Manya
Menu
Mallock-U2
Mallock-U2
One of the legendary names of UK club racing Colonel Arthur Mallock began racing as a hobby after the finish of World War 2 and like many of his contemporaries in the race car manufacturing business he started his motorsport career as an accomplished driver. Arthur had a long-term love affair with Austin 7s and many of his early specials were based upon these cars and one of his first racers, built to to the 1172 Formula, was 7 based. In 1958 the first Mallock U2 appeared, a light space frame with square bodywork, that carried Arthur to many race wins. Formula Junior racing was also undertaken and a Mallock won a minor FJ race at the Nurburgring in 1960. In 1965 the new Clubmans formula was created which suited Arthur and his creations perfectly and over the years Mallock U2s have won numerous races although today they are highly sophisticated machines in comparison with those early days. Both of Arthur’s sons Richard and Ray had successful racing careers and are still involved in motorsport today.
During the years Mallocks have appeared in other classes including F3 and amazingly, in the 60s, in F2 when many a Brabham, Matra or Lotus driver would be embarrassed at trying to keep up with one of these front engined devices.
1971
This U2 Mk11B was a development of the Clubmans chassis with suitable adaptations for F3, wider wheels and F3 slicks, remove the mudguards, drop in a 1600cc F3 lump and off you go! Many people may have laughed when they saw this apparent anachronism in a F3 paddock but in a handful of races at the end of the year Ray Mallock had a 6th place at Castle Combe, a fifth at Thruxton, and a 4th at Oulton Park, all three in very good company indicating the car had real potential.
1972
For 1972 a new chassis, the Mk12 was developed, compared with the 11B the main change was the switch to a De Dion rear axle which allowed the fitting of disc brakes for the first time as well as helping to reduce the unsprung weight. Front suspension geometry was revised with fabricated front uprights (instead of the usual Triumph Herald ones) and the chassis was modified to allow the engine and gearbox to sit lower. Despite the disadvantages of a larger frontal area and having to change the entire gear box when altering gear ratios once again the Mk12 was surprisingly competitive and Ray had an early season 4th at Silverstone despite not having the best engines. Sadly though the usual lack of finance meant development lagged behind the works teams and the Mallock F3 challenge sadly evaporated.
Drivers
1964 Mk3
John Harwood.
1971 Mk11B
Ray Mallock, Richard Mallock.
1972 Mk12
Ray Mallock.
Magnum
Magnum
The first Magnum, the 813 (and the F Atlantic), version were produced by Northampton’s Automotive Designs Ltd but from the 823 onwards they were the the work of Magnum Racing Cars, the company formed by John Robinson. Magnum always had an excellent reputation for both the quality of their designs and the standard of workmanship and for several years they seemed on the brink of a breakthrough into the Ralt and then Reynard dominated formula. Sadly it was not to be and in 1987 Magnum ceased producing F3 racing cars.
1981
The 813 started life as a Len Bailey design for a F1 Theodore that never saw the light of day. Automotive Designs took the whole thing over in mid 1980, modified the car for F3 and produced the first chassis in autumn of the same year.
The chassis featured a narrow tub for maximum sidepod width, suspension was inboard with the rear spring/dampers sitting over the gearbox. The fuel was housed between the driver and engine and Toyota-power was used.
1982
The 823 was a reworked version of the 813 and initially results were disappointing but a lot of work saw it improving a David Leslie took a sixth place at Silverstone at the end of June. Later in the year an understandably frustrated Leslie left to drive a Ralt RT3 which stopped any further progress.
1983
1984
1985
The 853 was a new design for the new flat-bottomed regulations and it used a logical development of the tub of the previous year’s 843. The chassis used aluminium sheets over honeycomb bulkheads to give a combination of strength and rigidity. At the rear there was a tubular steel frame that acted as an engine bay. The front suspension employed pushrods to operate the inboard springs and Koni dampers. At the rear rockers, hanging from sandwich plates, operate the dampers which were installed on top of the gearbox, lower wishbones take care of the bottom location. Magnesium uprights were fitted all round, also made of magnesium was the steering rack. The fuel and oil tanks sit between the driver and engine with an oil cooler in the left hand sidepod.
Unfortunately the two Finns who drove the cars early season weren’t very good and their frequent offs soon exhausted their budgets. Paul Jackson carried out a lot of mid-season testing which made a big difference and at the end of the year Cor Euser took pole and fourth place at Zandvoort showing what might have been.
1986
The 863 looked very different to the 853 but it was still considered to be an evolutionary design. Now the chassis was composed of an aluminium honeycomb with four cast magnesium bulkheads in the footwell and the dash area which was claimed to give a “massive increase in torsional rigidity” as well as increased driver safety. Pushrod suspension was fitted front and rear operating Koni gas-filled dampers. The bodywork and rear wing were totally redesigned to give the highest levels of downforce with the flat bottom now fitted.
1987
The engine/rear suspension of the 873.
The 873 rear wing and diffuser.
Yet another evolutionary design, the major change was a switch to a Staffs Silent Gear gearbox in the interests of increased torsional rigidity, reduced friction and more compact size. The dampers were now located either side of the gearbox instead of on top to allow a flatter engine cover to be fitted. Newly fabricated uprights and revised rear suspension were also employed. A narrower nose was fitted to increase the front wing area. The whole car was reckoned to be 20kgs lighter than the 863.
Despite all the work that went into the new design the 873 never appeared at the races.
