Alan Mann Racing was a British motor racing team. It was organized by Alan Mann, born in 1936, who was a part-time racing driver and team manager. The team ran a substantial part of the Ford works racing effort in Europe from 1964 to 1969, when it closed its doors. It was based in Byfleet

Byfleet

Byfleet is an inland island village forming a suburb of Woking in Surrey, England. It is in the east of the borough between the River Wey and the River Mole, and is within the M25 motorway....

, Surrey

Surrey

Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...

, in the shadow of the Brooklands banking.

Description

He ran Ford Zephyr

Ford Zephyr

The Ford Zephyr was a car manufactured by the Ford Motor Company in the United Kingdom. Between 1950 and 1972, it was sold as a more powerful six-cylinder saloon to complement the four-cylinder Ford Consul: from 1962 the Zephyr itself was offered in both four- and six-cylinder versions.The Zephyr...

s and Anglias

Ford Anglia

The 1949 model, code E494A, was a makeover of the previous model with a rather more 1940s style front-end, including the sloped, twin-lobed radiator grille. Again it was a very spartan vehicle and in 1948 was Britain's lowest priced four wheel car....

 in 1962 under the entrant of Andrews Garage in British saloon car races.

In 1963 he prepared a Ford Cortina

Ford Cortina

As the 1960s dawned, BMC were revelling in the success of their new Mini – the first successful true minicar to be built in Britain in the postwar era...

 GT under Alan Andrews Racing for Henry Taylor in racing and rallying in a quasi-Ford Team.

His team was included to run a Ford Cortina GT in the 3rd running of the Marlboro 12 hour, at Marlboro Motor Raceway

Marlboro Motor Raceway

Marlboro Motor Raceway is a now-defunct motorsports park located in Prince George's County, just outside Upper Marlboro, Maryland. MMR closed after the 1969 season and local Sports Car Club of America racing moved to the more advanced facility at Summit Point, West Virginia due to safety concerns...

, US, in August 1963 with the express purpose of winning its class, as Volvo

Volvo

AB Volvo is a Swedish builder of commercial vehicles, including trucks, buses and construction equipment. Volvo also supplies marine and industrial drive systems, aerospace components and financial services...

 was reaping publicity from a string of victories. His Cortina driven by Henry Taylor

Henry Taylor (racing driver)

Henry Taylor is a British former racing driver from England.Taylor started his career in speedway in East London before switching to a 500cc Formula Three Cooper in 1954, quickly demonstrating his talent. He won two Formula Three championships in 1955, and repeated the achievement in 1956, taking...

 and Jimmy Blumer came second to another Cortina of John Willment Automobiles driven by Jack Sears

Jack Sears

Jack Sears is a British former race and rally driver, and was one of the principal organisers of the 1968 London-Sydney Marathon. He was popularly known as "Gentleman Jack". His son David is also involved in motorsport....

 and Bob Olthoff, which won the race overall.

This made an impression on John Holman of Holman & Moody

Holman Moody

Holman Moody was an auto racing team, racecar manufacturer, and marine engine manufacturer. The team built virtually all of the factory Ford racecars of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. It owned racecars that competed in NASCAR, drag racing, ocean boat racing, rallys, and sports car racing. The team...

, Ford's top racing team in the US, who had already sold Willment a Ford Galaxie

Ford Galaxie

The Ford Galaxie was a full-size car built in the United States by the Ford Motor Company for model years 1959 through 1974. The name was used for the top models in Ford’s full-size range from 1959 until 1961, in a marketing attempt to appeal to the excitement surrounding the Space Race...

 and this subsequently attracted more of Ford’s attention.

For 1964 Alan Mann Racing became a top Ford Factory Team with the distinctive racing livery of Red and Gold.

The team ran cars in events as diverse as the Monte Carlo Rally

Monte Carlo Rally

The Monte Carlo Rally or Rally Monte Carlo is a rallying event organised each year by the Automobile Club de Monaco which also organises the Formula One Monaco Grand Prix and the Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique. The rally takes place along the French Riviera in the Principality of Monaco and...

 and Tour de France

Tour de France Automobile

Tour de France Automobile was a sports car race held on roads around France, first held in 1899 at speeds of 30 mph . The first event was won by René de Knyff driving a Panhard et Levassor...

 to Le Mans

24 Hours of Le Mans

The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the world's oldest sports car race in endurance racing, held annually since near the town of Le Mans, France. Commonly known as the Grand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency, race teams have to balance speed against the cars' ability to run for 24 hours without sustaining...

 and the World GT Championship, which they won in 1965 with Carroll Shelby

Carroll Shelby

Carroll Hall Shelby is an American retired automotive designer and racing driver. He is most well known for making Mustangs for Ford Motor Company known as Mustang Cobras which he has done since 1965...

 and the Daytona Coupe Cobra

Shelby Daytona

The Shelby Daytona Coupe was a coupé based loosely on the AC Cobra roadster chassis and drive-train. It was built for auto racing, specifically to take on Ferrari in the GT class. Just six Daytona original coupes were built between 1964 and 1965...

.

The iconic red and gold livery graced cars from Mk1 Escorts and Cortinas to Lightweight GT40s and the F3L prototype.

Some of the best drivers of the period from Graham Hill

Graham Hill

Norman Graham Hill was a British racing driver and two-time Formula One World Champion. He is the only driver to win the Triple Crown of Motorsport — the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Indianapolis 500 and Formula One World Championship.Graham Hill and his son Damon are the only father and son pair both to...

 and Sir Jackie Stewart

Jackie Stewart

Sir John Young Stewart, OBE , better known as Jackie Stewart, and nicknamed The Flying Scotsman, is a Scottish former racing driver and team owner. He competed in Formula One between 1965 and 1973, winning three World Drivers' Championships. He also competed in Can-Am...

 to Sir John Whitmore

John Whitmore (racing driver)

Sir John Whitmore was a British racing driver. Sir John was educated at Eton College, Sandhurst Royal Military Academy, and Cirencester Agricultural College. After racing, he went on to be a sports psychologist. He left working within motor-sports to apply his skills to the world of business...

 and Frank Gardner raced for the team, which achieved substantial successes in many different forms of the sport.

Major wins of the 1960s

• 1964 Tour de France
  Tour de France Automobile
  Tour de France Automobile was a sports car race held on roads around France, first held in 1899 at speeds of 30 mph . The first event was won by René de Knyff driving a Panhard et Levassor...
  
   - Ford Mustang
• 1965 World GT Championship - Shelby Daytona Coupe Cobra
• 1965 European Touring Car Championship - Ford Lotus Cortina
• 1967 British Saloon Car Championship - Ford Falcon
• 1968 British Saloon Car Championship - Ford Escort

The team was resurrected in 2004 by Alan Mann, and is active in historic racing.

External links

• http://homepage.mac.com/frank_de_jong/Races/1963%20Marlboro.html
• http://www.pixelmatic.com.au/cortina/articles/whitmore.htm