Martin Slater 1936-2020
‘Mr Lyncar’ Martin Slater, who died last month aged 84, was far more than a Formula 1 cameo role player. A fine designer/fabricator/engineer and lateral thinker, his cars won British Formula Atlantic championships with New Zealander John Nicholson in 1973 and 1974.
Slater raced the Slater Special – Cheetah Mk1 – in Fjunior (1963) and F3 (1964), then worked with Lola, fledgling March, Mclaren and Ron Tauranac before building the first Lyncar, named for wife Lynda. Hewland engineer Mike Endean raced the Ford twin-cam powered 001 in 1972, Nicholson its Bda-engined twin. ‘Johnny Nick’s’ Mallory Park win was the marque’s first.
Nicholson (the boss of Nicholson Mclaren Engines) and sponsor Bruno Drury of Pinch Plant bankrolled the F1 Lyncar. Debuted at the 1974 Race of Champions, 006 placed sixth in the International Trophy race, but British GP non-qualification at Brands Hatch brought a reality check. They regrouped for 1975 and were classified 17th in Silverstone’s GP. Emilio de Villota scored its only victory in Mallory’s 1977 Shellsport series opener.
De Villota and Kiwis Howard Wood and Don Halliday raced later Atlantics, but better-resourced opposition had moved on. Ken Ayers won five RAC British Sprint rounds – including the fabled Brighton Speed Trials – in his 3.9-litre Dflpowered MS84 version and Roger Orgee a BRSCC Open series ‘F2’ class with BDX power. Meanwhile Tony Broster had won the 1981 Monoposto title in 001.
In 1982 Slater designed and built the Lyncar MS83 Group C2 sportscar for
Costas Los, raced with Hart 420R and DFV engines in world championship rounds and Thundersports. Los remembers Martin as “a one-stop shop. He did the clay modelling, the full-sized mock-up and the fabrication work in-house and favoured doing as much as possible himself, preferably in metal. He was so into detail that he could get carried away with perfection.”
Lyncar’s swansong was an Frenault car in 1992, with an offset engine. Australian Bruce Davies saddled it to little avail.
Slater is survived by second wife Sally, a son and daughter, and two stepdaughters.