Bernard Unett
Encyclopedia
British Touring Car Championship
The British Touring Car Championship is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom. The Championship was established in 1958 as the British Saloon Car Championship and has run to various rules over the years – "production cars", then FIA Group 1 or 2 in the late 1960s...
(then called British Saloon Car Championship) in 1974, 1976 and 1977.
Unett was born on 22 July 1936 in Wolvey
Wolvey
Wolvey is a village and parish in Warwickshire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 1,741.The village, originally on the main route between Leicester and Coventry, is now on the B4065 and B4109 roads and is located on the Warwickshire/Leicestershire border in an outlying...
, Warwickshire
Warwickshire
Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...
. His parents ran a farm. He joined Humber as an apprentice at the age of 15 and later joined the Rootes Group organisation and became a development engineer - known as 'The Set 'em Alight Boys' because of Chief Test engineer Don Tarbun's expression 'For **** sake, set 'em alight', often exclaimed by him when facing difficulties. Unett was deputy head of the department for the development of the 'series' Sunbeam Alpine
Sunbeam Alpine
The Sunbeam Alpine is a sporty two-seat open car from Rootes Group's Sunbeam car marque. The original was launched in 1953 as the first vehicle from Sunbeam-Talbot to bear the Sunbeam name alone since the 1935 takeover of Sunbeam and Talbot by the Rootes Group....
in 1958–1959. He began motor racing in 1961. After a disastrous Club rally, Rootes competition manager Mike Parkes
Mike Parkes
Michael Johnson Parkes was an English racing driver.He participated in 7 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on July 18, 1959. He achieved two podiums, and scored a total of 14 championship points. He also secured one pole position...
encouraged Unett to attend a race meeting at the Goodwood Circuit
Goodwood Circuit
Goodwood Circuit is an historic venue for both two- and four-wheeled motorsport in the United Kingdom. The 2.4 mile circuit is situated near Chichester, West Sussex, close to the south coast of England, on the estate of Goodwood House, and completely encircles Chichester/Goodwood Airport...
, leading him to buy his first racing car, a prototype
Prototype
A prototype is an early sample or model built to test a concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated or learned from.The word prototype derives from the Greek πρωτότυπον , "primitive form", neutral of πρωτότυπος , "original, primitive", from πρῶτος , "first" and τύπος ,...
from the Alpine development programme registration number XRW 302. After developing it for racing it was in this car that Unett won his first trophy in 1964, the 'Freddie Dixon
Freddie Dixon
Frederick William Dixon was an English motorcycle racer and racing car driver. He was the designer of the motorcycle and banking sidecar system. He was also one of the few motorsport competitors to have been successful on two, three and four wheels. He was twice awarded the BRDC Gold Star...
Challenge Trophy', one of the biggest prize in motor club racing at the time. The history of this surviving prototype can be found here. The site also has a film and pictorial history of Bernard Unett's career.
By 1965 Unett was married with three children and helped out on his parents' farm when there was time for relaxation. He was now racing for the Alan Fraser racing team, who developed the Hillman Imp
Hillman Imp
The Hillman Imp is a compact, rear-engined saloon car that was manufactured under the Hillman marque by the Rootes Group from 1963 to 1976...
for racing from 1964 onwards, competing principally against the Mini Cooper S. The team were soon having great success in surprisingly standard Imps. Unett, in a 998 cc Imp, was soon showing a 1299 cc Mini Cooper S the way around the track at the motor show 200 meeting. (The Imp was much better on the corners.)
In 1966 the Rootes competition department decided to enter the Imp in saloon car racing. Being heavily involved in rally car preparation, they had to have outside help. Alan Fraser and his team got the job. Unett was soon setting lap records in the Imp at Brands Hatch
Brands Hatch
Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit near West Kingsdown in Kent, England. First used as a dirt track motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently holds many British and international racing events...
. At the 1966 Easter meeting he set a lap record of 59.8, an Imp becoming the first car in its class to lap Brands in under a minute, and also won the Edward Lewis Trophy. By August the team had won 16 first places, 2 seconds and 7 class lap records, and Unett had also won the Westover Saloon car Championship. The Hillman Imp led in the British championship series.
