Joe Potts 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 ...

, turned racing car manufacturer, of the 1950s. He designed and constructed his 'JP' racing cars for the

Formula 3 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 ...

and

Formule Libre Formula Libre, also known as Formule Libre, is a form of automobile racing allowing a wide variety of types, ages and makes of purpose-built racing cars to compete "head to head". This can make for some interesting matchups, and provides the oppor ...

racing classes. These are among the few single-seater racing cars to have been manufactured in Scotland, and predate the Fisher, Jasag, Raptor and Rotor models.

Background

In the late 19th century an Irish immigrant, Joseph Potts, settled in

Bellshill Bellshill (pronounced "Bells hill") is a town in North Lanarkshire in Scotland, southeast of Glasgow city centre and west of Edinburgh. Other nearby localities are Motherwell to the south, Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Hamilton to the south ...

Lanarkshire Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark ( gd, Siorrachd Lannraig; sco, Lanrikshire), is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the central Lowlands of Scotland. Lanarkshire is the most populous county in Scotlan ...

, and founded the company that bears his name. Amongst other lines of business he hired out horse-drawn carriages, one of his customers being a local undertaker. Potts was later to take over this funeral director's business, and modify his carriages so that they could be used as a hearse when necessary."Search is on for legendary Scottish racing cars", ''The Sunday Post'', 2 December 2007. Potts' grandson – also Joseph, or Joe – is the subject of this article. He expanded the business's engineering offshoot in the mid-1930s, first by supplying motorcycle components and then, with the Second World War, by producing specialist armament parts. After the war, the funeral directorship and engineering works continued side-by-side. Joe Potts continued to develop motorbikes, running a highly successful team of racers, and then started to compete in races and hill climbs in his Cooper F3 car. Believing the Cooper could be bettered, he and his chief designer Willie Rogerson set about designing and building their own 'JP' F3 cars in 1950. The precise number built over the next five years is not certain, but they are thought to number around 34. The company continued to undertake engineering projects until Joe's death in 1982.

'JP' drivers

Drivers who competed in Joe Potts' JP cars include: * Mirrlees Chassells * Ron Flockhart * David Swan * Marshall Watson (father of Grand Prix driver John Watson) Image:JP_F3_Wiscombe_2005_A.JPG, JP F3 car (in 2005) Image:JP_F3_Wiscombe_2005_B.JPG, JP cockpit

References

External links

JP profile at The 500 Owners Association

Bibliography

* Gauld, Graham: ''Scottish Motor Racing and Drivers'' (Havelock Publishing, Edinburgh, ) {{DEFAULTSORT:Potts, Joe Year of birth missing Year of death missing Scottish racing drivers British racecar constructors Place of birth missing Place of death missing