John Thompson by no means sought fame nor publicity, however his TC Prototypes (TCP) fabrication and subcontract firm was a largely unsung linchpin of the motorsport business in Britain and past for in extra of 30 years. Thompson, who has died aged 85, constructed chassis, suspension and far more – typically full vehicles – for scores of groups and producers. Ferrari was one among them: he produced the Scuderia’s first monocoque chassis.
The three tubs Thompson produced for Ferrari’s 312 B3 weren’t the one TCP-built elements on the grand prix grid in 1973. It was additionally answerable for the chassis of the one-off Tecno E731, which was constructed up in its Northamptonshire workshops, in addition to suspension components for the fledgling Shadow staff’s DN1.
However the actions of an organization established in 1970 encompassed far more than simply F1. TCP was a significant participant on the earth of sportscar racing, constructing monocoques for Porsche’s 962 Group C/IMSA GTP prototype virtually by the dozen, producing the bodywork for the primary Tom Walkinshaw Racing Group C Jaguars after which growing three generations of NSX GT racer for Honda. It additionally produced Indycars, touring vehicles and rally vehicles through the years.
It wouldn’t be fairly proper to say that the order from Ferrari was simply one other job for TCP. For a begin, the drawings provided by the Italian producer have been in metric. An organization used to working in yards, toes and inches needed to put money into new tools because of this. Thompson reckoned a lot of the revenue from the deal – he charged simply £400 a pop – was eaten up by the change from Imperial. He additionally took on the fee as a result of he reckoned it could be a great alternative to do a spot of sightseeing.
“We didn’t actually make any cash on these tubs, however I believed it could be an opportunity to have a little bit of a vacation in Italy and take a look round Ferrari,” Thompson advised this writer again in 2013. The primary chassis was airfreighted to Italy, however the second after which the third have been delivered by Thompson, strapped to the roof rack of his Ford Cortina: “We threw the youngsters within the automobile, and off we went. I’m unsure we even had a map.” However there was one factor he did have for the primary time over the course of the Italian jaunt, he recounted. A croissant!
Thompson had been stunned when he acquired a name in October ’72 from Sandro Colombo, the person Fiat had put in technical cost of the Ferrari F1 staff on the banishment of Mauro Forghieri to elsewhere within the manufacturing facility. He thought it might need been a wind-up at first. “Colombo was in London for the Motor Present at Earls Courtroom and requested if he may come and go to us at 11 o’clock the next morning,” remembered Thompson. “We have been sitting there having our morning tea break after I mentioned, ‘Do you assume we should have a sweep-up?’”
Jacky Ickx, Ferrari
Picture by: Rainer Schlegelmilch / Getty Pictures
The official purpose why Ferrari sought TCP’s companies was industrial motion in Italy, forcing it to subcontract chassis construct. Thompson at all times believed that was a ruse: “I believe that was simply an excuse. The reality is that they’d by no means accomplished a monocoque and didn’t know .” Tyre provider Firestone was pushing for Ferrari to undertake know-how first utilized in F1 by Lotus with the kind 25 in 1962, and with Forghieri out of the way in which, Colombo was capable of carry by on the request that resulted within the second automobile to hold the B3 suffix. It made its debut on the 1973 Spanish Grand Prix.
But Ferrari wouldn’t construct its personal monocoques for almost one other 10 years. An extra shift of the political sands at Maranello resulted within the return of Forghieri and using his favoured panelled spaceframe or semi-monocoque chassis building. It might take till the arrival of Harvey Posthlewaite within the design workplace for the manufacture of one other true monocoque design, the 126 C2 of 1982.
The Ferrari and the Tecno weren’t the one Italian F1 vehicles constructed by TCP. Ten years later in 1983, it produced the second Osella to hold the FA1E moniker. A automobile incorporating the whole rear finish — engine, gearbox and suspension from the earlier yr’s Alfa Romeo 182 — was the work of Tony Southgate. The British design legend already had a protracted relationship with Thompson that stretched by his time with Shadow after which Arrows.
