Pilbeam Racing Designs is a British company which designs and constructs

racing cars 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 ...

, based in the

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

town of

Bourne Bourne may refer to: Places UK * Bourne, Lincolnshire, a town ** Bourne Abbey ** Bourne railway station * Bourne (electoral division), West Sussex * Bourne SSSI, Avon, a Site of Special Scientific Interest near Burrington, North Somerset * Bourne ...

. The company was founded in 1975 by

Mike Pilbeam Mike Pilbeam (born 1937) is a British motorsport designer and engineer known for his work with BRM, Lotus, Surtees and his own company, Pilbeam Racing Designs. An early design was the experimental four wheel drive Formula One BRM P67 of 1964. ...

Early career

Previously Pilbeam worked in

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, ...

for several teams, having latterly been Chief Designer for

BRM British Racing Motors (BRM) was a British Formula One motor racing team. Founded in 1945 and based in the market town of Bourne in Lincolnshire, it participated from 1951 to 1977, competing in 197 grands prix and winning seventeen. BRM wo ...

(also based in Bourne), producing the

P201 P, or p, is the sixteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''pee'' (pronounced ), plural ''pees''. History The ...

. An early project was the BRM P67 from 1964. Pilbeam also worked on the Lotus 7X Clubman's car.See

/ref> He designed the LEC Refrigeration Racing, LEC Formula One car for

David Purley David Charles Purley, GM (26 January 1945 – 2 July 1985) was a British racing driver born in Bognor Regis, West Sussex, who participated in 11 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting at Monaco in 1973. Purley is best known ...

to race in 1977.

Hillclimb cars

Pilbeam cars have been exceptionally successful in

hillclimbing Hillclimbing, also known as hill climbing, speed hillclimbing, or speed hill climbing, is a branch of motorsport in which drivers compete against the clock to complete an uphill course. It is one of the oldest forms of motorsport, since the fir ...

, dominating the 1980s and early 1990s; they were the choice of 17

British Hill Climb Championship The British Hill Climb Championship (BHCC) is the most prestigious Hillclimbing championship in Great Britain. Hillclimbing in the British Isles has a rich history, for example, the hillclimb held at Shelsley Walsh, in Worcestershire, England is t ...

winners between 1977 and 1997, powering such drivers as

Andy Priaulx Andrew Graham Priaulx, MBE ( born 8 August 1974) is a British professional racing driver from Guernsey. In 2019 he raced for Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK in the FIA World Endurance Championship, and Cyan Racing Lynk & Co in the FIA World Tou ...

and

Roy Lane Roy Lane (c. 1935 – 14 October 2009) was a British racing driver. He is best known for his great success in hillclimbing, having won the British Hillclimb Championship on four occasions (1975, 1976, 1992, and 1996) in a career spanning more th ...

Sports cars

The company has also produced

sportscar A sports car is a car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1900s and are currently produced by ...

s, initially working on the Pacific Racing

BRM P301 British Racing Motors (BRM) was a British Formula One motor racing team. Founded in 1945 and based in the market town of Bourne, Lincolnshire, Bourne in Lincolnshire, it participated from 1951 to 1977, competing in 197 Grand Prix motor raci ...

project in 1997, then entering

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...

in 2001 with a car of their own design; and has designed a number of

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 ...

s for manufacturers such as

Vauxhall Vauxhall ( ) is a district in South West London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. Vauxhall was part of Surrey until 1889 when the County of London was created. Named after a medieval manor, "Fox Hall", it became well known for ...

and

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...

. Pilbeam's main market these days is in LMP2 prototype racing. The only team that ran the MP93 LMP2, is Pierre Bruneau which took their MP93, with a Judd XV675 powerplant, to three podiums in the Le Mans Series in 2006. On 19 October 2006 an announcement was made stating that Pilbeam would be building a new MP93 for

Embassy Racing Embassy Racing was a British auto racing team founded by Jonathan France in 2003. Initially created as a conjunction with Xero Competition in the British GT Championship, the team expanded to become an independent team and began to win races ...

. Pilbeam also aided in the design of the Lotus Sport Exige, and currently builds cars for the VdeV Championship.

Development of engineers

Mike Pilbeam is actively involved with the MSc Motorsport Engineering and Management at Cranfield University where he supports thesis projects and serves on the advisory panel for the Motorsport Masters.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Pilbeam Racing Designs
British racecar constructors Companies based in Lincolnshire Hillclimbing South Kesteven District 1975 establishments in England British companies established in 1975 Motor vehicle manufacturers of England