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Derek Bennett
Derek Bennett (b.1933 in Manchester - d.1978); was a self-taught, intuitive engineer and amateur racing driver. He was born in 1933 in Manchester, England but was brought up in Prestwich. He is most significant for founding Chevron Cars Ltd.
In his early years Bennett took a keen interest in model aircraft. He took an apprenticeship in mechanical and electrical engineering before becoming a mechanic, but he soon fell in with motor racing scene in the North of England, initially in local stock-car racing events.
Bennett soon graduated to building, maintaining and also driving racing cars for himself and other local enthusiasts, and established himself as a competitive driver at club level, particularly in the Bennett Special, running in a series for 1172cc Ford powered cars; he later moved into the Clubmans category. Bennett also built a one-off Formula Junior car which was only a modest success - rear-engined competition from Lotus and Cooper was more than a match for it, and the era of the special-builder in FJ was over.
By 1965 there were sufficient requests for replicas of his Clubmans car, Bennett seemed able to establish himself as a constructor. Aided by a small staff of like-minded enthusiasts (particularly friend and assistant Paul Owens), for a decade and a half Chevron produced successful, beautiful racing cars.
Bennett never proceeded beyond Formula Three in his own driving but remained quick enough to test and develop many of his cars, especially at the nearby Oulton Park and Aintree.
He was working on a Formula One Chevron when he was killed in a hang-gliding accident in 1978.
