Remembering John Coombs

John Coombs the renowned Surrey racer and entrant has died aged 91.

John Coombs got his first taste of motor racing at his local circuit Brookland’s in 1922 and then served an apprenticeship in the family business, Coombs & Sons of Guildford. Eventurely, after taking over the business in the late 1940’s he entered his first race in 1949 in a pre-war Aston then moved into sports car racing the following season but switched again into JBS 500cc single seater (later became F3) which proved more successful taking a 2nd on his debut and regular podium places. In 1952, in a Cooper Mark VI-Norton, he was third behind Stirling Moss at Goodwood, and won at Thruxton and in the Commander Yorke Trophy. Driving an Erskine Staride in 1953 he took fourth at the Nürburgring’s GP meeting; he also raced a Cooper-Bristol and factory-entered Connaught in Formula Two. In 1954 he changed to racing Lotus’s, with wins and podium places achieved in a Mark VIII-Connaught and more successes the following season in a Lotus Mark IX-Connaught. John Coombs went on to campaign in a Lotus XI-Climax, but after two wins at Mallory Park he found that racing/the stress of being a driver (no safety at circuits in those days) and running his business was too great so he retired as a driver and become an entrant instead. By 1956 he was fielding rising stars such as Ron Flockhart and Tony Brooks. 1957 saw victories for Flockhart and Roy Salvadori, with Salvadori maintaining the golden run in 1958 with wins and top places in Coombs’s Cooper Monaco-Maserati, feats matched by Jack Brabham and the future star Bruce McLaren in a Cooper Monaco-Climax. Coombs of Guildford was by now a successful Jaguar and Daimler dealer, well known for road and racing modifications of the 1955 Jaguar Mk1 saloon. Coombs’s Jaguars first took to the track with Flockhart in a Mk 1, beautifully presented, engineered and highly competitive meant that they could attract the very best drivers . In the early 1960s Coombs’s Jaguar Mk 2s were raced by Salvadori, Hill, Dan Gurney, Colin Chapman and Mike Salmon. In April 1961 Coombs sent Salvadori out in a Coombs E Type, which took third on the Jaguar’s race debut behind Graham Hill’s winning Sopwith car. The car proved highly successful that year but by mid-1962, with Hill behind the wheel, it was being outpaced by Ferrari’s lighter 250 GTO. As a leading Jaguar motorcar dealer and race entrant and through his contacts at the very top of the Jaguar motor business, John was able to exert considerable pressure on the manufacturer, and a s a result the E Type was extensively modified and the 170mph “Lightweight” was born. Graham Hill enjoyed success in the car in 1963. Lofty England (Jaguar’s leading engineer) asked Coombs to test the young and largely unknown Jackie Stewart in the Lightweight. Coombs agreed reluctantly, but when Stewart broke the Silverstone lap record he was immediately signed. Faced with the new AC Cobras, E Types were soon no longer competitive. As a result, in 1964 Coombs entered F2 with a Cooper T71-Cosworth for Graham Hill. At Crystal Palace on its first outing, Hill finished second to the newcomer Jochen Rindt. F2 success continued in 1965 with a Brabham BT16-BRM for Hill, and in 1967 Coombs ran Piers Courage in a McLaren M4A-Ford. In 1968, as Tyrrell expanded its F1 programme, Coombs managed its F2 cars, including Matra M57-Fords for Stewart and Johnny Servoz-Gavin, the latter winning the 1969 European F2 Championship. The following year Stewart won the inaugural Japanese GP at Fuji in a Coombs F2 Brabham BT30-Cosworth; Coombs also ran Jack Brabham in F2 in his own make of car. By the 1970s Coombs was fielding rising talent such as Patrick Depailler and Francois Cevert, but following British Leyland’s disastrous management he switched to a BMW franchise. John Coombs married in the early 1980’s and soon after moved to Monaco. John Coombs finally sold his motor business in 1989. John Coombs was a BRDC life member, and remained involved with historic racing, entering Moss, Attwood and Brundle in annual Goodwood Revival.

Classifieds Archive

£410000

£54000

POA

SOLD

SOLD

$1000000

$3000

POA

$399500

$115000

$25000

$17000