Drivers

Ken Wharton

Born in the middle of World War I, Wharton grew up in comfortable surroundings and at 19 was able to start racing with an Austin Seven atDonington Park. He competed wherever he could, including hillclimbs, sprints and even at the greatBrooklands racing circuit. The outbreak of World War II ended all motorsport activities in Britain but Wharton was quick to return to racing when the war ended, starting out in trials.

A trained automotive engineer, Wharton built his own racing specials in his garage - aFord dealership - at Smethwick, a suburb of Birmingham. He raced and rallied, winning the Tulip Rally for Ford on three occasions, while also being successful on the British club scene. When the new 500cc Formula 3 came along in 1950 Wharton began racing aCooper-JAP before returning to hillclimbing and winning a string of championships.

He began racing in Grands Prix with aFrazer-Nash in 1952 at the opening round of the World Championship atBremgarten in Berne. He finished fourth, which ironically would end up being his best F1 result. The Frazer-Nash was later replaced by aCooper-Bristol but results were few and far between. Wharton began racingBRMs in Formula Libre and joined the Owen Organisation in 1954 to drive the teamísMaserati 250F. He finished sixth inBerne and ran well inBritain andSpain. He also tried his hand at sports car racing with a factoryJaguar with which he won theReims 12 Hours in 1954 withPeter Whitehead.

In 1955 he moved on to join theVanwall team but then suffered a nasty accident in the International Trophy atSilverstone and suffered burns to his arms and neck. In the course of 1956 he drove whatever he was offered, including aFerrari Monza which he took to third in the Australian Tourist Trophy inMelbourne. But at the start of 1957 he was killed when he crashed the same car at the New Zealand circuit of Ardmore.