The Heron was a

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 ...

racing car 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 ...

Les Redmond

Redmond had a long history designing and building cars such as the Mooreland and Chequered Flag's Gemini Formula Junior cars.

Racing history

Transfer to South Africa

The prototype (its only version) was sold to

Tony Maggs Anthony Francis O'Connell Maggs (9 February 1937 in Pretoria, South Africa – 2 June 2009) was a racing driver from South Africa. He participated in 27 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 15 July 1961. He achieved three po ...

in 1960 and re-engined with a Climax engine. Maggs intended to race the car in the

South African Grand Prix The South African Grand Prix was first run as a Grand Prix motor racing handicap race in 1934 at the Prince George Circuit at East London, Cape Province. It drew top drivers from Europe including Bernd Rosemeyer, Richard "Dick" Seaman, Richa ...

at East London, however mechanical problems meant he failed to make the grid. Maggs sold the car to Ernest Pieterse of the Scuderia Alfa Team who fitted it with a Conrero 1488cc

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." ...

STR-4 engine.

Ernie Pieterse

The Heron's best placing in the South African non-championship Formula One racing series was 6th in the 1961 Rand Grand Prix. On 23 July 1961 the Heron came 2nd in Mozambique Grand Prix and the following week, 1st in the 1961 Rhodesian Grand Prix at

Belvedere, Harare Belvedere is a suburb of Harare, the capital city and the largest metropolitan area of Zimbabwe. Though historically home to a notable Indian population since 2012 Belvedere has become known for its growing Chinese population, due to the const ...

(was Salisbury). Pieterse drove the car from 1960 to 1962. He then acquired a

Lotus 21 The Lotus 21 was a Formula One racing car designed by Colin Chapman. It was a mid-engined design using a tubular spaceframe structure skinned with fibreglass panels, of a more advanced build than seen in the Lotus 18. Powered by the 1.5-litre ...

and sold the Heron to

David Hume David Hume (; born David Home; 7 May 1711 NS (26 April 1711 OS) – 25 August 1776) Cranston, Maurice, and Thomas Edmund Jessop. 2020 999br>David Hume" ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Retrieved 18 May 2020. was a Scottish Enlightenment philo ...

of Team Valencia in 1964. Hume raced the car in 1964 and 1965. Andrew Smuts raced the Heron in its final race the 1966 Natal Winter Grand Prix. Of its 8 South African races, it only finished 3.

Historic racing car

In 2004 the Heron re-emerged in the United Kingdom in the hands of Eddie Perk, a former South African. He ran it at the 2005

Goodwood Revival The Goodwood Revival is a three-day festival held each September at Goodwood Circuit since 1998 for the types of racing cars and motorcycles that would have competed during the circuit's original period—1948–1966. History The first Revival t ...

meeting and various Historic Racing Car Association meetings. Perk returned to South Africa with the Heron for the 2010 International.

References

*''Grand Prix Cars 1945-65'', Mike Lawrence
Profile at ChicaneF1

External links

Link to photograph on line
Formula Junior cars Formula One constructors {{F1-stub