In the winter of 1962 Syd Henson,
the Competition Manager of Ford came to
David's house in Gravesend in Kent, (a house that David had designed
himself
when he was still at architectural college) to offer him a contract
to drive
for Ford for the 1963 season. David had invited Syd to dinner
and had what
was then a new gadget a Sparklet Corkmaster which uncorked bottles
by using
small compressed gas canisters. Unfortunately, David applied
a little too
much gas, the cork flew out of the bottle showering Syd with wine
and
staining the wall paper. It did not do too much harm to anybody
and David
was signed for the 1963 season. Needless to say it was Red
wine so you can
imagine the state of the wallpaper.
The first Rally
was the Monte Carlo in which David and Barry Hercock shared
a Ford Anglia 105E. They started from Paris. I am not sure
where or if they
finished this Rally but some of the press cuttings might shed some
light. At the end of this piece, I will list
all the cars that he drove between
1963 & 1965 with registration numbers and Rally numbers.
In February many of the Works drivers were invited to Brands
Hatch to
compete on a snow covered track that also took in grass as well. This
was
called mud plugging at the time and was a very early version of
what is now
Rally Cross. David finished 12th in the Anglia.
The
next rally that I remember is the Alpine Rally in France, driving
a
Cortina GT with Barry Hercock. They won a coveted Coupe Des
Alpes for
incurring no penalties.
For the Liege he and Barry
again drove a Cortina GT, which they drove again
on the RAC Rally that year.
