The Kieft Formula One car was one of the historic racing cars featured at the "Yass Celebration of Heritage Motoring" in Banjo Paterson Park on Saturday March 31st 2007.                                                        

        

Yass Antique Motor Club member Greg Snape, restored and races the car for its UK owner Bill Morris. The car has an incredibly interesting history, and is one of the greatest 'what ifs' in motor sport. The Kieft Formula 1 car must hold the record for the longest build time of any racing car. It was commenced in 1953 and was completed and first raced, 49 years later, in 2002!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the late 1930's Cyril Kieft was a high-flyer in the British steel industry. He was still only in his twenties when he was running one of the world's largest steel mills. After World War II, the British government nationalised the steel industry and Cyril resigned. He had his own forging and machining companies, his clients included Rolls-Royce.

 

Cyril was a car racing enthusiast, he once entered a hill climb,  but one of his children came up to him at the start and said, "Mummy says, please be careful." He completed his run, with caution, and hung up his helmet. With the steel industry under government control, Cyril needed a challenge and decided to make Formula 3 racing cars. Unlike most of the people making their way in postwar British motorsport, he was a man on equal terms with heads of British industry and he also knew the value of publicity.

 

By 1951, Stirling Moss was a Kieft F3 works driver and also a director of Kieft Cars. The Kieft 500cc cars provided the dominant Cooper's biggest headache and they won more than 130 races largely thanks to Don Parker, who had turned 40 before he even saw a motor race.  Parker won nearly 120 races in Kieft cars, was winner of the British F3 Championship in 1952 and 1953, and missed the hat-trick in the controversial 1954 season by half a point.  

 

During 1952, Kieft had, with Cooper, HWM and Connaught, persuaded Coventry Climax to build an engine for the new 2.5-litre Formula One. The notion tickled the fancy of those at Climax, many of whom had racing in their blood, so was developed the FPE (Fire Pump Engine, an in-house joke) which was soon dubbed the 'Godiva'.

 

During the later part of 1953 Kieft had almost completed the Gordon Bedson designed Formula 1 car around a wooden mock up engine supplied by Coventry Climax. By the end of the year, the 'Godiva', a compact and lightweight V8 was producing 268 bhp with exceptional torque between 3,500 and 7,000 rpm. It would have been the most powerful, lightest, most compact and most flexible engine of the 2.5-litre era - and it was reliable - but it was not released. Coventry Climax didn't release the FPE because they believed the power outputs claimed by Ferrari and Maserati. The Italians were claiming power outputs of around 280 horsepower with more to come, years latter it was revealed that the actual outputs were more in the region of 220 to 230 horsepower!  Development of the FPE engine wasn't wasted, as half the engine became the first 1.5 litre FPF in 1956. This engine was developed into the 2.5 litre FPF that powered Jack Brabham's Cooper to Word Championship Titles in 1959 & 1960!

 

Without an engine, Cyril Kieft's Formula One project was still born, but Kieft was the first constructor to race with the Coventry Climax FWA engine, at Le Mans in 1954. Through his industry connections, Cyril helped to turn a one-litre fire pump engine into an 1100cc racing unit which brought Cooper, Lotus and Lola to the fore. Cyril never got recognition for that because, by the time the racing FWA went into production, a new government had re-privatised the steel industry, Cyril sold the Kieft Car Company and returned to the steel industry.

 

The Kieft Grand Prix car was advertised in 1960 for a price of 60 pounds. It past through many hands over the years but although at one stage an American V8 was almost shoe horned into the chassis, it never turned a wheel under its own power.

 

The five "Godiva" engines that had been made were finally released from Coventry Climax, via the back door, during the mid sixties. Two of the engines were bored out to 3 litres and one of these engines powered a car called the Shannon. It competed in the British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch in 1967, but only competed one lap, due to a leaking fuel tank. Two more engines were bored out to 3.5 litres and powered a Ford Cortina campained quite successfully in the UK in the late sixties by an Aussie driver "Doc" Murfield. Four engines and a load of spares were left neglected in a cellar at Silverstone for years.

 

In the mid 80's the remains of the Kieft were purchased by Gordon Chapman, a great friend of its present owner, Bill Morris. With Bill's help, Gordon was also able to track down and purchase the 4 engines from the cellar at Silverstone. There were two 3.5 litre versions, a 3 litre and one original 2.5! This was the first time that the car and engines were in the same place at the same time! Tragicly, in the mid 90’s, Gordon died. The Kieft and the "Godiva" engines were advertised for sale, but with very little interest.