Kenneth Mcalpine 1920-2023
OBITUARY
Kenneth Mcalpine, one of the last links with the ascendancy of British teams in grand prix racing in the 1950s and the oldest grand prix driver, died on 8 April at the age of 102.
A member of the Mcalpine civil engineering family, he financially supported the endeavours of Rodney Clarke and Mike Oliver of Continental
Cars to create competitive single-seaters and sports-racing cars in the immediate post-war years. Mcalpine himself competed successfully with the ex-earl Howe and ex-whitney Straight Maserati CMS in the myriad of airfield races, sprints and hillclimbs that proliferated in the British Isles at the time, his cars raceprepared by Continental Cars.
From this arrangement evolved the Connaughts, which Mcalpine and many of the UK’S leading drivers of the time campaigned prolifically and successfully. The A-type Formula 2 car made its debut at Castle Combe in October 1950 when Mcalpine finished second to the HWM of Stirling Moss. When Formula 2 became the Drivers’ World Championship category in 1952/53, Mcalpine competed in several races at the highest level, his best result being 13th in the 1953 German GP.
For the new 2.5-litre Formula 1, the B-type Connaught was created and Mcalpine raced it twice in 1955, in the BRDC International Trophy at Silverstone and the British Grand Prix at Aintree, retiring on both occasions. Mcalpine saw out the 1955 season with the little AL/SR sportscar, with which he finished second to the Lister-bristol of Archie Scott-brown in the British Empire Trophy. His last race before retirement was the Goodwood 9 Hours in which, with Eric Thompson, he finished fifth in class.
An RAF flight instructor during the Second World War, Mcalpine maintained his interest in aviation with his Mcalpine Helicopters company, also establishing a vineyard in Kent and doing much to promote viniculture in the UK. Mcalpine’s status as the oldest surviving GP driver now passes to 95-year-old Hans Herrmann.