13 Facts About Len Bailey

Leonard Bailey was a British automobile designer.

Leonard Len Bailey became an apprentice at Austin at Longbridge in 1942 which at that time were building Short Stirlings for the Royal Air Force of World War II.

Len Bailey moved to the US and by mid 1956 was working at American Motors working on that company's first in-house V8 after a deal to buy Packard V8 became too expensive.

Len Bailey worked on prototypes under him including the development of Ford turbine cars and he was part of the design team that built a two-seat Ford Mustang I in 1962.

Eric Broadley was initially responsible for the overall design, but Len Bailey later took care of the chassis reengineering it from Aluminum to Steel for more durability in the 24-hour Race.

Len Bailey redesigned the two GT40s entered by John Wyer of JW Automotive for the manufacturer's championship.

Len Bailey was charged by Ford Europe to create a car for this championship resulting in the Ford P68 of 1968 redesigned to the P69 for 1969 built and run by Alan Mann Racing.

Len Bailey then began a freelance career although Ford work was a large part of it.

Len Bailey worked with Gardner to develop the ex-Bud Moore 1969 Trans-Am Boss 302 Mustang for an assault on Group 2 in the 1970 British Saloon Car Championship.

In 1970 Len Bailey had set up his own design office at Gomm Metal Developments in Woking.

Len Bailey followed this with more design work for JW Automotive, including the Cosworth DFV powered Gulf Mirage M6 sports car for the 1972 and 1973 World Sportscar Championship seasons.

Frank Williams came calling in 1971 and Len Bailey drew the underperforming Politoys Ford FX3 of 1972 and the Iso Rivolta Ford FX3B of 1973.

Len Bailey continued to do consultancy work throughout the 1970s and 1980s.