DOWN THE WORKSHOP MALLOCK MK9

The front-engined Formula Ford Current owner: Ray and Michael Mallock

It was built in 1969 “My uncle Richard Mallock raced this chassis in period from new,” says Michael Mallock. “My grandfather Arthur designed it. I think Richard got the first 100mph Formula Ford lap round Silverstone in this car and we’ve proved that it is still extremely competitive even if it is a bit slow in a straight line. Overall it is a very quick car and very easy to drive. Arthur designed it well 50 years ago.”

It was owned by Jeremy Shaw “It is our car now. It came from Jeremy Shaw and he had it for a long time. He did quite a bit of racing with it in North America. We always made sure that he knew we were keen on buying it back if he came to sell it. We’ve had it for eight or nine years. My father Ray raced it a couple of times.”

It usually does the Walter Hayes Trophy “I think our first Walter Hayes Trophy meeting with the car was in 2009 when we got it back from Jeremy. A couple of times, when there wasn’t an historic class at the Walter Hayes, we put a different nose cone on to try and reduce some of the lift that it generates. But since there has been an historic class, we’ve run it with the period nose.”

It’s in period trim “We put it back to full period specification because over 40 years things move. We put it back absolutely as it was, including the original rear end. It is as it should be. We’ve had great success with the car and we don’t race it often enough, which is due to our time commitments. It is great to have something that is a key part of the Mallock family history and clearly unique. It is very different to everything else that is in Formula Ford.”

It will stay in the family “It is a family heirloom and it will stay in the family for the foreseeable future I wanted to do most of the Historic championship this season, but my calendar only allowed me to do one or two events. Hopefully we’ll do some more next year and get Ray back in the car as well.”