Jem, who is still involved with Marcos Cars, is best described as colourful. His early career was in the Navy with Austin 7 special building as a shore leave hobby. On leaving the Navy he became a stunt driver and put his Austin 7 through fiery hoops at a rodeo. He moved to Luton via Chiswick and his Speedex Austin 7 specials were developed into successful racers in which he won the Goodacre Trophy.

So the participants in Marcos were in their different ways both innovators. The idea of building a strong and rigid structure with plywood and spruce was not new as it had been employed by de Haviland for the Mosquito fighter bomber and by Howard Hughes in the 10 engined "Spruce Goose" which was the largest aeroplane built. What was new was the application to a motorcar and in particular to a GT sports car. The picture shows a young Denis Adams working on an early unit. Denis styled the later Marcos and is justly famous for it.

The prototype was probably the ugliest car ever built but it demonstrated the effectiveness of the design. I remember a talk given by Jem at a 750 Motor Club meeting in Hitchin when he announced this bold new project. Having trained as aeronautical engineer I immediately saw the potential and arranged a test drive the following week-end. The new M1 motorway had just been opened and I can still remember the awe of driving at such speed and in such a rigid and quiet sports car. I placed an order the same day to be the first customer.

There were snags. First, I had to build the car myself as it was only sold in "kit" form. Second, Jem was very keen to prove the Marcos on the racetrack and so the second prototype for Bill Moss took priority over mine as he had a proven track record. Third, I had to sell my road car and buy a van in order to finance the basic components. Fourth, the production cars were to be fitted with the Ford 105E engine in place of the old 93A side valve engine of the prototype.

At the time I worked at Simms Motor Units on fuel injection systems at East Finchley and would drive to Luton after work where Jem allowed me to work most of the night in the Speedex factory. At least he trusted me to do that! It was a hard slog to have the car raceworthy by the last Oulton Park meeting in 1960. In those days a young engineer named Keith Duckworth was tuning Ford 105E engines in a back yard in Friern Barnet which was near the Simms factory and so it was decided to go with Cosworth (this "Cos" was Mike Costin, Frank's Brother).

In the race for GT cars I was doing very well until, on about the 4th lap, there was a massive crash from the rear of the car as it entered Lodge corner. It swerved all over the track and I was luck not to hit any other cars or the bank. Back in the paddock I was about to have words with Frank Costin, who had come to spectate, about the failure of the wood to anchor the Panhard Rod which had broken loose. Before I could say anything he sad "It won't be the wood that has broken". I did not believe him until further inspection revealed the metal rod in two pieces! Surprisingly this gave me added confidence in the cars wooden construction, but I was much more wary of the metal components.

During the winter of 1960 the car was stripped down and thoroughly checked for possible weak points. I was ably assisted by two good friends, Robert Cook and John Fuller. All three of us had served our apprenticeships at Vickers Armstrong at Brooklands and I knew I could rely on their engineering expertise.

Up to this time I had been racing my first Austin 7 special AXO 862 in the 750 Formula with limited success but the arrival of the Marcos meant that it had to go. I am rather sentimental about cars and it was a bit of a wrench, however it was exchanged for Malcolm Lyon's 1930 Austin 7 "Chummy" and £5. (see Lyon in Drivers database).

Bill Moss had been very successful with the second works prototype in 1960 , but for 1961 had entered the Formula Junior with a new Lotus 18. The Marcos was sold to Jack Gates a local Ford dealer from Hockliffe. Jem was keen to have the Marcos accepted as a production car and so I agreed to become part of the Marcos Works Team to contest the Autosport Championship. I do not recall their being any financial advantage!

To be continued!!!