John Crosthwaite was an English race car designer and engineer, active in both the United Kingdom and the United States.
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35 Facts About John Crosthwaite
2.
John Crosthwaite designed and built cars for Formula Junior and the 1962 and 1963 Indianapolis 500.
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3.
John Crosthwaite was born at Thornaby Hall, Thornaby-on-Tees, Yorkshire on 9 October 1925.
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4.
John Crosthwaite was godson to Harold Macmillan, a family friend and local MP.
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5.
John Crosthwaite had a fascination with cars, motorbikes and aeroplanes from an early age.
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6.
John Crosthwaite was raised by his mother and his oldest sister Barbara.
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7.
John Crosthwaite continued to volunteer for other services until AV Roe finally released him in 1943 to join the Royal Marines.
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8.
John Crosthwaite left to join the police force for a short period but he could not settle.
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9.
John Crosthwaite was offered a job in Malaya and as an adventure decided to travel overland.
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10.
John Crosthwaite bought a 1944 Canadian Mercury V8 estate ex War Dept.
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12.
John Crosthwaite did the rounds of the manufacturers to find suitable engines and decided on a Coventry Climax for low weight and small size, and a Connaught engine for power and compactness.
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13.
John Crosthwaite found the people at Coventry Climax keen to develop their engine and increase bhp.
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14.
John Crosthwaite was therefore in at the beginning of and influenced by the multi-cylinder rear-engined revolution in motor racing.
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15.
John Crosthwaite did not want to work in saloon car racing so he thanked Tommy and decided to move on.
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16.
John Crosthwaite worked in the Experimental Department at Lotus Engineering and helped develop and refine the Lotus 11 and Type 14 Elite.
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17.
John Crosthwaite acted as Chapman's senior racing mechanic and they competed all over the UK, as well as Le Mans, Imola and Monza.
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18.
John Crosthwaite worked alongside Graham Hill, then a gearbox mechanic and Mike Costin, the 'Cos' in Cosworth.
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19.
Colin Chapman asked if John Crosthwaite would go to the US with Team Lotus as he needed a senior mechanic to prepare the Lotus cars for the Sebring 12-hour race in March 1957.
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20.
John Crosthwaite found a lot of work successfully preparing Coopers and Lotus cars for races in California and Nevada.
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21.
John Crosthwaite attended race meetings to modify and fine tune the cars for races at Pomona, Riverside, Palm Springs, Santa Barbara, San Diego, Torrey Pines and Laguna Seca.
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22.
Early in 1959 racing driver John Biehl introduced Crosthwaite to anglophile and race car enthusiast Buddy Hull.
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23.
Sponsors were very pleased with the publicity generated that year so for the 1963 Indianapolis 500 John Crosthwaite produced the innovative Harvey Aluminium Special 'roller skate car' with the then pioneering smaller profile and wide racing tyres and wheels.
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24.
John Crosthwaite wanted to work with Ford as they were by far the best engines and they were working on a real race engine, not a modified stock.
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25.
Holman Moody were keen for John Crosthwaite to start straight away so they could quote a price for Ford.
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26.
John Crosthwaite drew up a chassis using some of the body panels as stressed members, semi-monocoque with the possibility of using a windscreen and enclosed cockpit.
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28.
John Crosthwaite worked with legends Graham Hill and Jackie Stewart during some of BRM's best years.
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29.
Ray Wiggin at Reliant Motor Company was looking for a chassis specialist and John Crosthwaite moved there in January 1966 initially as a consultant to modify the SE4 Scimitar GT Coupe chassis and suspension so improving the ride and handling.
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30.
John Crosthwaite was asked to install Ford's new V6 in place of the old straight 6-cylinder engine in the SE4a and improve the handling and road holding of the Turkish made Anadol.
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31.
When designing the chassis John Crosthwaite worked closely with Ogle body stylist Peter Bailey to modify and refine the prototype.
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32.
John Crosthwaite was influenced by his interests as he was very keen on watersports, including scuba diving, water skiing and windsurfing.
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33.
John Crosthwaite was a member of the Car and General Technical Board for the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders from 1968 to 1974 and a member of the British Racing Drivers Club from 1956 until 1983.
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34.
John Crosthwaite retired to the South Coast of England in the late 1980s.
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35.
John Crosthwaite died on 5 September 2010 while on holiday in Tralee, Eire.
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