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Len Terry
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Leonard E. Terry (11 February 1924 – 25 August 2014)[1][2] was an English racing car designer and engineer, known for his work with Lotus, BRM and Eagle. He also designed chassis for many other teams, including ERA and Aston Martin and produced his own car in which he competed.

Key Information

Biography

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Terry left school at 14, with few qualifications, but with ambitions to become a designer and worked for a theatrical agency as an office-boy. Quickly promoted, after his colleagues were called up for military service, he produced promotional material for his company's clients.[3] In 1943, Terry enlisted in the RAF where he served as an instrument maker.[2]

After completing military service, Terry trained as a draughtsman[3] and this led to him being employed by a contract design company who seconded him to Aston Martin, where he worked on the DB2/4. In 1955, he began to race a one-off special, the JVT and subsequently designed his own car, which he named the Terrier.[3] He worked briefly for ERA before joining Lotus in 1958, where he worked on revisions to the 7, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17 and Elite models.[3] His Terrier sports car was not successful, but he teamed up with future Formula One engine builder, Brian Hart for the MkII version. In 1959, Hart won 18 races, out of 21 entered, regularly beating the Lotus entries and creating a demand for customer cars. This led to Terry being sacked by Lotus.[3] At this time, Terry also supplied drawings for the Moorland Special which was purchased by the Gemini team and formed the basis of their Mk1 Formula Junior car.[4]

Lotus 38 at Goodwood 2010

Terry was then asked to design chassis for Gilby, initially for sportscar racing but subsequently for Formula One. Even though the car was tested by Bruce McLaren it was not raced by a top-line driver and the project ended when Gilby was taken over by a firm which was not involved in motorsport.[3] At this point Terry's own part-time racing career came to an end after an accident.

He was working on a freelance basis (including for Lotus) when Colin Chapman asked him to return full-time to design a car to compete in the Indianapolis 500. He produced the rear-engined Lotus 29 which, driven by Jim Clark, finished a close second at the 1963 Indianapolis 500 and the Lotus 34 for 1964 which, although starting from pole-position only completed 47 laps (out of 200) due to tyre and suspension problems. Terry later claimed that differences with Chapman meant the car had not been fully developed.[3] He was also involved in the design of the Lotus 33 F1 car with which Clark won the 1965 Drivers' World Championship.[5]

For the 1965 Indianapolis 500, Terry was given full control over the design of the Lotus 38, and the car finished first that year, and second in 1966, each time with Clark driving. However, Terry left Lotus before the 1965 race, having already been recruited by Dan Gurney's AAR team to design a Formula One car.[3] This led to the Eagle-Weslake V12, which has been considered one of the most aesthetic Formula One designs.[2][6][7]

An early version of the Eagle Mk1, with Climax four-cylinder engine

Terry was employed by Carroll Shelby to design a Can-Am car for 1967, but the project did not come to fruition: Terry was still based in the UK and could not oversee the development.[3] Subsequently, he was recruited by BRM to design a Tasman Series car which became the 1968 BRM P126. Terry's next project was the BRM-engined Mirage M2 for John Wyer. It proved effective but its racing career was delayed by the continued success of Wyer's Ford GT40s.[3] Len Terry was commissioned to design and build a lightweight full spaceframe Ford Escort Mk1 Special Saloon for Geoff Wood, this was chassis number 40. His partner Cyril Malem of CTG F1 Racing built this race car in 1973, powered by a Brian Hart all alloy BDA engine with Lucas fuel injection, helping the car to weighing just 508 kilos and 42in high. It was entered in the 1974 British Special Saloon Car Championship and later in the Tricentrol Super Saloon Car Championship. Using F1 F5000 technology and components, it was named the LT40 Hart Escort, nicknamed 'The Lowline'. After several years it eventually became very successful in the hands of Phil Winter and with Andrew Grover in 1978/1979, winning races and setting new lap records. This rare car had remained lost since 1979, until found complete and original in a barn belonging to Andrew Grover in 2017. The LT40 Hart Escort is now being fully re-commissioned to its 1974 spec.