Unett was also having great success racing a Sunbeam Tiger
Sunbeam Tiger
The Sunbeam Tiger was a muscle car version of the British Rootes Group's Sunbeam Alpine roadster.-Development:The West Coast Sales Manager of Rootes American Motors Inc., Ian Garrad, realized that the Alpine's image was that of a touring car rather than a sports car, and he set about changing its...
, registration number ADU 180B, in the 1965 season. It was one of the two ill-prepared Tigers that had an embarrassingly short outing at the Le Mans 24 hour race the year before. Unett, having modified the car, had little trouble beating the competition, receiving glowing press reports. In just over 20 races he had eleven outright wins, nine second place finishes and never failed to get placed. He just fell short of winning the Autosport
Autosport
Autosport is a weekly magazine covering motorsport, published in the United Kingdom every Thursday by Haymarket Consumer Media. It was first published on 25 August 1950 by Gregor Grant, immediately prior to the Silverstone International Trophy meeting of that year...
championship in the final races of the competition, due to a broken fan belt and a broken rear axle. Details of this surviving ex-Le Mans car can be found here.http://www.classictiger.com/mudge/glimpes/the-car.htm
For the 1966 season Unett and Alan Fraser built what was to become known as the 'Monster Tiger'. Driven by Unett and other drivers, it was very competitive, winning many races outright. But Unett lost out on a major title, using his original Tiger as in the previous year, in the very last race of the Autosport 1966 championship. Unett also finished 2nd overall in the Fred W Dixon Marque Trophy in one of the Tigers. Continuing to race what were now highly developed Fraser Imps in 1967, Unett won the Grovewood 'Redex Gold Cross' championship. and came 5th overall in the 1967 British Touring Car Championship season, battling it out with Ralf Broad's Broadspeed
Broadspeed
Broadspeed is a United Kingdom-based automotive group. Established in automotive engineering, it now acts as an internet based retailer.- Broadspeed in the 1960s :...
Anglias. Eventually, Rootes withdrew their finantual support for the Hillman Imps and soon after Fraser retired from racing, moving to Tenerife
Tenerife
Tenerife is the largest and most populous island of the seven Canary Islands, it is also the most populated island of Spain, with a land area of 2,034.38 km² and 906,854 inhabitants, 43% of the total population of the Canary Islands. About five million tourists visit Tenerife each year, the...
.
Unett went on to race in the Imp powered Vixen cars that dominated the BP
BP
BP p.l.c. is a global oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest company in the world measured by revenues and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors"...
Formular 4 championship in 1968, the Vixens winning the first 6 places, With Unett winning the BP
BP
BP p.l.c. is a global oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest company in the world measured by revenues and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors"...
title. In 1969 Vixen decided to enter Formula 3. Unett already had a brief go at Fomula 3 using a Lotus 31 in the 'Les Leston
Les Leston
Alfred Lazarus Fingleston , better known as Les Leston, is a British former racing driver from England. Les started racing in a Jaguar SS100 before acquiring a Cooper and his own Leston Special. He become a Cooper works driver in 1954 and took the national Formula 3 championship in the same year...
Championship' in 1967, and he started to develop a Holbay powered car for Vixen. However, Unett crashed the car at Silverstone
Silverstone
Silverstone is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is about from Towcester on the former A43 main road, from the M1 motorway junction 15A and about from the M40 motorway junction 10, Northampton, Milton Keynes and Banbury...
on its first test and that's as far as the project got. Although walking away uninjured from quite a wreck, Unett then temporarily retired from competitive racing, becoming chief racing instructor at Mallory Park
Mallory Park
Mallory Park is a motor racing circuit situated in the village of Kirkby Mallory, just off the A47, between Leicester and Hinckley. With the full car circuit measuring only 1.35 miles it is amongst the shortest permanent race circuits in the UK...
. Unett was a last-minute stand in for a three-man private entry for the 1970 London to Mexico World Cup Rally
1970 London to Mexico World Cup Rally
The 1970 London-Mexico World Cup Rally was the first of two World Cup Rallies to be held and the second of four marathon rallies to be held in a nine-year period beginning with the 1968 London-Sydney Marathon...
