The Heron was a Formula Junior

Formula Junior

Formula Junior is an open wheel formula racing class first adopted in October 1958 by the CSI . The class was intended to provide an entry level class where you could use inexpensive mechanical components from ordinary automobiles...

 racing car designed by Les Redmond and Syd (aka Jim or Dig) Diggory. It was fitted with a Ford 105E engine.

Transfer to South Africa

The prototype (its only version) was sold to Tony Maggs

Tony Maggs

Anthony Francis O'Connell "Tony" Maggs was a racing driver from South Africa. He participated in 27 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on July 15, 1961...

 in 1960. Tony intended to race the car in the South African Grand Prix at East London, however mechanical problems meant he failed to make the grid. Maggs sold the car to Ernest Pieterse

Ernie Pieterse

Ernest "Ernie" Pieterse is a former racing driver from South Africa. He participated in 3 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on December 29, 1962...

 of the Scuderia Alfa Team who fitted it with an Conrero 1488cc Alfa Romeo

Alfa Romeo in Formula One

Alfa Romeo participated in Formula One, as both a constructor and engine supplier, from to .-Success, 1950-1951:In 1950 Nino Farina won the inaugural Formula One World Championship in a 158 with supercharger, in 1951 Juan Manuel Fangio won while driving an Alfetta 159...

 STR-4 engine.

Ernie Pieterse

The Heron's best placing in the South African non-championship Formula One racing series was 6th in the 1961 Rand Grand Prix

1961 Rand Grand Prix

The 4th Rand Grand Prix was a motor race, run to South African Formula One-style rules, held on 9 December 1961 at Kyalami, South Africa. The race was run over 75 laps of the circuit, and was won by British driver Jim Clark, who led from start to finish in his Lotus 21.There were no great...

. On 23 July 1961 the Heron came 2nd in Mozambique Grand Prix and the following week, 1st in the 1961 Rhodesian Grand Prix at Belvedere, Harare

Belvedere, Harare

Belvedere, Harare is a suburb of Harare, the capital city of Zimbabwe and the country's largest metropolitan area.-Location:Belvedere lies to the west of Harare's central business district and connects the center of the city to the more western suburbs of Warren Park, where the National Sports...

 (was Salisbury). Pieterse drove the car from 1960 to 1962. He then acquired a Lotus 21

Lotus 21

The Lotus 21 was a Formula One racing car designed by Colin Chapman. It was a mid-engined design using a tubular spaceframe structure skinned with fibreglass panels, of a more advanced build than seen in the Lotus 18...

 and sold the Heron to David Hume of Team Valencia in 1964. Hume raced the car in 1964 and 1965. Andrew Smuts raced the Heron in its final race the 1966 Natal Winter Grand Prix. Of its 8 South African races, it only finished 3.

Historic racing car

In 2004 that the Heron re-emerged in the United Kingdom in the hands of Eddie Perk, a former South African. He ran it at the 2005 Goodwood Revival

Goodwood Revival

The Goodwood Revival is a three-day festival held each September since 1998 for the types of road racing cars and motorcycle that would have competed during the circuit's original period—1948-1966. It is one of the world’s most popular motor race meetings and the only UK event which recreates the...

 meeting and various Historic Racing Car Association

Historic motorsport

Historic motorsport relies on cars of a particular era. Events are purely regulated to only allow cars of a certain era to participate. Only safety precautions are modernized in these hobbyist races. A historical event can be of various types of motorsport disciplines...

meetings. Perk returned to South Africa with the Heron for the 2010 International.