Thompson had arrange TC Prototypes late in 1970 after a stint at McLaren, the place he had acquired the nickname ‘Welder John’, after which brief stops at Cosworth engaged on its four-wheel-drive F1 automobile after which the fledgling chassis constructor March Engineering. He based the enterprise with £100 within the financial institution and a accomplice known as Chris Charles, therefore the TC. Charles rapidly left, leaving TCP as very a lot a household affair run by Thompson and his spouse, Maureen. It’d even be described as a homespun operation; there was nothing showy concerning the enterprise. It was all concerning the product.
Southgate remembers Ford motorsport boss Stuart Turner being barely disconcerted by TCP’s premises on a go to because the RS200 Group B rally automobile challenge was about to get going. The previous Eagle, BRM, Shadow and Arrows designer had been answerable for the Blue Oval’s unraced mk3 model of the C100 Group C contender produced by Thompson for the 1983 season. Now, it wished the Southgate/Thompson partnership, which operated beneath the Auto Racing Expertise banner, to design and construct what turned the RS200 Group B rally automobile.
“John’s place was by no means the neatest, a bit junk on junk in locations,” recalled Southgate. “Stuart was horrified and mentioned he wasn’t certain about TCP representing the Ford Motor Firm, however I advised him that John would get the vehicles out the door on time, for a great value and at good high quality.” The primary eight RS200s have been produced at Thompson’s Wellingborough workshops forward of the automobile’s competitors debut close to the tip of 1985.
George Fouché, Franz Konrad, Wayne Taylor, Porsche Kremer Racing
Picture by: LAT Pictures through Getty Pictures
The RS200 wasn’t the one rally challenge with which TCP was concerned. It was a key participant in Ralliart Europe’s early exploits with the Gallant within the World Rally Championship from 1989.
Indycar tasks included the 1980 Phoenix CART contender. It was, no less than externally, a replica of the Williams FW07, then the dominant automobile in F1. Thompson as soon as defined that he’d seen a line drawing of the F1 machine within the pages of Autosport and “scaled it up” as he set to on the chassis that raced within the arms of Tom Sneva, Gordon Johncock and Kevin Cogan amongst others.
An vital touring automobile within the TCP story was an E36-shape BMW coupe constructed for Linder Racing after the German producer ended its official engagement within the Germany-based tin-top sequence. A automobile powered by the E30 2.5-litre M3 Evolution four-pot engine and dubbed the 325i wasn’t successful on the observe, but it surely was answerable for a connection being made between Thompson and Honda. Armin Hahne had raced the Linder BMW within the 1983 DTM and a Honda NSX for Seikel Motorsport within the ADAC GT Cup the identical yr. When Honda outlined a plan to go to Le Mans, he prompt TCP may construct them the mandatory machine.
A GT2 contender constructed by Thompson was fielded by Kremer Racing – which additionally had shut hyperlinks with TCP courtesy of its used of its 962 tubs – at each Le Mans and within the German sequence in 1994. It gained races within the latter and would triumph in school at Le Mans with the privateer Workforce Kunimitsu operation the next yr. The manufacturing facility marketing campaign was targeted on GT1 in ’95, TCP constructing a second iteration of the NSX with the engine turned 90deg to run longitudinally within the automobile. A staff primarily based out of TCP’s workshops fielded one twin-turbo automobile and one in normally-aspirated type on the Circuit de la Sarthe. A 3rd model was constructed for ’96 however by no means raced.
Thompson retired within the mid-2000s however continued to work as a advisor for a subcontract firm often called EY3 Engineering. But extra 962 tubs adopted. Kremer had greater than 10 produced by his hand through the years.
“John was joyful to remain within the background; he was by no means one to puff up,” mentioned Southgate. “However on tasks I used to be concerned with, I at all times appreciated to be sure that individuals knew about his contribution. John was simply ace at making issues, something out of sheet steel, that was what he was finest at.”
John Thompson
Picture by: Uncredited
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