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Reg Parnell

Reg Parnell
Born (1911-07-02)2 July 1911
Derby, Derbyshire, England
Died 7 January 1964(1964-01-07) (aged 52)
Derby, Derbyshire, England
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality United Kingdom British
Active years 19501952, 1954
Teams Alfa Romeo, BRM, non-works Ferrari, non-works Maserati, non-works Cooper
Entries 7 (6 starts)
Championships 0
Wins 0
Podiums 1
Career points 9
Pole positions 0
Fastest laps 0
First entry 1950 British Grand Prix
Last entry 1954 British Grand Prix

Reginald "Reg" Parnell (2 July 1911 – 7 January 1964) was a racing driver and team manager from Derby, England. He participated in seven Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, achieving one podium, and scoring a total of nine championship points.

Parnell, as both a driver and a team manager, had a considerable influence on post-war British motorsport until his premature death in 1964. Parnell raced at Brooklands and was banned following an accident with Kay Petre which ended her racing career. Before the war he bought up racing cars. Once the hostilities had ceased he sold them to form the basis of post-war racing entries. He later raced a whole host of cars before turning to management and taking Aston Martin into Formula 1. Parnell went on to run the Yeoman Credit Racing team with the help of his son Tim who later raced in Formula 1 himself.

Parnell came from a family which ran a garage business in Derby. In 1933, he was a spectator when Donington Park held its first motor race, and he decided to try the sport. By 1935, he bought an old 2-litre Bugatti single-seater for just £25. It broke its rear axle in the paddock at its first meeting, but buying spare parts for the Bugatti was too expensive, so it was replaced with a MG Magnette K3. Parnell had secured wins at both Brooklands and Donington Park, but in 1937 he lost his licence following a practice accident for the 500 Mile race, at Brooklands. He misjudged an overtaking move on Kay Petre, when he lost control of the MG, crashing into her Austin 7 from behind, causing it to roll. She crashed badly and was seriously injured. She never raced competitively again. Although she put the incident down to ‘bad luck’, the RAC revoked Parnell’s racing license for two years. This meant that he was unable to race.

The ban meant in effect that, during 1938, Parnell found himself unable to race his cars, he soon discovered that lending the cars to other drivers was an excellent way of being involved in racing. His later abilities as a team manager were probably developed during this period. With his licence restored in 1939, Parnell was back with 4.9-litre Bugatti-engined single-seater, known as the BHW. He was particularly successful with this BHW at Donington Park. Meanwhile, he started to construct his own car for voiturette (the pre-war version of Formula Two), known as the Challenger, however with the outbreak of World War II, the best years of his career were wasted.


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