William Noble Alexander ‘Bill’ Dryden
Born 13 January 1943
Died 15 November 2025
It is with great regret that we advise Members of the death of Life Member Bill Dryden. Originally elected to BRDC Membership in 1977 after a successful career in GT, Sports and Saloon Car racing, Bill had been suffering from cancer since being diagnosed earlier this year. In anticipation of his death, Bill prepared the following obituary which is presented in his own words with only minimal tweaking.
“My very first interest in motor sport was at the Scottish Motor Show as a 15-year-old. I was allowed to sit in the back seat of a new Aston Martin DB Mk III, which Grand Prix driver Peter Collins was demonstrating for the company that my father worked for who were Aston Martin distributors.
I first participated in motor sport after leaving school in 1960, competing in auto tests and sprints in a Fiat 500. That was replaced by an MG Midget and in addition to the sprints and tests I competed in a few road rallies. This culminated in being able to drive a Vauxhall VX4/90 in the International Scottish Rally in 1963, finishing 16th. The next year driving the works Vauxhall VX4/90 I managed 2nd in class and 12th overall.
I then turned to circuit racing with my first race being at Charterhall in a VX4/90. The race was won by Jackie Stewart in an E-Type Jaguar! I then met Nicoll Cuthbert through business and he bought a Lotus Elan 26R to race at Ingliston but his wife did not approve of him racing. He then asked me to drive it for him and the car completed 20 events in 1965 with 2 x 1sts, 4 x 2nds, 5 x 3rds.
In 1966 a nearly new Lotus Elan S2 was purchased by Nicoll. The first race was at Croft where I managed to win my class and was second overall. This was followed by races at nearly all the English circuits with eight more wins, two seconds and four thirds. In August of 1966 David Murray of Ecurie Ecosse asked me to test drive his 2.5 litre Cooper-based formule libre single-seater as its usual driver, Bill Stein, had been seriously injured at Brands Hatch in July. I went on to drive it for the remainder of the season and had a 2nd and 4th place at Ingliston and two retirements.
In 1967 Nicoll Cuthbert purchased a new Ford GT40 which he asked Eric Liddell to drive with the intention of entering the Elan and the GT40 in the RAC Autosport Group 4 British Championship. The first race was an international event at Snetterton on Easter Friday where the GT40 was involved in a multiple shunt at the first corner. However, the Elan finished first in its class giving me my first international win. On Easter Monday the next event was at Silverstone where the GT40 non-started and the Elan’s throttle cable unfortunately broke and thus retired. Across the remainder of the season in the Elan I managed eight firsts and held the class laps records at Silverstone, Snetterton, Brands Hatch GP, Ingliston and Croft thus winning the Sheila Whyte Trophy GT Championship. In 1967, I drove the Ecurie Ecosse Imp F3 with one win at Ingliston. Additionally that year, I was invited to drive in the Formula Vee Championship as a guest driver winning the British finale at Ingliston from Gerry Birrell, Nick Brittan, Brian Muir etc. The owner was so elated with the win that he asked me to drive for the following weekend at Thruxton. I declined as I was getting married that day!
The Elan was now outdated by the new Chevron B8 and the Lotus 47, so Nicoll sold the car. I was then asked to drive a Braham BT21A for the 1968 season with 21 events at Ingliston, Croft and various hill climbs, managing eight wins, five seconds and one third. This included winning the King Hussain Trophy with a hat trick of wins at Ingliston, one being in an ex works Honda S800.
In 1969 John Romanes, the owner of Ingliston, asked me to drive his Lotus 35 fitted with a Martin 2.5 V8 engine which sadly for me turned left on a straight under an Armco barrier due to suspension failure. The only win this year came in the Honda at Ingliston beating John Gott in his Healey 3000.
In 1970, I asked my employer SMT Sales & Service if I could build and race a Vauxhall Viva GT to which they agreed. The car was prepared with parts from Bill Blydenstein and assembled at SMT Perth by Walter Gray. There were no wins in the first year as it was a steep learning curve with a new car.
In 1971, I was one of the founding directors of Dealer Team Vauxhall. A few months later, I went on to drive for the team and to replace Gerry Marshall in ‘Old Nail’ at four meetings while he drove the new car named ‘Baby Bertha’. Unfortunately, the car would only run on three cylinders for the first three meetings. The best result came at Mondello Park with Gerry winning the overall race and me winning the 2.5 litre class in Old Nail.
Over the next nine years and various evolutions of SMT Vauxhalls, I achieved four Scottish Saloon Car Championships which included 44 wins at Ingliston alone. A number of other wins were achieved at Knockhill, Croft and occasionally further south. Overall, from 1963 until retiring in 1979, a total of 128 race wins were achieved. I can recall that I drove approximately 33 different cars none of which I ever owned but I was lucky enough to be asked to drive. It was in 1977 that I became a very proud Member of the BRDC.
A proud achievement was in 1974 finishing second to Mick Hill’s 5 Litre Boss Capri at Thruxton which resulted in an invitation to race in the Super Stock Class of the European Championship for Group 7 Sports Cars at the Nürburgring. The circuit was the ultimate test for both me as a driver and the car’s durability. I am happy to say that we both passed that test achieving a fantastic second in class with a fastest lap time of 8 mins 50 secs on a drying track. We finished behind the works BMW 3.0 Batmobile driven by Walter Brun. There were some big names also in the same race, none bigger than the F1 World Champion, Emerson Fittipaldi.
In 1976, a completely new car was built by Walter Gray with huge help from Roy Cooke who was in the Engineering Department of Vauxhall and in charge of competition vehicles. This was based on Chevron running gear and fitted with a Hewland FT200 gearbox as a transaxle.
Alongside my own racing achievements, I served as Chairman of the Scottish Motor Racing Club for five years. SMT sponsored Allan McNish and Peter Dumbreck in Formula Vauxhall Lotus. SMT also produced cars for British Rally Champion Jimmy McRae, who went on to drive for DTV. They also sponsored Jimmy’s son Colin in a Vauxhall Nova in production saloons, Colin eventually becoming World Champion before his untimely death in a helicopter crash.
When I stopped racing in 1979, I found that I had a void at weekends which I filled with Golf. As a member of Luffness New and Archerfield, I managed to bring my handicap down to a respectable 9. I was very lucky to live in Scottish Golf Heaven with 13 championship courses on my doorstep, notably. I also retained my interest in motor cycles, which started with a Norton 850 Commando which I bought new in the 1970s. This was superseded by various 1000 cc Yamahas and a unique Yamaha GTS model which pioneered the swinging arm suspension in place of front forks.
A great sadness occurred when I lost my wife Sheana to cancer in 2006. My daughter Fleur, son Mark and partner Jan have been a great support for me, as have my three grandchildren Sophie, Baillie and Abby.”
The BRDC extends its most sincere condolences to Bill’s family and friends on their loss. Bill’s funeral will take place at 2.00pm at Mortonhall Crematorium, Edinburgh EH16 6TX on Monday 1st December. This will be followed by a gathering at Prestonfield House, Edinburgh EH16 5UT and BRDC Members are welcome to attend. For anybody who cannot attend the funeral but would like to stream the service, please contact the Club Office and we will introduce you to Bill’s son who will supply you with the link.