1978 MALLOCK MK20

 

CURRENTLEY BEING RESTORED

 

The remarkable story of the Mallock family in motor sport can be traced all the way back to 1936 when Major Arthur Mallock first started building competition specials based on Austin 7s. As soon as the Second World War finished, Arthur was one of the first people to start competing in trials, sprints and races.

Having continued using Austin 7 specials into the 1950s, in 1958 he designed and built his first chassis, the Mallock U2 Mk1. Soon, fellow competitors asked him to build chassis for them and so the Mallock dynasty was created.

In 1960, the Mk2 became the first proper production car, with 10 examples built for Formula Junior, the 1172 Formula and sports-car racing. Everything was done from the garages at Arthur's home in Roade and through the 1960s the fame of Mallocks grew. Arthur's cars were always simple, light and very fast, yet some of his engineering thinking broke new ground and the affordability of cars meant that ordinary people could afford to go racing. No longer was motor racing the sole preserve of the wealthy.

The creation of the Clubman formula in 1965 was perfect for Arthur and his cars, for his rapid front-engined cars were well suited to the new category and countless race wins and championship victories followed. Into the 1970s, Arthur's sons Ray and Richard joined him on the track and they continued winning.

The 1970s also marked Mallock's expansion into single-seaters, with cars for Formula Ford 1600, Formula 3 and Formula Atlantic. Meanwhile, Ray's racing career went from strength to strength as he raced single-seaters and then sports cars at the highest level, including at Le Mans.