Len Bailey
Leonard Bailey | |
---|---|
Born | 25 July 1926 |
Died | 23 June 1997 |
Nationality | British |
Occupation | Automobile Designer |
Leonard Bailey (25 July 1926 – 23 June 1997) was a British automobile designer.
Career
Leonard Bailey became an apprentice at Austin at Longbridge in 1942 which at that time were building Short Stirlings for the Royal Air Force of World War II. Building up his experience at Daimler and Rover in Coventry before moving back to Austin which became part of British Motor Corporation (BMC) in 1952 to work in the engine department. He moved to the US and by mid 1956 was working at
Ford Racing
This article is written like a story.(January 2018) |
With Ford taking a more pro active motor spot stance in 1963 he was moved back to England to a position of chief draftsman as part of the design team for Fords new GT40 sport car with Ford Advanced Vehicles Ltd FAV department in Slough.
For 1967 Ford USA decided to concentrate its resources on a second Le Mans win and fielded the GT40 Mk IV, a newer car redesigned in the US with a different chassis and a different body. Bailey redesigned the two GT40s entered by John Wyer of JW Automotive for the manufacturer's championship. These were lightweight variations of the GT40 with a slimmer windscreen and altered roof line, cut off tail, and lighter aluminum body panels. Entered as the Mirage M1 with Gulf Oil sponsorship. Ford left the Mirages and privateer GT-40's to represent them in the intervening championship events at Monza, Spa, Targa Florio and Nürburgring.
In late 1966 he completed the design of
For 1968 the
While at Alan Mann Racing, Bailey designed the bodies of a pair of
During 1967–68 he did the suspension and brake work (developing rear disc brakes) on the new Ford Escort for rallying and racing, Alan Mann having a contact to run in the British Saloon Car Championship for
At the end of 1969 Bailey penned the Alan Mann Open Sports Ford just before Mann wound up his operation in late 1969, this was raced semi-successfully in two Can-Am races during 1969. It had a DNF at Riverside, but finished third at Texas. Bailey then began a freelance career although Ford work was a large part of it.
Freelance
As a freelance designer, his first single seat racing car was the 2.5 liter
In 1970 Bailey had set up his own design office at Gomm Metal Developments in Woking. During the summer and autumn of 1970 he worked on a secret Ford rally project that would result in the iconic but unused Ford GT70 rally car. He followed this with more design work for JW Automotive, including the Cosworth DFV powered Gulf Mirage M6 sports car for the 1972 and 1973 World Sportscar Championship seasons. Frank Williams came calling in 1971 and Bailey drew the underperforming Politoys Ford FX3 of 1972 and the Iso Rivolta Ford FX3B of 1973.
He continued to do consultancy work throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Some of his work included the:
- Group 5Rally Car (1978)
- Magnum 813 F3 car (1981)
- Ford C100 Group C car (1982)
- EMKA Racing C83-Aston Martin Group C car (1983)
- EMKA 84-Aston Martin Group C car (1984)
- AC Ace Chassis (1994)
References
On-Line
- http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/cref-bailen.html
- http://www.theautochannel.com/publications/magazines/sci/dec-jan-97/pg70.frame
- http://www.cloudster.com/Sets&Vehicles/UFO_Car/ShadowCarTop.htm
- http://www.ponysite.de/transam_gardner.htm
- https://web.archive.org/web/20081202080219/http://homepage.ntlworld.com/martin.essam/history.htm
- http://media.ford.com/newsroom/release_display.cfm?release=18720[permanent dead link]
- http://www.research-racing.de/PolitoysFord.htm Archived 20 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine
- British War Planes of World War II. Daniel J March ISBN 1-874023-92-1
- Ford GT: The Legend Comes to Life. Larry Edsell ISBN 978-0-7603-1993-2
- Ford Escort Mk1. Graham Robson ISBN 978-1-84584-040-2
- Can-Am. Pete Lyons ISBN 0-7603-0017-8
- Formula 5000 in New Zealand & Australia Wolfgang Klopfer ISBN 3-8334-3101-6
- Autosport 26 February 1970
- Autosport 20 April 1972