, using a Hillman Hunter. They got as far as Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
before crashing out in a collision with a wood truck.
To end his retirement in 1971, Unett planned a big comeback in Formula 5000
Formula 5000
Formula 5000 was an open wheel, single seater auto-racing formula that ran in different series in various regions around the world from 1968 to 1982. It was originally intended as a low-cost series aimed at open-wheel racing cars that no longer fit into any particular formula...
. He was to buy a Lola Cars T 142 from racing driver Derek Williams. Williams rolled the car and was killed, ending the deal. His comeback finally came in 1972 with Unett in charge of the re-opened Rootes competition workshop, which had closed shortly after their big win with the Hillman Hunter
Hillman Hunter
Rootes Arrow was the manufacturer's name for a range of cars produced under several badge-engineered marques by the Rootes Group from 1966 to 1979. It is amongst the last Rootes designs, developed with no influence from future owner Chrysler...
in the London to Sydney Marathon in 1968. Unett had great success in a Hillman Hunter of the Chrysler dealer team managed by Des O'Dell, Winning the Castrol
Castrol
Castrol is a brand of industrial and automotive lubricants which is applied to a large range of oils, greases and similar products for most lubrication applications...
Production Saloon car series in 1973. Also in this year, Unett entered a Hillman Hunter in the Avon Tour of Britain, with Brian Coyle as co-driver, and finished 9th overall.
His biggest success came with the Hillman Avenger
Hillman Avenger
The Hillman Avenger was a rear-wheel drive small family car originally manufactured under the Hillman marque by the Rootes Group from 1970–1976, and made by Chrysler Europe from 1976–1981 as the Chrysler Avenger and finally the Talbot Avenger...
in the Rootes (later Chrysler) works MOPAR team managed by Des O'Dell, with which he won the 1974 British Saloon Car Championship season
1974 British Saloon Car Championship season
The 1974 Castrol Anniversary British Saloon Car Championship, was the 17th season of the series. The championship switched to Group 1 regulations in an effort to reduce costs. Bernard Unett won his first title, driving a 1600 cc Hillman Avenger....
(now called British Touring Car Championship). Unett won the 1600 cc class on eight occasions, with victories at Brands Hatch, Mallory Park
Mallory Park
Mallory Park is a motor racing circuit situated in the village of Kirkby Mallory, just off the A47, between Leicester and Hinckley. With the full car circuit measuring only 1.35 miles it is amongst the shortest permanent race circuits in the UK...
, Snetterton
Snetterton
Snetterton is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is located some north-east of the town of Thetford and south-west of the city of Norwich....
, the Thruxton Circuit
Thruxton Circuit
Thruxton Circuit is a motor racing circuit located near the village of Thruxton in Hampshire, England which is used to host a number of motorsport events including British Touring Cars and Formula 3 racing....
and Ingliston. The same year, Unett was also first in class and 11th overall in the 'Access' RAC Tourist Trophy
RAC Tourist Trophy
The International Tourist Trophy is an award given by the Royal Automobile Club and awarded semi-annually to the winners of a selected motor racing event each year in the United Kingdom. It was first awarded in 1905 and continues to be awarded to this day, making it the longest lasting trophy in...
and first in class and 13th overall in the Avon 2000-mile Tour of Britain. In the 1975 Avon Tour of Brittain, Unett came Third overall and his team won the 'Trade Team' award for Halesfield motors. Unett went on to win the 1976 British Saloon Car Championship season
1976 British Saloon Car Championship season
The 1976 Keith Prowse British Saloon Car Championship, was the 19th season of the series. This year saw a change in the class structure, with a limit of 3000cc engines being brought in, to stop the large American V8 cars competing in the championship...
and the 1977 British Saloon Car Championship season
1977 British Saloon Car Championship season
The 1977 British Saloon Car Championship, was the 20th season of the championship. Bernard Unett won his third drivers title with his Chrysler Avenger GT.-Calendar & Winners:Overall winners in bold.-Championship results:...
in a Chrysler Avenger, Chrysler having taken over the ailing Rootes group.