Terry's next design was a Formula 5000 car; intended as a privateer project it was taken up by Surtees and used by David Hobbs to finish second in the 1969 US Championship.[3] This chassis also formed the basis of the BMW 269 and BMW 270 Formula Two cars in 1969–70.[8] There followed another F5000 design, (named Leda) which was not successful, and the company formed to produce it passed into the hands of Graham McRae.[9]

Terry worked as a freelance designer on several projects, none of which were particularly successful before BRM asked him to design a Formula One chassis to accept their V12 engine. The result was the BRM P207 which competed in the World Championship in 1977 without scoring any points. This was Terry's last involvement with F1 design.[3] He subsequently worked on several projects, within the industry, though away from motorsport, but did design the Viking Formula Three car.[3]

Personal life

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Terry had a mild stroke in 1993 and was largely retired thereafter.[2] He was a keen cyclist and table tennis player and continued to assist Classic Team Lotus with restoration matters.[5]

Terry was married to Iris who died in 2008.[2] He died in August 2014 aged 90, after a short illness.[2][5]

References

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Len Terry

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Len Terry is a British racing car designer and engineer known for his influential designs that helped achieve historic victories in the Indianapolis 500 and Formula One during the 1960s. Born in 1924 and passing in 2014, he began his motorsport involvement by building and racing his own Terrier sports and Formula Junior cars in the late 1950s, which led to his recruitment by Colin Chapman at Lotus. At Lotus, Terry served as chief draughtsman and design engineer, translating Chapman's concepts into practical vehicles; he played a key role in developing the Lotus 25 and 33, and designed the Lotus 38, which became the first rear-engined car to win the Indianapolis 500 in 1965 when driven by Jim Clark. He later moved to the United States to design cars for Dan Gurney's All American Racers team, creating the Eagle series, including the Eagle-Weslake that delivered Gurney the 1967 Belgian Grand Prix victory—the first for an American constructor in a Formula One World Championship race. Throughout his career, Terry contributed to approximately 29 different teams and organizations, including BRM, Shelby, Surtees, Mirage, and Gilby, designing a wide range of single-seaters, sports cars, and Formula cars such as the BRM P126 and Surtees F5000 chassis. He also authored the book Racing Car Design and Development, providing insights into his approach to engineering and design. In later years, he assisted with historic car restorations and remained engaged with motorsport until his death.

Early life

Childhood and early employment

Leonard E. Terry was born on 11 February 1924 in Hackney, London, England. He left school at the age of 14 with limited formal qualifications. Terry began his working life as an office boy for a London theatrical producer, where wartime staff shortages enabled rapid advancement; by age 18 he had been promoted to publicity manager. This early role in the theatre industry during the war years highlighted his organizational abilities and adaptability in a challenging environment. His early experiences fostered a demonstrated aptitude for technical drawing and practical problem-solving.

Military service and training

Len Terry volunteered for the Royal Air Force in 1943 at the age of 19, choosing military service to avoid being directed into coal mining as a Bevin Boy. He trained as an instrument maker, and his work in the RAF included manufacturing aerial cameras. Following demobilisation from the RAF, Terry began draughtsman training as a trainee in the drawing office of the British Ever Ready Battery Company in Walthamstow, where he quickly advanced to running the office. He subsequently worked in the drawing offices at Aston Martin and Vauxhall.

Entry into motorsport

Building self-designed racing cars

Len Terry began his involvement in motorsport in 1955 by racing a one-off special known as the JVT, which was originally based on an Austin Seven chassis before being fitted with a Ford Ten engine. He campaigned the car in club events with little competitive success during this period. He later designed and built his own home-constructed racing special, the Terrier, in a domestic setting. The car's compact size and the choice of the name "Terrier" were dictated by the physical constraint of having to remove the vehicle through the sash window of his home during construction and access. This project reflected his early hands-on approach to engineering and building racing cars independently. Terry retired from personal racing following a serious accident in 1962 while testing a customer's Terrier at Oulton Park. His early self-built specials demonstrated his emerging design talent and eventually led to professional opportunities in racing car development.

Success with the Terrier series

The Terrier MkII 1172cc sports racing car was designed by Len Terry in partnership with driver Brian Hart, marking a significant step in Terry's independent design work. In 1959, the Terrier MkII achieved remarkable success in the British 1172cc category, with Brian Hart securing multiple victories, including a reported 18 wins out of 21 races entered, frequently outperforming Lotus entries and demonstrating the potential of privately built cars against factory-supported teams. This strong performance established the Terrier as a competitive force and enhanced Terry's reputation as an innovative designer capable of producing effective customer cars. Terry also supplied drawings for the Moorland Special Formula Junior project, which formed the basis for the subsequent Gemini Mk1. The competitive edge shown by the Terrier MkII against Lotus machinery reportedly contributed to tensions leading to Terry's departure from Team Lotus.

