Len Terry
| Len Terry | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
February 11, 1924 Hackney, Greater London, UK |
| Died | August 25, 2014 (aged 90) |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Motorsport engineer and designer |
| Years active | 1955–1993 |
| Known for |
Formula One designer. (Lotus, BRM, Eagle) |
| Notable work | Lotus 38, Eagle Mk1, Lotus 33 |
Leonard E. Terry (11 February 1924 – 25 August 2014) was an English racing car designer and engineer, known for his work with Lotus, BRM and Eagle. He also designed chassis for many other teams, including ERA and Aston Martin as well as producing his own car with which he competed himself.
Terry left school at 14, with few qualifications, but with ambitions to become a designer and worked for a theatrical agency as an office-boy. Quickly promoted, after his colleagues were called up for military service, he produced promotional material for his company's clients. In 1943, Terry enlisted in the RAF where he served as an instrument maker.
After completing military service, Terry trained as a draughtsman and this led to him being employed by a contract design company who seconded him to Aston Martin, where he worked on the DB2/4. In 1955, he began to race a one-off special, the JVT and subsequently designed his own car, which he named the Terrier. He worked briefly for ERA before joining Lotus in 1958, where he worked on revisions to the 7, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17 and Elite models. His Terrier sports car was not successful, but he teamed up with future Formula One engine builder, Brian Hart for the MkII version. In 1959, Hart won 18 races, out of 21 entered, regularly beating the Lotus entries and creating a demand for customer cars. This led to Terry being sacked by Lotus. At this time, Terry also supplied drawings for the Moorland Special which was purchased by the Gemini team and formed the basis of their Mk1 Formula Junior car.
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