Drivers
John Robinson came up with a fresh design for the 833 and together with his three sons they produced a very effective package despite running on a very small budget. Suspension was based on that of the earlier cars although all new and continued to use the near-horizontal rear springs mounted above the gearbox. The new tub was built from honeycomb and was much narrower than that of the 823 in order to give the maximum venturi size. Most importantly the whole car underwent a substantial weight reduction to put it right on the minimum limit. One unique feature for F3 was that a Quaife differential was used in the transmission.
The car showed promise from the start although it lacked development due to financial constraints. Fresh sponsorship midway through the year allowed some testing and development and Leslie put the car on the front row at Silverstone three times, his best finish was a third at Oulton Park in September. In addition three fourth spots gave Leslie seventh in the British championship.
The 843 scored Magnum’s only F3 win when Bo Martinsson won twice including a first at Anderstorp. Sadly he was then thrown out of the Swedish championship for failing to present his car at scrutineering. The car itself was a modified and generally tidied up 833. Cor Euser drove the works car in the UK and despite trying hard his only result was a sixth at Magnum’s favourite circuit, Silverstone.
1981
1982
823
David Leslie.
1983
833
Cor Euser, David Leslie.
1984
843
Cor Euser, Bo Martinsson.
833
Mikael “Micko” Nordlander.
1985
853
Cor Euser, Paul Jackson, Jari Koiranen, Reima Soderman.
1986
853
Mark Goddard, Don Hardman.
863
Fulton Haight.
1987
Maco
Maco
Maco cars were the brainchild of Ernst Maring who was a quite successful F2 and F3 driver in his own right. Maco began by producing Super Vee cars and then with the change in F3 regulations in 1971 Maring decided to enter this class of racing. For the next few years Maco produced a succession of often attractive, competitive cars. They mostly raced in the German Championship with the occasional foray to races like Monaco and Maring seemed to have a knack for landing sponsorship deals that meant they were well financed. They never quite made that final breakthrough and eventually as other marques came up Maco departed the scene.
1971
Appearing right at the end of the 1971 season, the Maco 371 was raced at the Nurburgring in October by Ernst Maring himself.
1972
Two 372s were built for 1972 and raced by Maring and Felix Martin, results were disappointing when up against the more usual March/GRD/Brabhams etc. of the the other runners, reliability was also a problem and there were a number of retirements.
1973
Once again several cars (at least 4) were constructed for use in the German F3 rounds, they had several reasonable results including a win at Niederstetten.
1974
The Maco 374 apparently resembled a GRD and was powered initially by a Nova-Ford twin-cam unit. Ernst Maring himself was the main driver and managed a few promising outings.
1975
At the beginning of the season the more individually styled 375 was powered by a Nova-Ford twin-cam unit but the switch to Toyota power was soon made although occasionally a BMW engine was used. Maring himself was the most successful Maco driver with with 2nd places at the Nurburgring, Ulm and three times at Hockenheim.
1976
The 376 was a tidied up version of the 375 and results weren’t so easy to come by as manufacturers like Ralt and March began to dominate. Best finishes were a second place each at the Nurburgring for Maring and Korten although a few other top 6 places were achieved.
1977
The 1977 car was a cosmetically enhanced version of the 376, lower engine cover, ducted radiators etc. Results were reasonable with Niggemeier and Korten going well in the German championship with Korten getting a 2nd and 3rd as well as a 4th in the European Championship round at the Nurburgring. For this year the change was made to the improving BMW engine.
1978
Although a new car was produced for 1978 results for the 378 weren’t good, Korten managed a 5th in heat in a Euro round at Zolder. For this year Maco seemed to have reverted to Toyota power.
1979
For 1979 Ernst Maring returned to the driving seat in the Toyota powered 379 and managed 4th place in the German Championship. Best result of the season was probably the 6th place finish in the final round of the European Championship at Kassel-Calden in October.
1980
Ernst Maring took part in the last few 1980 races in the new 381 winning a non-championship race at Hockenheim amongst a very average field. Into 1981 the car was very much a midfield runner, the only highlight being a seventh at Siegerland in a German Championship event. The 381 would seem to be Maco’s swansong in F3 racing.
Drivers
1971
371
Ernst Maring.
1972
372
Ernst Maring, Felix Martin.
371
Paul Fischer.
1973 373
Bernd Heuer, Ernst Maring, Felix Martin, Erhard Miltz.
1974 374
Bernd Heuer, Ernst Maring, Erhard Miltz.
1975
374
Bernd Heuer, Thomas von Löwis, Erhard Miltz
375
Giorgio Francia, Dieter Kern, Jürgen Krüger, Sommer von Löwis, Manfred Möhr, Ernst Maring, H. Schechenge, Marc Surer.
1976
376
Jochen Dauer, Dieter Kern, Manfred Leppke, Kennerth Persson, Peter Wisskirchen.
375
Bernd Heuer, Roland Saier.
1977
376B
Dieter Kern, Michael Korten.
376
Rudi Niggemeier.
1978
378
Michael Korten.
376
Frank Jelenski.
1979 379
Ernst Maring.
1980
381
Ernst Maring.
378
Thomas Holert.
377
Karl-Heinz Soll.
375
Peter Rössler.
?
Klaus Hansert, Willi Hüsgen.
1981
381
Helmut Bross, Lothar Büchler, Miguel Muniz-Rizo, Marcus Simeon, Dieter Strietzel, Jan Thoelke.
?
Klaus Hansert, Willi Hüsgen, Georg Lorenz.
1982
381
Jürgen Kurze.
?
Willi Hüsgen.
1983 ?
Willi Hüsgen.
1984 ?
Klaus Lepp.
1984
381
Peter Rössler.
?
Klaus Lepp.
1984 ?
Klaus Lepp.
