Tuesday 311st March 2020

Hillman Imp to Ferrari 712 CanAm via the British Hillclimb and Sprint Championships  Interview by Ken Davies. Images courtesy of David Franklin archive and Ken Davies.

From an interview first published in September 2016

David Franklin is currently one of the best-known, successful and respected racers of historic sports cars in the UK and has long been the sought-after driver that wealthy owners have enlisted to race their priceless and sometimes unique historic cars. Known professionally as a safe – and very fast – pair of hands. Amazingly, the popular Bristolian is now in his 51st season of motor sport, having started in 1965 driving a bog-standard 875cc Hillman Imp in a motor club hill climb, but over the next few years the Hillman Imp gradually morphed into full-race trim and his successes just started rolling in.

Targeting tarmac speed events, David then moved on to a Vixen single-seater powered by a modified Sunbeam Sport engine and competed successfully in national hill climbs and sprints, upgrading to an F3 Ensign LNF 373 in 1975 and becoming BARC Hill Climb Champion. The successes kept coming, leading to the ultimate prizes of the 1978 RAC British Hill Climb Championship and the RAC British Sprint Championship in a March 772-BMW Formula Two car; the first and only time that a driver has won both titles in the same year.

In 1979 David became RAC British Sprint Champion again, this time in a March 782-BMW F2 car, before making the seamless transition to circuit racing and becoming the 1981 MGCC BCV8 Champion in an immaculate self-prepared MG BGT V8 – including a couple of race wins at his local circuit, Castle Combe, during that championship year.

A successful change to historic sports cars came in 1985 and resulted in victory in the HSCC Historic GT Championship behind the wheel of a stunning orange 5-litre McLaren M6B Can-Am car, prepared and fielded by his Huntsman Garage. This success was followed in 1986 by victory in the Steigenberger European SuperSports Championship in the same McLaren, but fitted with a larger capacity 6.3-litre engine, permitted by the change in European regulations (the McLaren came up for sale in August 2016 at a Monterey auction in California).

Throughout his motor sport career, David’s cars, bearing allegiance to Huntsman Garage the Franklin family business, have been expertly self-engineered and characterised by their immaculate presentation and reliability. David’s neat, tidy and fully committed driving style too, has impressed and he’s always enjoyed competing in Europe, scoring race victories at several blue riband international circuits, resulting in full membership of the British Racing Drivers Club.

Enjoy our interview with a true doyen of UK national and international historic racing.

How did you make your start in Motorsport?
When I left school in 1963, I started work for Cathedral Garage in Bristol, which at the time was the distributor for Humber, Hillman and Sunbeam cars as well as Commer and Karrier trucks. The Hillman Imp was announced in the June and I started in September. Soon the Rootes Group wanted to get the Imp into competition, and I was fortunate enough to be there, got involved and I did my first event in a standard 875cc Imp at Dyrham Park Hill Climb near Bath in the spring of 1965.
By 1966 we had a pretty highly-modified 998cc Rallye Imp I used for everything; hill climbs, sprints, autocross, driving tests, rallies and some circuit racing, all in one car, which was also my road transport! By the late '60s this car had evolved into a ‘proper’ race Imp, towed behind a standard Imp Sport. When I left Cathedral Garage in 1971 and started my own business at Huntsman Garage in Downend Bristol I bought the car and took it with me.

What was the best moment in your motor sport career?
The best moment.... a VERY difficult one.… maybe the 1978 season when I ran a Formula 2 March 772-BMW and won both the British Hill Climb and British Sprint Championships in the same year, never been done before or since, but also winning at the Monaco Historique GP race in a Ferrari 750 Monza. Winning the 2001 Festival of Speed run-off in a Ferrari 712 CanAm and beating all the F1 cars – but they certainly ran it pretty close though

What was the worst moment?
Worst moment was maybe a crash in 1979 at the wet European Hill Climb Championship round in St Ursanne Les Rangier, Switzerland in my March 782/BMW. I broke my wrist and made a mess of the car. I learnt the meaning of aquaplaning the hard way.

Which event did/do you most look forward to?
In the ‘even’ years you have Le Mans Classic and Monaco Historique GP, both fantastic events and definitely my favourites.

Congratulations, you've won the lottery, what car do you rush out and buy?
I suspect a competition Ferrari 365 Daytona circa 1969; I raced one for a Brazilian man for many years, what a great bit of kit. One highlight was driving my wife Deb around the Targa Florio course in it at the 50th celebrations of Ferrari in Sicily.

What are your future motor sport plans?
I’ve just done the Goodwood Festival of Speed and the Monza Historic meeting, both in a fab Ferrari 312P 1969 Le Mans car. I have the Goodwood Revival in September and Paul Ricard in early October, but next year’s looking great already.

Which competition car has impressed you most?
I think it has to be the Ferrari 712 CanAm the Brazilian guy bought back in the nineties from the USA. Mario Andretti had raced it once at Watkins Glen and said it was one of the ‘worst bits of shit’ he’d ever driven. I’d run my own McLaren M6B CanAm car for 13 years and done pretty well with it. The 712 was a challenge but we got it really good and won many races with it and even a hill climb or two. It was a 7-litre V12 with 750bhp, sounded pure magic and went like stink.

What's the most entertaining event(s) you’ve been involved in?
Most entertaining event? Well I think the Modena Cento Ore Rally in Italy with my wife Deb in our 1965 Shelby Mustang GT350, we had the car for 23 years, did many rallies together all over Europe. But the Modena was a four-day event, usually three circuit races and about 12 closed road special stages, we had a ball together, never won it, a second, some thirds and fourth overall, so close.

What is your most effective or personal asset?
Having been in the right place at the right time.… and a large degree of luck!

What advice you would offer to aspiring drivers entering the sport?
Oh dear.... I cannot believe the cost of everything now, mind blowing; I do not know where to start – sorry.

Who has been your greatest motoring inspiration?
Greatest Inspiration? Well, lots of the ‘proper’ racing drivers of the sixties that I am now proud to call my friend; David Piper, Richard Attwood, Brian Redman, Derek Bell, etc. Fab people not like today’s guys.… maybe the odd current one like Emanuele Pirro.

Tell us something surprising about yourself?
Something surprising.… well, I will be 70 at the end of this year, 51 seasons of racing and married to Deb for 45 years, my co-driver, team manager and best mate.

Our thanks to David Franklin for allowing us some of his valuable time to complete this interview and we wish him good luck for the future.