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Brian Hart was trained in airframe and aero-engine design by Britain's De Havilland aircraft company before working as an engineer at Cosworth
in its early years. He also enjoyed a very successful racing career in Formula Junior, F3 and, ultimately, as an F2 driver with Ron Harris's
Lotus factory team. In the early 1960s he even raced in a few non- championship F1 races.
In 1969 he established Brian Hart Ltd., to service Ford's FVA racing engines. He was soon commissioned to develop Ford products and
designed the Ford BDA, which would become the backbone of Ford's rally programs throughout the 1970s.
In 1971 Ronnie Peterson won the European F2 title using a Hart FVA and the following year Mike Hailwood won the title with a BDA.
The arrival in F2 of BMW and Renault and Ford's unwillingness to increase its involvement prompted Hart to design his own F2 engine
and he produced the Hart 420R, first raced in 1976 in a Chevron sportscar. This went on to become an effective F2 engine, winning
races in 1977 and 1978.
The winter of 1978-79 proved to be a turning point for Hart, when the Toleman F2 team decided to finance his R&D programs. The result was Toleman-Hart domination of the European F2 Championship in 1980 with Brian Henton and Derek Warwick sweeping to a 1-2 finish in the championship. Toleman then commissioned a 1.5-liter turbocharged version of the 420R for F1 and the team entered GP racing in 1981.
Towards the end of 1982 the Toleman-Hart combination began to show
its potential and by 1984 the team was good enough to attract Ayrton Senna. In his first F1 season Ayrton finished second at Monaco and
third at Brands Hatch and Estoril.
For the next three years Hart supplied a variety of F1 teams - notably Carl Haas's FORCE Lola operation - but at the end of 1987 the F1 rules changed to 3.5-liter normally-aspirated engines. Hart did not have the money to build his own engine and so he joined forces with Cosworth to develop the company's DFZ and DFR engines, notably with
Tyrrell. This work continued into 1990 when Jean Alesi produced some stunning performances.
By 1992 Hart had funded the design of his own V10 engine - the Type 1035 - and in November that year he announced an exclusive deal to
supply Jordan Grand Prix in 1993 and 1994. The result was highly competitive but at the end of 1994 the team was given the chance to
use free Peugeot V10 engines and Hart had to do a deal with Arrows, which was struggling for money. The team used Brian's V8 engines
because there was no money to build the new V10 that Hart was planning. In 1998 Hart moved on to Minardi but in the summer he
began to work on another V10 design. This became the Arrows V10 in 1999 when Tom Walkinshaw bought Brian Hart Ltd. There was legal
action over money in the course of the 1999 season and Hart disappeared from the F1 scene.
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Terrier Mk4 series one chassis #1 Formula junior 1960 by Len Terry, Ex Brian Hart
The only Ford front engine Formula Junior allowed to run d/d carbs, built up from the original chassis in 1999. (confirmed by Len Terry)
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Terrier Mk4 series two Formula junior 1960 by Len Terry, Ex Brian Hart
replaced series 1 #1 which he crashed at Oulton Park, owned by me since 1982. Well known car. Car in the USA, extra chassis and spare 5speed gearbox in France.
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Terrier Mk6 sports racer chassis #1, 1962 by Len Terry, Two made.
This is the sole survivor, ex Geoff Miller, mid engined 1000cc ex broadspeed anglia engine(d/d carbs), Hewland mk6 5speed conversion now in endurance form with 2nd petrol tank, dynamo,slightly detuned. Only carb changes to put it back into sprint form (jets and chokes)
unique very interesting suspension with horizontal dampers at the front, bell cranks at the rear, body moulds available, supercar which i have owned since 1983.
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