Career at Team Lotus

First period and contributions (1958–1960)

Len Terry joined Team Lotus in 1958 as a draughtsman and was soon promoted to senior designer working directly under Colin Chapman. In this role, he contributed to revisions and developments on a range of Lotus models, including the Lotus 7, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, and Elite. His work encompassed sports-racing cars such as the Lotus 15 and 17, where he translated Chapman's concepts into practical designs amid a productive but sometimes challenging relationship with the team principal. In 1959, Terry was sacked by Chapman, primarily because his privately developed Terrier MkII cars outperformed Lotus works entries. Driven by Brian Hart, the Terrier MkII dominated its category, winning 18 out of 21 races entered and regularly beating Lotus Sevens and Elevens, which created direct conflict with Lotus interests and led to the termination. This success stemmed from Terry's moonlighting efforts, which Chapman viewed as unacceptable competition. Following his departure from Lotus, Terry was engaged by Gilby Engineering, initially to address a suspension issue on a Lotus 17 raced by Keith Greene, before designing their own sports-racer. He went on to design the Gilby F1 chassis, which Bruce McLaren tested at Goodwood, lapping close to the Formula 1 lap record despite the car's modest budget. Terry's subsequent return to Team Lotus came in 1962.

Return and major designs (1962–1965)

Len Terry rejoined Team Lotus in September 1962 as chief designer, specifically to develop a car for the Indianapolis 500. He designed the rear-engined Lotus 29 for the 1963 event, powered by a Ford V8, and Jim Clark drove it to second place, losing the lead after encountering oil spilled by Parnelli Jones and facing challenges with yellow flag procedures as a rookie. Terry later recalled believing the rear-engined concept could "blow the race wide open" against traditional Indy roadsters, but he was frustrated when Colin Chapman removed him from the track by helicopter before the finish. Development of the 1964 Lotus 34 was delayed after the 1963 experience, with Terry admitting he "dragged his pen for once," and the team suffered from insufficient tyre testing; Chapman selected Dunlop tyres that were fast but insufficiently durable, contributing to a poor overall result despite Jim Clark taking pole position before retiring due to tyre and suspension issues. In 1965, Terry designed the Lotus 33, which enabled Jim Clark to secure the Formula 1 World Championship. That year, with Chapman away on a four-month Tasman Series tour, Terry was given carte blanche to design a completely new Indycar, the Lotus 38, completing the design in that period and overseeing its construction to the point where Clark could test it in early April. The monocoque Lotus 38 featured offset suspension and innovations like a gravity-feed refuelling system using swirl technique; Jim Clark won the 1965 Indianapolis 500 easily, marking the first victory by a rear-engined car at the event and revolutionizing American open-wheel racing. Terry's relationship with Chapman remained strained, marked by incidents such as the helicopter removal in 1963 and a lack of recognition after the 1965 Indy win, including no bonus, telegram, or letter of thanks. Having already arranged Maurice Philippe as his replacement, Terry cleared his desk and departed Lotus shortly after the Indianapolis victory in 1965 to join Dan Gurney's All American Racers.

Independent career

All American Racers and the Eagle

In late 1965, Len Terry joined Dan Gurney's All American Racers (AAR) team, recruited to design a dual-purpose racing car intended for both USAC IndyCar events and Formula One competition. The Eagle Mk1 (also known as the T1G) featured a common monocoque chassis with relatively minor adaptations—such as engine capacity, gearbox, and aluminum sheet thickness—to suit each category, reflecting Terry's experience with the Lotus 38 that had won the 1965 Indianapolis 500. The car debuted in Formula One during 1966, initially powered by a 2.7-litre Coventry Climax FPF inline-four engine. The definitive version emerged with the installation of a 3.0-litre Gurney-Weslake V12, which made its competitive debut at the Italian Grand Prix in September 1966. This combination achieved its greatest success when Gurney drove the Eagle-Weslake to victory at the 1967 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, marking a historic win for an American-constructed car in the World Championship. The Eagle-Weslake V12 configuration is frequently cited as one of the most beautiful Grand Prix cars of all time, praised for its clean lines and elegant form. Terry also received a commission from Carroll Shelby to design a Can-Am car for the 1967 season, but the project was not completed. The Eagle Mk1 represented a significant phase in Terry's independent career, building on his prior success with Indy car designs to create an ambitious Anglo-American Grand Prix contender.

