with Silverstone Auctions, joined by lots including Jaguar and BMW
A unique prototype 1960s racer is confirmed as an early entry for Silverstone Auctions’ 23July event during the Silverstone Classic race weekend.
The Prototype Deep Sanderson 301 ran in 24-hour Le Mans, Spa and Nurburgring races in1963 and ’64, is eligible for every 1960s GT sports car race and invited to GoodwoodRevival and Festival of Speed.
The prototype was the original metal-bodied car developed by builder and racer ChrisLawrence, originally using a rear-mounted Mini Minor engine. Launched at the 1962 OlympiaRacing Car Show, it was the forerunner to an estimated 16 ‘production’ fibreglass-bodiedDeep Sanderson 301 Sports Coupé cars.
Deciding he wanted to race a car of his own design at Le Mans, Lawrence further developedthe prototype into a racer. It made its debut at Le Sarthe in 1963 and became the first Miniderivative to be an international sports car racer, (rather than rallying), preceding the MiniMarcos by four years. The 301 ran for 20 hours in Le Mans, leading the Index ofPerformance before being disqualified on a spurious technicality. Competing in 1963endurance races in Le Mans, Nurburgring and Spa with its original 988 cc engine, itchallenged the 1964 Le Mans 24-hours with a BMC Abingdon factory-supported 1293 ccexperimental engine.
Originally registered as 2 ARX, the road-legal MOT’d prototype is offered on a 1970s plategiven to the car when sold by Chris Lawrence. It retains its Le Mans lights and theexperimental BMC engine. Although restored and raced a little in the 80s and 90s, it wasdiscovered in storage after a decade in the early 2000s. The owner returned it to ChrisLawrence who undertook a full restoration before it appeared at the Goodwood Festival ofSpeed in 2009, climbing the hill in under one minute. It featured in Mini’s fiftieth anniversaryparade at Goodwood and in 2010 raced in Goodwood Revival’s Fordwater Trophy withSimon Diffey behind the wheel, who qualified in ninth and eventually finished in eleventhplace, achieving speeds in excess of 125mph on the Lavant straight. Finished in its originalracing colours of British Racing Green, the ‘prettiest Mini Special’ produces 114 bhp and israted at 126 mph at 6,500 rpm on the rolling road.
