Peter Collins examines the meteoric rise and tragic fall of Derek Bennett and his Chevron Cars.

Enzo Ferrari was right when he made one of his jibes about the British motor racing opposition when he referred to them as “garagistes.” What he omitted to add to the statement was that they also happened to be exceedingly good at it. While Italy was home to the “-ini” factor – a network of minor constructors mostly turning out small capacity racing cars – and France had its share of low volume constructors such as DB, Gordini (and later the likes of Grac). None of them delivered quality results consistently, on a world-wide basis or at a price that was, within reason, affordable.

Admittedly, the UK had an advantage in that it enjoyed a highly active racing scene and community which had restarted fairly soon after World War II. This included a burgeoning grassroots club scene active at an increasing number of venues all over the country. This generated a constant source of drivers and racing personnel moving upwards through the sport and taking their talents up the ladder with them. Also, the British manufacturers enjoyed a degree of brand loyalty, in that if a driver achieved success with a certain marque at one level, they tended to remain faithful to it.