Alec Mildren (1915–1998) was active in Australian motor racing as a driver from 1938 to 1961, and subsequently as the owner of Alec Mildren Racing.
Racing career
Mildren began his racing career in an
Austin
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
in 1938
[Mike Kable, ''Alec Mildren wins CAMS 1960 Gold Star award'', The Sydney Morning Herald, Monday, 14 November 1960, page 17] and then raced a variety of cars including a Singer, a
Ford
Ford commonly refers to:
* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
* Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river
Ford may also refer to:
Ford Motor Company
* Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
* Ford F ...
Special, an
MG TB
The MG T-Type is a series of body-on-frame open two-seater sports cars that were produced by MG from 1936 to 1955. The series included the MG TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, and MG TF Midget models. The last of these models, the TF, was replaced by th ...
and two
Rileys.
[ These were followed by a series of ]Cooper
Cooper, Cooper's, Coopers and similar may refer to:
* Cooper (profession), a maker of wooden casks and other staved vessels
Arts and entertainment
* Cooper (producers), alias of Dutch producers Klubbheads
* Cooper (video game character), in ...
s, with Mildren placing second in both the 1958
Events
January
* January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being.
* January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed.
* January 4
** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...
and 1959 Australian Drivers' Championships. A Maserati
Maserati S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury vehicle manufacturer. Established on 1 December 1914, in Bologna, Italy, the company's headquarters are now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident. The company has been owned by Stellantis since 2021. Ma ...
powered Cooper T51
The Cooper T51 was a Formula One and Formula Two racing car designed by Owen Maddock and built by the Cooper Car Company for the 1959 Formula One season. The T51 earned a significant place in motor racing history when Jack Brabham drove the car ...
was campaigned during 1960, Mildren winning the 1960 Australian Grand Prix
The 1960 Australian Grand Prix was a motor race held at Lowood in Queensland, Australia on 12 June 1960. The race, which was run to Formula Libre, had 16 starters.
It was the twenty fifth Australian Grand Prix.''25th Australian G.P. at Lowood'', ...
and the 1960 Australian Drivers' Championship. He retired from racing during 1961.[ Australian Gold Star 1961, www.oldracingcars.com]
Retrieved on 28 May 2014
Career results
Alec Mildren Racing
In late 1963 Mildren announced the formation of Alec Mildren Racing. The team met with success in Australian endurance races, winning the 1964 Sandown 6 Hour International, the 1965 International 6 Hour Touring Car Race and the 1967 Surfers Paradise Four Hour
The 1967 Surfers Paradise Four Hour was an endurance race for “Production Touring Cars”, held at the Surfers Paradise International Raceway in Queensland, AustraliaK Shaw, 4 Hour shambles at Surfers, Australian Auto Sportsman, May 1967, pages ...
with Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis. The company was founded on 24 June 1910, in Milan, Italy. "Alfa" is an acronym of its founding name, "Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili." ...
s. Kevin Bartlett won the 1968 Australian Drivers' Championship in an Alec Mildren Racing entered Brabham
Brabham () is the common name for Motor Racing Developments Ltd., a British racing car manufacturer and Formula One racing team. Founded in 1960 by Australian driver Jack Brabham and British-Australian designer Ron Tauranac, the team won four ...
and the 1969 Australian Drivers' Championship in the team's Mildren Mono The Mildren name was used on a series of racing vehicles constructed for, or acquired by, Australian racing team owner Alec Mildren during the 1960s and early 1970s.
Mildren Maserati
The Mildren Maserati was a one-off sports car which was built i ...
. The latter was one of a number of cars raced by the team under the Mildren marque name. Max Stewart
Malcolm Clarke Stewart (14 March 1935 – 19 March 1977) was an Australian racing driver. He was known as the "Jolly Green Giant" for his disposition and height.
Stewart was born in Orange, New South Wales. He began his motorsport career r ...
won the 1969
This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon.
Events January
* January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco.
* January 5
**Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...
and 1970
Events
January
* January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC.
* January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...
Australian Formula 2 Championships in the team's Mildren Waggott and then won the 1971 Australian Drivers' Championship
The 1971 Australian Drivers’ Championship was a CAMS sanctioned motor racing title open to Australian Formula 1 and Australian Formula 2 racing cars.Conditions for Australian Titles, 1971 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, pages 79-83 It was the fi ...
in the same car, entered by Alec Mildren Racing in early rounds of the series and by Max Stewart Motors in later rounds.
Racing for Alec Mildren at the Bathurst Easter meeting in 1967, Kevin Bartlett set the first ever lap of the then 6.172 km (3.835 mi) Mount Panorama Circuit
Mount Panorama Circuit is a motor racing track located in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is situated on Mount Panorama (Wahluu) and is best known as the home of the Bathurst 1000 motor race held each October, and the Bathurst 12 Hour ...
with a time of 2:17.7 in a 2.5-litre Brabham Coventry-Climax during the NSW Road Racing Championships. For his efforts Bartlett was awarded 100 bottles of champagne to add to the 20 bottles he had been awarded for winning the pole with a time of 2:17.2. On the same day Bartlett also drove one of Mildren's Alfa Romeo GTA
The Alfa Romeo GTA is a coupé automobile manufactured by the Italian manufacturer Alfa Romeo from 1965 to 1971. It was made for racing (Corsa) and road use (Stradale).
Giulia GTA
In 1962, the successor for the very popular Giulietta series wa ...
's to victory in the touring car
Touring car and tourer are both terms for open cars (i.e. cars without a fixed roof).
"Touring car" is a style of open car built in the United States which seats four or more people. The style was popular from the early 1900s to the 1930s.
Th ...
race over the Ford Mustang
The Ford Mustang is a series of American automobiles manufactured by Ford. In continuous production since 1964, the Mustang is currently the longest-produced Ford car nameplate. Currently in its sixth generation, it is the fifth-best selli ...
of Bob Jane
Robert Frederick Jane (18 December 1929 – 28 September 2018) was an Australian race car driver and prominent entrepreneur and business tycoon. A four-time winner of the Armstrong 500, the race that became the prestigious Bathurst 1000 and a ...
who while having a power advantage with the Ford
Ford commonly refers to:
* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
* Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river
Ford may also refer to:
Ford Motor Company
* Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
* Ford F ...
V8 engine
A V8 engine is an eight-cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration.
The first V8 engine was produced by the French Antoinette company in 1904, developed and us ...
, ran out of brakes at the end of the 4th lap. During the race Bartlett reduced Under 2.0 Litre lap record by some 9 seconds in the process, leaving the new mark at 2:44.9.
Business interests
A family car dealership company, which was established by Mildren in 1953 and would later have prestige dealerships for Saab
Saab or SAAB may refer to:
Brands and enterprises
* Saab Group, a Swedish aerospace and defence company, formerly known as SAAB, and later as Saab AB
** Datasaab, a former computer company, started as spin off from Saab AB
* Saab Automobile, a fo ...
and Volvo
The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributio ...
Mildren Prestige operated up until 2017.About Mildren prestige, www.mildrenprestige.com.au
Retrieved on 28 May 2014
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mildren, Alec
1915 births
1998 deaths
Australian racing drivers