1968 Chevron B8 #DBE-54

The hugely successful Chevron B8 first appeared in 1968, usually with BMW 2-litre engines but also with the Ford FVA, FVC and occasionally the Lotus-Climax. It was homologated into FIA 'Group 4' Sports Cars from March 1968 on the basis that 50 were built (reduced to 25 in 1969). To help Chevron Cars achieve the required number (on paper), every rebuild was listed as a new car - a habit that would continue into the B16, B19 and even the B21 and no doubt, was a practice common to other builders of limited production racing cars. In the end, only 44 of the original cars were completed. Often described as one of the greatest racing cars of all time, the B8 was fast, forgiving and delightful. In common with the Lotus Elan and the BMW E30 M3, it was one of those cars that would not punish you for a temporary 'loss of talent' and would quietly sort itself out whilst you were considering 'Plan B'.

This particular car, chassis #DBE-54, was delivered new to British club racer, Peter Crossley, in March 1968 and uniquely for a B8, was fitted with a four-cylinder 2-litre Coventry-Climax, the same type of engine that was used in Formula 2 in the early 1960s. The car first raced at Rufforth on March 13th with Peter finishing second in the Yorkshire Evening Post Trophy race. Two days later, he won a Formula Libre race at Croft and the following month at Oulton Park finished second in the Total GT race. After placing second at Oulton Park in June, Peter then raced the B8 in Europe for the rest of the season, taking in events at Vila Real, Hockenheim, Wunstorf, d’Urcy, and at Jyllandsringen for the Danish GP where he finished fourth overall, in what would turn out to be the highlight of his European summer adventure.

This was the start of an extensive and successful racing career for DBE-54 which has a well documented, continuous ownership history (see below) – this continuity and subsequent originality is almost unheard of for a 1960s Chevron, making DBE-54 one of only a remaining few examples with such provenance.

The following 1969 season, Peter Crossley purchased a Brabham BT8, into which he fitted the Chevron’s Coventry-Climax engine, so consequently the engineless B8 sat unused the following year, except for one outing to Magny-Cours at the end of the season with a BMW 2-litre engine. Peter then put the B8 up for sale and it was bought by Theo Kinsbergen of Stichting Racing of Holland. Sponsored and entered by Team Radio Veronica, Theo took a string of podium finishes as well as winning twice at Zandvoort during the season. Borrowed for one race after crashing his own B16, Rein Zwolsman used DBE-54 to good effect to win the airfield race at Welschap. For the last two events of the season at Zandvoort, the car was rented to Henk Bosman who won both races then agreed to buy the car which he raced the following year, winning four races and finishing second in four others. The B8 was then sold to Frans van Dijk.

In early 1981, DBE-54 returned to the UK and was initially purchased by well known historic racer, Steven Langton, who sold the car the following year to Richard Parsons before it subsequently became the property of John Upton. In 1984, John commissioned well known restorer, Simon Hadfield, to restore the B8 and then race it afterwards in three historic events at Snetterton, Brands Hatch and Silverstone. In what were his first ever drives in a Chevron, Simon won all three races. DBE-54 was then sold to Tim Greenhill in 1985 who hired rapid former saloon car pedaller, Tim Goss, to drive the car in the HSCC Historic series. Tim demonstrated his versatility with five class wins and won the class championship. Since then, DBE-54 has been sold on several times but has remained active in historic racing in the hands of Richard Parsons, Michael Kuhn, Stephan Schrauwen, Guy Peeters and then with our vendor since 2017, who has also had class wins racing in Masters across Europe and also raced with Peter Auto in 2018 and 2019.

Reassuringly, DBE-54 remains in excellent condition throughout and is sold in race-ready condition although it will be necessary for interested parties to establish the currency and suitability of any safety-related equipment (seats, belts, tank, extinguisher etc.) as it was last run just prior to COVID. The 2-litre BMW engine was rebuilt by specialist Lester Owen in 2020 and is ‘box fresh’ with zero hours running time since, plus its suspension and brakes were rebuilt. It comes with a good spares package (multiple wheels sets, spare bodywork, etc. – the latter will be by collection post-sale) and benefits from valid 2017-issued FIA HTP papers. Also included are extensive racing history files including historic HTPs and period photographs.

Interestingly, DBE-54 comes with Belgian road registration documents which is helpful for European events and also make it a great entry for historic road events and rallies around the world.

This pedigree Chevron B8 is truly one of the best original examples and is eligible for many historic race events including the Le Mans Classic (where DBE-54 competed in 2006), Masters WSM, CER, etc. where it will continue to be competitive and a welcome entry. Very rarely does historic racing machinery come with this level of provenance, giving a new owner a real sense of custodianship and a tangible link to decades of successful, safe and enjoyable racing. DBE-54 is a special car and is ready to make more history.

Ownership History (a detailed racing history is also available on request):

• 1968: Peter Crossley, Sparkford, Somerset, England, UK, raced in UK and Europe (Croft, Oulton Park, Vila Real, Anderstorp, etc.)
• 1971: Theo Kinsbergen, Stichting Racing, Mijdrecht, Netherlands - entered and sponsored by Team Radio Veronica with 1980cc BMW 4C engine, painted red and dark blue, raced in ’71 Dutch championship by Kinsbergen, Zwolsman and Bosman
• 1972: Henk Bosman, Netherlands - sponsored and entered by Team 4711 Sir Irish Moss, painted green, raced in 1972 Dutch championship
• 1972: Frans van Dijk, Netherlands
• 1981: Steven Langton, Lingfield, Surrey, England, UK
• 1982: Richard Parsons, UK
• 1983: John Upton, Valour Racing, UK, raced in Historics in ’84 by Simon Hadfield
• 1985: Tim Greenhill, Berkhamstead, Herts, England, UK, raced in Historics by Tim Goss, five class wins and class championship winner
• 1988: Richard Arnold, Gloucester, England, UK 
• 1997: Michael Kuhn, Germany
• 2000: Jean-Francois Veroux, France
• 2003: Stephan Schrauwen, Belgium
• 2011: Guy Peeters, Belgium
• 2017: present: Frazer Gibney, UK