From F1 cars to rallying a Sunbeam Lotus
Club competition has its fair share of versatile drivers and Kim Mather’s experiences have been more eclectic than most over more than half a century in motorsport
Kim Mather is probably best known for his exploits in Formula 2 and Formula Atlantic machinery in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but there’s a lot more to the man from Haydock.
Mather has competed in a plethora of cars over the decades, with one recent competition outing coming on the Motorsport News Circuit Rally Championship on the Neil Howard Memorial Stages at Oulton Park in May.
It’s a throwback to where his interest in motorsport began as his father, Stanley, was a rally driver who contested the 1959 Monte Carlo Rally in a Morris Minor, with a toilet in the back! “It’s in the blood – we have always been a car and motorsport family, but my first event was a road rally at 17, in a Morris 1300,” says Mather, who turned 70 this week.
He dabbled in road rallying, and won an event in Wales with a Ford Escort Twin Cam, before older brother Mike went to the fabled Jim Russell Racing School. “He was going to be the next best thing, so dad bought him a Merlyn Formula Ford,” says Mather. “We had various race cars from Bob Howlings at AMCO, a Lotus 51/61 and then I won a sprint at Burtonwood in an ex-reine Wisell Lotus 69.”
The family had a Chevron B18 for Fatlantic while Kim raced the Formula Ford, before some time was spent as his brother’s mechanic on an ex-graham Coaker March 712 during 1971 and
1972. Mather was still the main mechanic in 1973, but used their Fatlantic-spec March 722 for a sprint at Aintree and won. It was also this year when he got the chance to race an ex-yardley BRM P153, which Jackie Oliver had used in nine grands prix.
“It was a sportscar V12 engine. We played with the car a bit but had no gearing or anything. It flew at Aintree, but we eventually blew it up at Silverstone,” explains Mather, who took wins at Aintree, Croft, Longridge and Oulton Park.
He raced a Brabham-bda BT38C in Fatlantic and Formula
Libre in 1974, before moving on to driving a March 742 with some success a year later.
Libre was still a popular single-seater formula in the late-1970s and Mather’s Dinorben Arms-backed Chevron B34/35 BDA was successfully raced in the 1977 and 1978 Shellsport Series, as well as the European F2 round at Donington Park in 1977.
“We had a race-by-race agreement with Dinorben, and my best race in the car was 1978 at a misty Mallory,” he says. “I had a stroked engine, but it blew up after a rebuild, so I rebuilt it myself.”
He focused on the Aurora Championship in 1979 and drove a variety of cars, including a March 772/782 rebuilt from a write-off, a 772P, the Durex Chevron-cosworth B41 and a works March 792 that was written off in a crash with Norman Dickson at Brands Hatch.
He also did the European F2 races at Silverstone and Thruxton in the 772P – against upcoming drivers such as Eddie Cheever, Derek Daly and Bobby Rahal – and attempted to race the 782 at Donington too, but withdrew after problems.
“The 772P was from Patsy Mcgarrity – it flew with the BDG in too, after not worrying about blowing up the BMW,” recalls Mather. “Plus I knew the 792 having tested Norman Dickson’s car for Colin Bennett.”
In 1980 he had backing from Theodore Racing with a Marchbmw 802. He was second overall at Oulton in an Aurora race and was 10th in the championship. He also ran the car in the Silverstone F2 counter, in which he finished 13th in a round won by Derek Warwick. He then had one more year of single-seater racing, stepping back to Fatlantic with a March-bda 792.
“We sold everything to try and get an F2 Ralt, but ended up racing the March, owned by Jim Evans, which he raced in Libre,” explains Mathers. The car ran in both the Silverstone – “we passed about half of the field on the first lap in the wet, then a rear wheel bearing failed” – and Donington F2 rounds in 1981.
Aside from a season racing Alfa Romeos in 1988, taking a class win in a 75, he then focused on his first passion – rallying.
But things didn’t always run smoothly: “My first single-venue [rally] was in a Porsche at Oulton in 1982, I spun so many times it was horrendous.”
During 1984 and 1985 he rallied a Talbot Sunbeam Lotus, in both forests and on single venues, and by the end of 1985 he debuted his famous but radical twin-engined VW Scirocco. With it, he became Association of North Western Car Clubs champion in 1986 and 1987 before the car was banned.
“We debuted it on the Mid Wales Stages, but it didn’t have a quick rack and it was hard to keep up with it,” recalls Mather. “The front engine was automatic and the rear was manual, then we changed it to fully manual for the Silva Stages.”
After stepping away for several years, Mathers saw something that fired his enthusiasm and began a journey back to competition. “We saw a dry sump Sunbeam engine for sale so bought it,” he recalls. “Then we found the original car in 2006 and put it back together, as it has a history as a works-spec Clubmans car, rallied by John Weatherley and Chris Lord.”
The Chrysler Sunbeam Lotus made its competitive return on the Neil Howard Memorial Stages at Oulton, with Mather and his co-driver and wife Yvonne finishing third in class. It’s a very different prospect from the single-seaters of 40 years ago, but the passion for competition is just the same.
“THE FRONT ENGINE WAS AUTOMATIC AND THE REAR WAS MANUAL – WE CHANGED IT TO FULLY MANUAL”