BRM, Mirage, and other commissions

After leaving All American Racers, Len Terry continued his independent design work through his Design Auto company, taking on commissions for several clients in various racing categories. Terry designed the BRM P126, which was constructed by his Technical Automotive Components (TAC) workshop in Hastings for the Tasman Series, with BRM later building additional examples to the same specification at their Bourne factory. The P126 was deployed in the 1968 Formula 1 season following its Tasman duties. He also created the Mirage M2, a Group 6 sports-prototype powered by a BRM V12 engine for John Wyer Automotive Engineering. Design Auto handled the chassis, suspension, and bodywork for the tightly wrapped coupe, producing a competitive car that ultimately saw limited success due to the continuing dominance of the Ford GT40 in sports car racing at the time. In Formula 5000, Terry designed the Surtees TS5 (initially developed for Roger Nathan before adoption by John Surtees), with the first examples built at his Poole workshops. David Hobbs campaigned works TS5s in the 1969 US Formula 5000 championship, securing multiple victories at Donnybrook, St Jovite, Thompson, and Sebring, demonstrating strong pace after initial setup challenges. Terry's own Leda LT20 Formula 5000 project for 1970 proved unsuccessful, featuring a full monocoque but suffering persistent handling issues and poor setup characteristics despite promising theoretical qualities. All three UK-based examples were destroyed in accidents during the season, with Terry himself later reflecting that the car "looked absolutely right ... but ... certainly wasn't right" on track. The Leda series evolved in later iterations under Graham McRae. Among his other commissions, Terry designed a lightweight spaceframe Ford Escort Mk1 Special Saloon known as the LT40 “Lowline”, which achieved competitive success in events during 1978 and 1979.

Later projects and retirement

Formula 5000 designs and freelance work

In the 1970s, Len Terry continued his independent design career through freelance commissions and other projects. He co-authored the book "Racing Car Design and Development" with John Blunsden, providing a detailed overview of racing car engineering principles, materials, and construction methods based on his extensive experience. During this period, his freelance work included the Surtees TS5 Formula 5000 car and his own Leda F5000 chassis project (which ultimately failed to succeed commercially), as well as the Viking Formula Three car. In 1977, Terry designed the BRM P207, a V12-powered Formula 1 car for the BRM team. The car participated in the 1977 Formula One season but scored no championship points, representing his last design for the category. Later, he established Design Auto, a design consultancy based in Dorset, and shifted focus to designing replica vintage vans.

Personal life, retirement, and death

Len Terry was married to Iris, who died in 2008. He remained physically active in retirement, regularly participating in cycling and table tennis. Terry also assisted Classic Team Lotus with the restoration of historic vehicles into his later years, maintaining a connection to the sport he helped shape. Terry died in 2014 at the age of 90, following a short illness.

Legacy

Influence on racing car design

Len Terry's design of the Lotus 38 represented a defining influence on the evolution of American open-wheel racing by proving the superiority of rear-engined layouts on high-speed ovals. The Lotus 38 became the first rear-engined car to win the Indianapolis 500 in 1965, driven by Jim Clark, decisively ending the competitiveness of front-engined designs and accelerating the widespread shift to mid/rear-engined configurations in Indycar racing. This achievement highlighted Terry's ability to translate European rear-engine principles into successful oval-specific engineering, with the car's clean aerodynamics, monocoque chassis, and balanced suspension geometry setting new standards for performance on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. During his periods at Lotus, Terry contributed to the refinement of several key models through critical revisions, including steering geometry updates applied to the Lotus Seven, Eleven, Twelve, Fifteen, Sixteen, Seventeen, and Elite, which improved handling and overall drivability across sports cars and single-seaters. His independent Eagle-Weslake V12 Grand Prix car for All American Racers is remembered as a pinnacle of Formula 1 aesthetic and engineering elegance, widely regarded as one of the most beautiful racing cars of its era while securing a victory at the 1967 Belgian Grand Prix. Terry's Terrier series demonstrated his early independent prowess, with models such as the Mk2 achieving considerable success in British club racing and the 1172 Formula, often outperforming contemporary Lotus designs with drivers including Brian Hart. These results underscored his practical approach to lightweight, effective construction that yielded competitive outcomes in grassroots and specialist formulae.

Recognition and historical impact

Len Terry's place in motorsport history has been acknowledged through several media retrospectives and publications, particularly after his death in 2014. He appeared as himself in the documentary Grand Prix: The Killer Years (2011), sharing insights from his experiences during the dangerous era of 1960s Grand Prix racing. He also featured in the 2008 television series Brits Who Made the Modern World, highlighting British contributions to engineering and innovation. His legacy received coverage in Motor Sport magazine, including an interview published in 2004 and a detailed obituary in 2014 following his passing. Terry is remembered for his independent approach to design, notably his readiness to challenge prominent figures such as Colin Chapman while achieving success with his own projects, including the Eagle racing cars. No major formal awards or official honors are documented for Terry in available historical records of motorsport.
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