Unett began to compete in rallies and in 1977 he took part in the Galway
Galway
Galway or City of Galway is a city in County Galway, Republic of Ireland. It is the sixth largest and the fastest-growing city in Ireland. It is also the third largest city within the Republic and the only city in the Province of Connacht. Located on the west coast of Ireland, it sits on the...
international rally using Hillman Avenger modified for group 1, finishing 6th overall and winning the team prize with Robin Eyre-Maunsell and Derek McMahon. He also entered the Manx rally (now called the Rally Isle of Man) in an Avenger with Paul White as co-driver, finishing in 6th place with 13021 points. In the same year, Unett was awarded the very first British Racing Drivers' Club
British Racing Drivers' Club
The British Racing Drivers' Club is a membership body which represents the interests of professional racing drivers from the United Kingdom.-Early days:...
'Silver Star', one of the U.K. motor sports most prestigious awards. In 1978 Unett did the development testing for the Chrysler Sunbeam
Chrysler Sunbeam
The Chrysler Sunbeam is a small supermini 3-door hatchback manufactured by Chrysler Europe at the former Rootes Group factory in Linwood in Scotland. The Sunbeam's development was funded by a British government grant with the aim to keep the Linwood plant running, and the small car was based on the...
Lotus, which was re-named the Talbot
Talbot
Talbot was an automobile marque that existed from 1903 to 1986, with a hiatus from 1960 to 1978, under a number of different owners, latterly under Peugeot...
Sunbeam Lotus when Chrysler
Chrysler
Chrysler Group LLC is a multinational automaker headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA. Chrysler was first organized as the Chrysler Corporation in 1925....
sold the company to Peugeot
Peugeot
Peugeot is a major French car brand, part of PSA Peugeot Citroën, the second largest carmaker based in Europe.The family business that precedes the current Peugeot company was founded in 1810, and manufactured coffee mills and bicycles. On 20 November 1858, Emile Peugeot applied for the lion...
. Unett and co - driver Terry Harryman took a works development Sunbeam Lotus to Galway to compete in the 1978 Galway international rally. The Sunbeam Lotus won the RAC Rally in 1980 in the hands of Henri Toivonen
Henri Toivonen
Henri Pauli Toivonen was a Finnish rally driver born in Jyväskylä, the home of Rally Finland. His father, Pauli Toivonen, was the 1968 European Rally Champion for Porsche and his brother, Harri Toivonen, became a professional circuit racer.Toivonen's first World Rally Championship victory came...
and the world rally championship
World Rally Championship
The World Rally Championship is a rallying series organised by the FIA, culminating with a champion driver and manufacturer. The driver's world championship and manufacturer's world championship are separate championships, but based on the same point system. The series currently consists of 13...
in 1981, teams again being managed by Des O'Dell. Unett also played a large part in developing the Peugeot 205
Peugeot 205
The Peugeot 205 is a supermini produced by the French car manufacturer Peugeot between 1983 and 1998. It was declared 'Car of the Decade' by CAR magazine in 1990. The 205 won 1984 What Car? car of the year.-History:...
for rallying from 1984, after he worked on Chrysler's aborted attempt to develop the Chrysler Samba for rallying in 1981. The Chrysler 205 GTi won both the constructor and driver titles in the World Rally Championship
World Rally Championship
The World Rally Championship is a rallying series organised by the FIA, culminating with a champion driver and manufacturer. The driver's world championship and manufacturer's world championship are separate championships, but based on the same point system. The series currently consists of 13...
in 1985 and 1986, the drivers being Timo Salonen
Timo Salonen
Timo Salonen is a Finnish former rally driver and the 1985 world champion for Peugeot. It was commented of him that he stood out from other drivers, because he was overweight, wore thick glasses and smoked heavily, but still remained one of the fastest and most competitive drivers in the sport...
and Juha Kankkunen
Juha Kankkunen
Juha Matti Pellervo Kankkunen is a Finnish former rally driver. His factory team career in the World Rally Championship lasted from 1983 to 2002. He won 23 world rallies and four drivers' world championship titles, which were both once records in the series...
respectively.
Bernard Unett died of cancer in 2000.