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Modus
Part of Teddy Savory’s group of companies, Modus Developments was a building company, the Modus name was adopted for the racing team that was formed in 1973 and was yet another constructor from Norfolk to join Lotus, GRD, Argo and Van Diemen. Initially Modus had simply been a racing team, running Tony Brise in F Atlantic but when designer Jo Marquart joined from GRD it allowed the team to become a constructor. The first Modus single seater (they also designed sports cars) was the F3 M1 produced in early 1974 and cars for F2, F5000, F Atlantic, Super Vee and Super Renault would also follow, inevitably F1 was mentioned as the ultimate goal. However Modus Developments was not prospering financially and subsequently collapsed and consequently in November 1976 the racing team was also closed down. Manufacturing rights were sold to Roger Andreason but no more cars were built.
1974
Based on a conventional monocoque with wishbone suspension all round the M1 was instantly recognisable with its unusual combination of straight lines and curves. Initially Ford twin-cam engines were used, mostly from Neil Brown, Holbay or Nova but eventually most became Toyota Novamotor powered. Danny Sullivan took the first Modus F3 win at Thruxton and Tony Brise took a very good second place at Monaco.
1975
The major change for 1975 was the introduction of a narrow track suspension and a smoother body work. The car soon gained a reputation for good handling on all types of tracks and conditions except in the damp when it became very nervous to drive. Eddie Cheever took 4 wins in his car, 2 at Silverstone and 2 at Hockenheim and Danny Sullivan had 3 victories at Silverstone, Cadwell and Oulton, whilst Freddy Kottulinsky won at the Nurburgring in his BMW powered version.
1976
Initially there were no real changes to the M1 for 1976 but following problems in comparison with other cars the lower rear suspension was converted from wishbone to twin parallel links at the end of July which helped but by then it was too late and at the end of the season Modus closed down. The only major win came from Brett Riley at Silverstone, powered unusually by a Neil Brown tuned Triumph engine, although only three cars finished.
Drivers
1974 Bob Arnott, Tony Brise, Julio Caio, Reudi Gigax, Ivor Goodwin, Peter Scharmann.
1975 Axel Arens, Tim Brise, Eddie Cheever, Pete Clark, Hans Hargarten, Freddy Kottulinsky, Gernot Lamby, Patrick Neve, Gunnar Nordström, Dick Parsons, Fritz Stehlin, Danny Sullivan.
1976 Daniele Albertin, Giovanni Albertin, Paolo Bozzetto, Paulo Gomes, John Lain, Conny Ljungfeldt, Jac Nelleman, Massimo Perazza, Brett Riley, Rudolf Röhnert, Jean-Louis Schlesser, Willi Siller, Robert Werl, Mike Young, Renzo Zorzi.