Competition vehicle Unregistered

Chassis no. 71/10

- Competed in the European 2-Litre Sports Car Championship in 1971

- Driven in period by Burton/Wollek and Gaydon

- Known and followed by the Scuderia Neuser for more than 40 years

- Eligible for top historic events such as Le Mans Classic

- Sold with a large stock of spare parts

 - No reserve

An intuitive engineer as well as a talented driver, Derek Bennett, the founder of Chevron, soon became interested in motor racing. After building the Bennett Special in the Clubmans category for private clients, from 1965 onwards he embarked on more ambitious projects under the Chevron name: F2, F3 and Formula 5000 single-seaters, as well as GT coupés such as the Chevron B16. The Chevron B19 spyder was an evolution of this and, true to the company’s traditions, it was simply designed, light and strong, with a tubular chassis, fibreglass bodywork and, usually, a Ford-Cosworth engine. The Chevrons gave pleasure to an entire generation of drivers, who appreciated the cars’ dynamics and reliability, and they achieved many excellent results in their category on the greatest racetracks of the world.

A competitor to the Lola T212, some 35 examples of the Chevron B19 were built for the 1971 season, and after winning in 1970, the company finished second in the constructors’ rankings for the European 2-Litre Sports Car Championship that year.

 

The car we are offering for sale (B19 no. 10 from 1971) competed in the same championship, as part of John Burton’s Worcester Racing Association (WRA) team. According to the website oldracingcars.com, set up by Allen Brown to record the history of motor racing, this car’s first race was on 18 April at the Circuit Paul Ricard, followed by the Salzburgring on 23 May and Silverstone on 5 June, driven in each case by John Burton. It then moved to the Canon team before the Trophées d'Auvergne at Clermont-Ferrand and was driven by Burton in Canon’s colours on 4 July at Hockenheim, on 25 July at Imola, on 15 August at Wunstorf, on 30 August at Brands Hatch, on 5 September at the Nürburgring (with Peter Gaydon sharing the driving and third place overall), on 19 September at Thruxton, on 26 September at Zandvoort (third overall), on 17 October at Montlhéry (with Bob Wollek as Burton’s co-driver, wearing the colours of Red Rose Racing) and on 30 October at Vallelunga.

The car was then brought back to the Chevron factory, where it was probably overhauled. It was there that Ralf Walter, from Augsburg, bought the car. He used it with an FVA engine and then a BMW 2-litre, chiefly in hill climbs, but also in some Interserie races. He kept the car until September 1977, when he sold it to Karl-Heinz Conrad, who continued to compete in hill climbs until 1982 or 1983. Conrad sold it in 1983 to Jürgen Haase to race in the Supersports series, before it was bought in 1986, through Fritz Neuser, from Rolf Hadorn, an Alfa Romeo dealer in Bern, who sold it in 1988 to Arnold Seiler. Seiler used the car in historic racing in 1988 and 1990, as well as in three international Supersports races in 1992. It then went back to the Scuderia Neuser, where it stayed until 1999, when it was sold to Alexander Lienau, who competed with it in the Supersports series from 2000–2008. After this, it returned once again to Fritz Neuser, who in a sense had always followed the car.

 

The car comes with an FIA certificate, no. HC 028, issued on 25 June 2008 and signed by Max Mosley and Johannes Hübner. Sold with a large stock of spare parts (wheels, body and mechanical components), it presents extremely well and is complete with its four-cylinder Ford-Cosworth BDG engine, five-speed Hewland gearbox and its ancillaries. This is a rare opportunity to acquire a very competitive sports racer, with a documented history, which – after a thorough service – will be eligible for the leading historic race meetings such as Le Mans Classic, the Peter Auto Classic Endurance Racing series, the FIA Masters Historic Sports Car Championship and various events in the USA such as the Rolex Motorsport Reunion at Monterey.