NOTICE OF DEATH - TOM BARNARD (1930 - 2024)
It is with great regret that we have to inform Members of the death of Tom Barnard very peacefully last Thursday 18 July. He was 93 years of age and had been suffering from the effects of dementia for some time.
Born in South Africa, Tom was educated at Eton College before a period of National Service with the Coldstream Guards during which time he was involved in providing guard duties for, amongst other places, Windsor Castle and the Tower of London. Having failed to obtain a place to read engineering at Cambridge University, Tom joined Hambros Bank in the City of London but soon concluded that there were more than enough members of the Hambro family to fill all the main positions in the bank, so he left in search of other opportunities. An engineering company, Elm Works, located near Wimbledon Stadium and owned by a cousin provided the initial answer and was followed in short order by Tom becoming managing director of William Firth Engineering at Sheerness Dockyard.
Tom’s introduction to motor racing came as a result of joining the British Automobile Racing Club and participating in first a track day and then a handicap race at Goodwood in which Tom finished fifth at the wheel of an Alfa Romeo 1750. One day, while sitting on the grass at Lasham airfield awaiting his turn in a glider, Tom found himself sitting next to Mike Hawthorn, with whom a deal was done to acquire one of the Riley sports cars with which the future F1 World Champion had enjoyed considerable success at Goodwood and elsewhere in 1951.
Looking at the possibility of pursuing a motor racing career which would be compatible with his day job at the engineering company, Tom’s thoughts turned towards the Lotus cars of Colin Chapman. What passed for the Lotus production line was somewhat erratic and so, impatient to have a Lotus product as soon as possible Tom purchased a Mk 6 although by the beginning of 1955 this forerunner of the Lotus Seven/Caterham had become obsolete against the aerodynamic Lotus Mk VIII and Mk IX.
Tom joined forces with Noel Cunningham-Reid (Lister-Bristol) and Dimitri Kasterine (Lotus-Climax Mk IX) to form the Six Mile Stable, named after the village of Six Mile Bottom near Snetterton. The cars ran in a distinctive livery of black with a wide white stripe from front to rear. Despite its Coventry-Climax engine, the Mk VI was relatively uncompetitive although Tom did win a Peterborough Motor Club handicap race at Silverstone and placed second to a Mk IX in an Aston Martin Owners’ Club race at Oulton Park. Tom’s Mk IX was delivered and ready to race in time for the Boxing Day Brands Hatch meeting in 1954, Tom finishing his race fourth in the Lex Trophy for sports cars up to 1200 cc behind only such luminaries as winner Colin Chapman himself, and the Cooper T39 Manx-tails of Ivor Bueb and Tony Marsh.
Unable to obtain one of the new Lotus Elevens, Tom persevered with the Mk IX through 1956 with best results of a couple of second places at Brands Hatch and a third place at Goodwood. He ended the year competing in some ‘closed car’ races with a Ford Zephyr Six. The Mk IX was replaced by an Eleven for 1967 with which Tom enjoyed numerous strong results. Going into the final round of the Autosport sports car championship, a three-hour race at Snetterton, Tom was one of only two drivers who had scored points in every preceding round and had an outside chance of winning the championship. In the end driving solo he finished the race sixth overall and second in the up to 1500 cc class to the ‘Yellow Peril’ ex-Graham Hill Lotus Eleven of Ian Walker. This result sufficiently impressed Archie Scott-Brown and Jack Fairman that they promptly proposed and seconded Tom for BRDC Membership!
Also impressed by Tom’s efforts during 1957 had been Frank Nichols, founder of Elva Cars, who offered Tom a place in the factory team for 1958 in an Elva Courier alongside Peter Gammon. Within a week of accepting the Elva offer, Tom had a call from Colin Chapman offering him a Lotus Elite for the 1958 Autosport Championship which, being the man of his word that he was, Tom had to turn down. After a season of disappointment with the Elva in 1958 and affected by the death of Archie Scott-Brown and others during the year, Tom retired from the cockpit.
Tom retained his interest in motor racing and in 1965 used his engineering skills and resources to create the Barnard Formula Six, a half-size racing car. Tom’s concept was to create a car which could be used by anyone from eight years old to 80 and it caught on. In all some 400 Formula Six cars were manufactured and supplied to Hollywood stars, royalty and many people in motor racing including Colin Chapman who repaid his old customer by acquiring one for his son Clive. To encourage customers to compete with the cars, Tom set up the Junior Racing Car Club.
Formula Six was followed by a boat-building business which thrived for a time before Tom started a business restoring classic cars, in particular early post-war Aston Martins. In 1992 Tom was approached by Ken Tyrrell and Innes Ireland to help them unravel the Silverstone Motor Group deal which the then BRDC Board had entered into, but which had met with considerable opposition from a significant proportion of the Club’s membership. One job led to another and another and Tom soon became a director of the various BRDC and Silverstone companies. Although his time on the Club’s Board was relatively short because of unhappiness with the way in which the Board was run, Tom retained an involvement with the BRDC as development adviser. Some of his ideas, although shelved or ignored at the time, can be seen to be the origins of the way in which the Silverstone business has developed in recent years to the benefit of not only the BRDC but also British motor racing as a whole.
Tom retired from his working relationship with the BRDC and Silverstone in 1995 with the intention of taking it easy. However, he was approached by a number of motor sport venues to assist with various projects ranging from Santa Pod Drag Strip, Abu Dhabi, Estoril, Aqaba in Jordan, Mondello Park, Cyprus, Singapore, Mallory Park and Viking Motor Park in Sweden. Not all went through to completion, but their scope is testimony to the high regard in which Tom came to be held both in the UK and around the world.
It is some years since Tom withdrew from his involvement with the running of the BRDC and its businesses but the role which he played when the Club was going through some choppy waters should never be forgotten. To the end he remained a very proud Member. His death severs another link to the motor racing world of the 1950s. The BRDC extends its deepest condolences to Jennie, Tom’s partner of 40 years, his sons Thomas and Patrick, stepson Alexander and his grandsons and granddaughter and great-grandsons.
