well known for involvement in drag racing, land speed record attempts and motor racing. Thompson asked Crosthwaite to design a car to race in the 1962 Indianapolis 500. Unusually they used a stock V8 Buick engine and it was in the rear unlike the front engined, race tuned, Offenhauser powered cars used by most competitors. It was the first stock engine to be raced at Indy since 1946 and was the beginning of the rear engine transformation at the Indianapolis 500. The car had 16" wheels instead of the usual 18"/20" seen at Indy and independent suspension. Working 12-14 hour days he designed and built the cars in 120 days. He was rarely home. Despite being more than 50bhp down on the other cars Dan Gurney qualified eighth and was in ninth place until a leaking oil seal ended his race on lap 94. He was placed 20th out of 33. [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24]

John Crosthwaite with chassis of 1962 Indianapolis 500 car. Mickey Thompson machine shop, Long Beach, California 1962

The sponsors were very pleased with the publicity generated that year so for the 1963 Indianapolis 500 John produced the innovative Harvey Aluminium Special ‘roller skate car’ with the then pioneering smaller profile (12 inch diameter) and wide racing tyres (front 7 inches and rear 9 inches wide) and wheels. Because of the small size of the front wheels Crosthwaite had to work out a way to mount the front brakes inboard in order to get a reasonable size disc. It was the first time that this had been attempted. Mickey Thompson took five cars to Indianapolis. Two of the previous year's design with Chevrolet V8 engines and three 'roller skate' cars. One of the new cars, the Harvey Titanium Special, featured a titanium chassis. Formula 1 World Champion Graham Hill test drove one of the cars but decided not to race because commitments in Europe meant he had insufficient time to practice. Al Miller II raced one of the modified 1962 cars to 9th place despite only qualifying in 31st position. Duane Carter qualified one of the roller skate cars 15th and but only placed 23rd after an engine failure on the 100th lap.

[25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33]

Holman Moody

Soon after the Indy 500 race in 1963 Crosthwaite was approached by and moved to work at Holman Moody the official race contractor for Ford Ford wanted Holman Moody to give them a price to run an Indianapolis 500 car for 1964. North Carolina was far enough from Los Angeles so he would not tread on Mickey Thompson’s toes. He wanted to work with Ford as they were by far the best engines and they were working on a real race engine not a modified stock. Jim Clark had finished second that year using a Ford engine. Holman Moody were keen for him to start straight away so they could quote a price for Ford. He drew up a chassis using some of the body panels as stressed members, semi-monocoque with the possibility of using a windscreen and enclosed cockpit. However, ironically, soon after he arrived he found that Mickey Thompson had abandoned General Motors and managed to obtain the Ford sponsorship based on Mickey’s 1962/3 performance (with Crosthwaite designed/built cars) and promotional skills. There was no work at Holman Moody in race cars but they suggested Crosthwaite could work on their racing boats. [34]

BRM - British Racing Motors

While he had been at Holman Moody he had a phone call from Tony Rudd Chief Engineer at BRM asking him to go to Watkins Glen race track in New York State. Tony said that Graham Hill wanted John to join BRM and would he like to meet up and discuss details? John said he was busy at the time but when the Ford deal fell through he flew to England and agreed a contract. In early 1964 John returned to the UK to join British Formula 1 team BRM as chassis designer. His first job was to modify the suspension geometry on the BRM P261. Next he worked on Tony Rudd’s ingenious monocoque and engine designs to find a way of mounting the engine, gearbox and rear suspension. His solution was to rigidly mount the engine to the monocoque at the driver’s seatback and the rear suspension on the gearbox/final drive unit. The engine mountings were designed to spread the load over the length of the crankcase to protect the expensive castings in the event of a minor shunt. This was patented by BRM and became the norm in racing. He worked with legends Graham Hill and Jackie Stewart during some of BRM’s best years. It was his idea to surprise Jackie Stewart by making him a tartan driving seat for his BRM P261 at the 1965 Monaco Grand Prix. Graham Hill finished first and Stewart third. Both Graham Hill and particularly Jackie Stewart liked the way Crosthwaite set up their cars and he was asked by Ken Tyrrell and Matra (Jackie Stewart’s next team) to do consultancy work for them after he left BRM. [35] [36] [37]

John Crosthwaite in duffel coat. Graham Hill in BRM P261. Testing at Folkingham Aerodrome 1965

Intermeccanica

Working as a consultant for Frank Reisner, he designed the chassis for the Bob Cumberford shaped car the Intermeccanica Italia. At Alan Mann Racing he modified and prepared Ford GT40s for the 1966 Le Mans 24 hour race and Spa. Graham Hill drove one of the cars at Le Mans. [38] [39] [40] [41] [42]

Reliant Motor Company

Ray Wiggin at Reliant Motor Company was looking for a chassis specialist in 1967 and Crosthwaite moved there first as a consultant to modify the Scimitar SE4 Coupe chassis and suspension so improving the ride and handling. He was asked to install Ford’s new V6 in place of the old straight 6 cylinder engine in the SE4a and improve the handling and road holding of the Turkish made Anadol. They were pleased with his modifications and approached him for the job of Chief Engineer.

