![]() Alexis Mk.5 at Zolder | |
Industry | Automotive |
---|---|
Genre | Racing cars |
Founded | 1959 |
Founder | Alex Francis Bill Harris |
Defunct | 1976 |
Headquarters | Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire , England |
Key people | Allan Taylor Doug Christie |
Products | Single-seater racing cars |
Alexis Cars was a British constructor of racing cars. It was formed in 1959 by Alex Francis and Australian Bill Harris. They built cars for Formula Junior, F100, Formula Ford, Formula 3, Formula B, Formula Atlantic and Formula 2 racing classes. [1]
Alex Francis, originally a building contractor, was a trials car builder. Bill Harris was a speedway rider, racing mechanic, and racing car designer from Australia. The company was established in Ward End, Birmingham, where Francis lived. When Bill Harris returned to Australia in 1965, Allan Taylor took his place. Alexis operation remained small, usually building a few racing cars for its own racing team and selling them at the end of the season, until the late 1960's when Formula Ford was born and became popular.
By winning the first Formula Ford championships in England and Scotland with Mk.11 in 1967, Alexis gained a reputation as a racing car constructor. Mk.15 (Formula Ford) and Mk.18 (Formula Ford and Formula 3) became a big success, firmly establishing the financial foundation.
Disliking running the larger-scale company, Alex Francis sold the ownership to Allan Taylor in 1968; and Doug Christie, who was responsible for the engine shop, joined Taylor as the co-director. In 1970, the company moved to Hallaughton Farm, an old cheese dairy in Sutton Coldfield, on the outskirts of Birmingham. [2]
Year | Model | Racing class | Notable engines used | Notes [2] [1] | Drivers |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1960-1961 | HF1 [a] | Formula Junior | BMC A-series engine | Front engine. Drum brakes. Steel space frame. Aluminium body | Alex Francis [3] |
HF2 [b] | Ford Anglia 1L | ||||
Mk.3 | |||||
1962 | Mk.4 [c] | Cosworth Mk.IV | Midship engine. All-disc brakes, Hewland Mk.III | ||
1963-1964 | Formula 2 | Cosworth Mk.III | Hewland Mk.III, 7th (Hawkins) at 1964 Pau Grand Prix | Paul Hawkins | |
Formula 3 | Cosworth Mk.III | Converted to F3 spec, Hewland Mk.III | |||
Mk.5 | Formula Junior | Cosworth Mk.IV | Fibreglass body | John Ampt [4] | |
Formula 3 | Cosworth Mk.III | One car sold to DAF, Variomatic transmission, raced in 1964-65 [5] | Henk van Zalinge [6] Rob Slotemaker [7] | ||
For Team Alexis, 2nd (Ampt) at Eifelrennen in 1964 | John Ampt [8] [d] Terry Ogilvie-Hardy | ||||
Formula 2 | Cosworth Mk.III | Team Alexis, 6th (Hawkins) at Eifelrennen in 1964 | Paul Hawkins [8] [d] | ||
Mk.6 | Formula 3/2 | Cosworth Mk.III / Cosworth SCA | Designed by Bill Harris for both F3 and F2, Hewland Mk.IV | John Ampt [1] [e] Allan Taylor [9] | |
1965 | Mk.7 | Formula 2 | Cosworth SCA | Converted Mk.6. Paul Hawkins won Eifelrennen | Paul Hawkins [10] |
Mk.8 | Formula 3 | Holbay-tuned MAE | Shorter spaceframe version of Mk.6, new uprights, Hewland Mk.VI. 10th (Smith) at Halle, 4th (Maglia) and 7th (Blokdyk) at Monza | George Smith [11] | |
Alexis-tuned MAE | Jacques Maglia [12] Trevor Blokdyk [12] | ||||
1966 | Mk.9 | Designed by Allan Taylor, Hewland Mk.VI. 13th (Ogilvie-Hardy) at Brands Hatch | Terry Ogilvie-Hardy [13] | ||
1967 | Mk.10 | Formula Ford | Ford Pre-Crossflow | Designed by Allan Taylor, Hewland Mk.VI. Formula Ford proof of concept for John Webb, the founder of Formula Ford | |
Mk.11 | Ford Crossflow | Bourgoignie won the first Formula Ford championship in England. Walker won Scottish Championship | Claude Bourgoignie [f] Dave Walker | ||
Mk.12 | Formula 3 | Novamotor [g] -tuned MAE | Hewland Mk.VI, 7th (Ogilvie-Hardy) at non-championship Chimay [1] | Terry Ogilvie-Hardy [14] | |
Alexis-tuned MAE | Hewland Mk.VI | Ken Crook [15] | |||
1968 | Mk.14 | Formula Ford | Ford Crossflow | About 60 examples named "Russell-Alexis" for Jim Russell Driving Development School at Snetterton [16] | |
Mk.15 | About 70 units sold | ||||
1969-1970 | Mk.17 | Formula 3 | Alexis-tuned MAE | Hewland Mk.VI | Ken Crook [1] |
Holbay-tuned MAE | Hewland Mk.VI | Ken Bailey [17] | |||
Mk.18 | MAE various tuners | 50 cars sold. Hewland Mk.VI | |||
Formula Ford | 1.6L Ford Crossflow | 24 units sold. Hewland Mk.VI | |||
F100 [h] | 1.3L Ford Crossflow | 2 cars sold. Hewland Mk.VI | |||
1971 | Mk.20 | Formula 3 | Vegantune [i] -tuned MAE | Tubular monocoque. Side radiators. Hewland Mk.VI | |
Formula B | Cosworth BDD | Tubular monocoque. Side radiators. Hewland FT200 | |||
Formula Atlantic | |||||
Alexis Mk.2 (1960) Engine 1098cc Rac…