Gordon Henderson

Gordon Henderson (born 1 January 1920 in Stanger, 1 July 1998) is a South African constructor and racing driver. Curriculum vitae

Born in 1920 in Stanger, he helped his father in his welding work. The first car was built at age 16. In the 1940s, he built a rear-engined Blitzplatform, powered by a Ford 10 engine. His next project was Squariel, which was a converted American midget with the literary engine of the Ariel Square Four. This car Henderson was successful in mountain races, beating ERA cars and vehicles with engines of much greater capacity and became champion in the class 1250 cm³ in 1948-1949. In 1949 he also raced the Fiat 1100 Special. His first major victory was the triumph of Coronation 100 in 1950.

In 1953 he was in the UK hoping to race in Europe. These plans did not come to fruition. A year later he built the Cheetah Norton-inspired Cheetah Norton, a Formula One 3-liter car with a three-liter engine that won the race at Roy Hesketh Circuit. Around 1961 he built the first Formula 1 car, Monaco Mk1 (also known as the Scorpion Mk1). A year later he built the Scorpion Mk2. These cars, powered by Alfa Romeo engines, were similar in appearance to the Lotus. In the 1960s, he also built Manx Veldwagen cars, probably the first Volkswagen-based bug in South Africa. In 1969 he bought Brabham BT24, which participated in the South African Formula 1.

He died in 1998. His siblings, Bob's brother and sister Izza, also chased after him. Bibliography

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