John Crosthwaite, a keen scuba diver, second from right. Four men and all their scuba gear fit in Scimitar GTE. 1969

Tom Karen of Ogle was asked to submit some body designs for a new four seater Scimitar, the SE5 Reliant Scimitar. Managing Director Ray Wiggin, Chief Engineer John Crosthwaite and fibreglass body expert Ken Wood went to Ogle’s in Letchworth to look at a couple of mock-up body designs for the new SE5, mostly cardboard and sticky tape. There was no doubt in John’s mind that it was the right shape. Wiggin told Ken Wood to go ahead and do a proper master. The SE5 was conceived and ready for the 1968 Motor Show in under 12 months. For the SE5 John and his team designed a completely different chassis frame, revised and improved suspension, new and relocated fuel tank, a rollover bar, new cooling system, spare wheel mounted in the nose to give increased rear space and a 17 gallon fuel tank. When designing the chassis John worked closely with Ogle body stylist Peter Bailey to modify and refine the prototype. Later he drew up the chassis for the Tom Karen Ogle styled Bond Bug and the Kitten. [43] [44] [45] [46] [47] [48] [49] [50] [51] [52]




Hyundai Motor Company

In early 1974 he was head hunted along with five other car engineers and executives including George Turnbull (autoindustry executive) by the South Korean company Hyundai Motor Company to help start up their now thriving car production company. This led to the production of the Hyundai Pony in 1975 [53] [54]

Reef Engineering

By the late 1970s and ever restless he returned to England to start his own company, Reef Engineering, to produce and export open top cars for holiday resorts in the Seychelles and the West Indies. They were called Cubs, the chassis based on his Kitten design and the body styled by Peter Bailey. He also designed and produced motorboats and Icarus sailboards. John was influenced by his interests as he was very keen on watersports including scuba diving, water skiing and windsurfing. He continued to ride mountain bikes 'off road' until he was 76 years old when he fractured his hip in a cycling accident on the South Downs.

He was a member of the Car and General Technical Board for the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders from 1968 to 1974 and a member of the British Racing Drivers Club until 1974.

John Crosthwaite died on 5 September 2010.

References

  1. ^ Vintage Drift magazine. Aug. 2003
  2. ^ Carrosserie Ghia Aigle - Lotus 1100 Le Mans Spider & Coupé 1957-1958
  3. ^ Sports Car and Lotus Owner (April 1957)
  4. ^ Sports Cars Illustrated Dec 1960 (later Car and Driver)
  5. ^ Autosport Magazine April 14, 1961
  6. ^ 1960 Dolphin Formula Junior MKI Images, Information and History | Conceptcarz.com
  7. ^ 1961 Dolphin America Images, Information and History | Conceptcarz.com
  8. ^ http://home.roadrunner.com/~fsheff/dolphin01.htm
  9. ^ Dolphin Chassis
  10. ^ Autocar April 1961
  11. ^ Car & Driver Aug. 1961
  12. ^ Classic & Sports Car Magazine Feb 2005
  13. ^ Vintage American Road Racing Cars 1950-1970. Pace/Brinker. Pub 2004. ISBN 0-7603-1783-6
  14. ^ Car and Driver June 1962
  15. ^ Car and Driver August 1962
  16. ^ Motor Trend June 1962
  17. ^ MotorSport magazine June 1962
  18. ^ Motor magazine August 1962
  19. ^ Mickey Thompson
  20. ^ Indianapolis 500 Mile Race USAC Yearbook 1962. Floyd Clymer
  21. ^ San Diego Union newspaper May 27th 1962
  22. ^ Los Angeles Times May 17th 1962
  23. ^ Los Angeles Times June 1st 1962
  24. ^ The British at Indianapolis. Authors Ian Wagstaff / Dario Franchitti Pub. Dec 2010 ISBN 1845842464
  25. ^ Hot Rod magazine May 1963
  26. ^ Road & Track magazine June 1963
  27. ^ Motor Trend June 1963
  28. ^ Car & Driver June 1963
  29. ^ Car and Driver August 1963
  30. ^ Bang Shift : Gallery : Mickey Thompson exhibit at the NHRA museum
  31. ^ Mickey Thompson - Indy 500 1963
  32. ^ Indianapolis 500 Mile Race USAC Yearbook 1963. Floyd Clymer
  33. ^ Challenger : Mickey Thompson's Own Story of His Life of Speed. Mickey Thompson/Griffith Borgeson. pub.1964
  34. ^ New York Herald Tribune July 14th 1963
  35. ^ It Was Fun. Tony Rudd Pub. 1993 ISBN 1 85960 666 0
  36. ^ BRM The Saga of British Racing Motors Vol. 3 1964-1968 Doug Nye/Tony Rudd ISBN 1899870644
  37. ^ BRM personnel
  38. ^ Classic & Sportscar June1993
  39. ^ Spyder.http://www.supercars.net/cars/2827.html http://www.intermeccanica.org/publications/a-l/CANDSC061993.htm
  40. ^ Escapade: "Griffith build his Dream Machine" by Eric Nielssen
  41. ^ Intermeccanica.The Story of the Prancing Bull. McCredie/Reisner. ISBN 978-1845842499
  42. ^ Automobile Quarterly. Spring 1967 Vol 5 No. 4
  43. ^ Motoring News 3rd Oct 1968
  44. ^ Autocar magazine 4th June 1970
  45. ^ Design Journal August 1970
  46. ^ Hot VWs and Dune Buggies Nov.1970 (Bond Bug review)
  47. ^ Autocar magazine 17th Dec 1970
  48. ^ Automotive Design Engineering July/August 1973
  49. ^ The Scimitar and its Forebears. Don Pither 1987 ISBN 0 9512873 0 3
  50. ^ http://www.kitreg.org.uk/cars.htm
  51. ^ http://www.sporting-reliants.com/Scimitar%20SE5.htm Reliant Scimitar GTE SE5
  52. ^ http://www.retrocaricons.com//index.php/Scimitar_GTE_148?action=information&subaction=show&informationID=148
  53. ^ The Times July 4th 1974
  54. ^ The Engineer. Jan 30th 1975
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