🏁 Slough Motorsport Heritage

A remarkable hub of racing innovation in the 1960s–1970s

Lola Cars – Slough Trading Estate

1963–late 1960s

• Built the Lola Mk6, the direct inspiration for the Ford GT40
• Created the legendary Lola T70, dominant in CanAm racing
• Factory remembered locally as being beneath the old bowling alley

JW Automotive Engineering (JWAE)

mid‑1960s–mid‑1970s – Slough Trading Estate

• Led by John Wyer, former Aston Martin team manager
• Refined the Ford GT40, contributing to Le Mans wins in 1968 & 1969
• Re‑engineered the Porsche 917K, transforming it into a championship winner
• Won Le Mans 1975 with the Gulf‑Mirage GR8

Ford Advanced Vehicles (1964–1969) – Slough

1963–1969

Ford GT40 Programme
One of the most celebrated racing cars in history,
the Ford GT40, was built on the Slough Trading Estate.
The Slough‑built GT40s achieved an unprecedented 
four consecutive victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans (1966–1969),

• Early GT40 chassis and development carried out in Slough
• Engineering partnership between Lola Cars and JWAE
• Resulted in four consecutive Le Mans victories (1966–69)
  
  (An Original 1966 Ford GT40 was recently sold for over $11 Million!)

McLaren Racing – Poyle / Colnbrook

1965–1970s

• Bruce McLaren moved the team to Poyle in 1965
• Early F1, F2 and CanAm cars built here
• Foundation years leading to the 1976 F1 Drivers’ Championship
  

Frank Williams Racing Cars - Cippenham

• Location: Bath Road, Cippenham, Slough
• Years active: 1968–1971
• Activities: Building, preparing, and running Formula 2 and early
  Formula 1 cars for Piers Courage and Henri Pescarolo
• Significance: This was the first true home of Frank Williams Racing Cars
  and the birthplace of the modern Williams F1 team.

Team Surtees – Slough Trading Estate

1969–early 1970s

• Founded by John Surtees, 1964 F1 World Champion
• Early TS5 production and team operations based in Slough
• Entered Formula One in 1970

Specialised Mouldings – Colnbrook

1960s–1970s

• Major supplier of composite bodywork to F1, F2, F3 and sports‑prototype teams
• Worked with McLaren, Surtees and many privateers

Hesketh Racing (Engineering Support) – Colnbrook

early–mid 1970s

• Colnbrook engineering firms produced components for the Hesketh 308
• Supported James Hunt’s early F1 machinery

Peerless GT – Slough

1958–early 1960s

• Built in Slough and raced at Le Mans 1958, finishing 16th and winning its class
• Early example of Slough’s motorsport engineering talent
  

Also connected to the Slough Area:

BRM, Cooper Cars, Honda Racing, and Broadspeed.

A Small Area with a Big Legacy

From GT40s to Porsche 917s, from McLaren’s early years to Surtees’ F1 debut, the industrial estates of Slough, Poyle and Colnbrook quietly shaped some of the most iconic machines in motorsport history.


There is so much to do and find out about Slough at Slough u3a
Other local information:
Why Data Centres are important for Slough
See the iconic products "made in Slough"
Interesting People from Slough Area
See quotes about Slough here.
Many more pages can be found here

Information provided by Artificial Intelligence.
Please contact Webmaster@sloughu3a.com to report errors or omissions
Thanks to the Slough u3a Local History Group for their valuable help compiling this page.