Henry Taylor driving a Ford Cortina down the bobsleigh run at Cortina d'Ampezzo

Henry Taylor (16 December 1932 – 24 October 2013) was a British

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

from England.

Racing career

Born in

Shefford, Bedfordshire Shefford is a town and civil parish located in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England. At the 2001 census it had a population of 4,928, and was estimated to have grown to 5,770 by 2007. The population at the 2011 Census had ...

, Taylor started his career in

speedway Speedway may refer to: Racing Race tracks *Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta *Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a motor raceway in Speedway, Indiana Types of races and race cours ...

in East London before switching to a 500cc

Formula Three Formula Three, also called Formula 3, abbreviated as F3, is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One driv ...

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 ...

in 1954, quickly demonstrating his talent. He won two Formula Three championships in 1955, and repeated the achievement in 1956, taking 15 wins.Peter Scherer, "50 Years of British Grand Prix Drivers", tfm, 1999, pp.88–89. He drove in

sports car racing Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing which utilises sports cars that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built prototypes or grand tourers based on road-going models. Broadly speaking, sports car racing is ...

as well, winning in a

Jaguar D-Type The Jaguar D-Type is a sports racing car that was produced by Jaguar Cars Ltd. between 1954 and 1957. Designed specifically to win the Le Mans 24-hour race, it shared the straight-6 XK engine and many mechanical components with its C-Type ...

. Continuing his winning ways in

Formula Two Formula Two (F2 or Formula 2) is a type of open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009–2012 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The name retur ...

in 1958, while scoring several good placings in the UK and in France, he soon graduated to Grand Prix racing. He participated in 11

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

World Championship Grands Prix, scoring three championship points, with his best result at the

1960 French Grand Prix The 1960 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Reims-Gueux on 3 July 1960. It was race 6 of 10 in the 1960 World Championship of Drivers and race 5 of 9 in the 1960 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The 50-lap r ...

, a fourth place in his Cooper T51. That year he also drove for

Ken Tyrrell Robert Kenneth Tyrrell (3 May 1924 – 25 August 2001) was a British Formula Two racing driver and the founder of the Tyrrell Formula One constructor.Setright, L. J. K. "Tyrrell: A Shrewd Talent-spotter", in Northey, Tom, ed. ''World of Automo ...

Formula Junior Formula Junior is an open wheel formula racing class first adopted in October 1958 by the CSI (''International Sporting Commission'', the part of the FIA that then regulated motorsports). The class was intended to provide an entry level class ...

team, winning twice. He found less success in the following season's World Championship Grands Prix, but finished second twice in domestic Formula One races, among other strong results. Not long after a serious accident in the 1961 British Grand Prix, Taylor turned away from single-seater racing and took up

rallying Rally is a wide-ranging form of motorsport with various competitive motoring elements such as speed tests (often called ''rally racing),'' navigation tests, or the ability to reach waypoints or a destination at a prescribed time or average speed. ...

, taking part in the

Monte Carlo Rally The Monte Carlo Rally or Rallye Monte-Carlo (officially ''Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo'') is a rallying event organised each year by the Automobile Club de Monaco. The rally now takes place along the French Riviera in Monaco and southeast ...

. For the following four seasons, Taylor rallied a

Ford Anglia The Ford Anglia is a small family car that was designed and manufactured by Ford UK. It is related to the Ford Prefect and the later Ford Popular. The Anglia name was applied to various models between 1939 and 1967. In total, 1,594,486 Anglias ...

, drove the

Ford Cortina The Ford Cortina is a medium-sized family car that was built initially by Ford of Britain, and then Ford of Europe in various guises from 1962 to 1982, and was the United Kingdom's best-selling car of the 1970s. The Cortina was produced in fi ...

on its rally debut,Steve Small, "The Grand Prix Who's Who", Guinness, 1996, p.421. and also campaigned the highly successful

Lotus Cortina Lotus Cortina is the commonly used term for the Ford Cortina Lotus, a high-performance sports saloon, which was produced in the United Kingdom from 1963 to 1970 by Ford in collaboration with Lotus Cars. The original version, which was based on t ...

, which he also raced in the

European Touring Car Championship The European Touring Car Championship was an international touring car racing series organised by the FIA. It had two incarnations, the first one between 1963 and 1988, and the second between 2000 and 2004. In 2005 it was superseded by the World T ...

in 1964. He achieved a number of top six placings in rallies with all three cars, and took two second places in ETCC races. After retiring from rallying in 1965, he became Ford's Competition Manager. He also drove for the British Olympic

bobsleigh Bobsleigh or bobsled is a team winter sport that involves making timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Feder ...

team.

Death

Taylor died on 24 October 2013 in

Vallauris Vallauris (; oc, Valàuria) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. It is located in the metropolitan area, and is today effectively an extension of the town of Antibes ...

, France after a long battle with ill health.

Racing record

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

)

Complete British Saloon Car Championship results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap.)

References

External links

Henry Taylor profile at The 500 Owners Association
1932 births 2013 deaths English Formula One drivers Reg Parnell Racing Formula One drivers British Racing Partnership Formula One drivers British Formula Three Championship drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers People from Shefford, Bedfordshire World Sportscar Championship drivers {{England-autoracing-bio-stub