Martin BM12 history
John Bailey in the Martin BM12 at Shelsley Walsh in August 1981, wearing what appears to be a Mallock Mk 16 nose. Copyright Steve Wilkinson 2018. Used with permission.
Built by Brian Martin to use in the British Formula Atlantic series, the Martin BM12 was not a great success and was dropped after a single season. It was later used in hillclimbs in the early 1980s.
Brian Martin had built a successful series of specials and GTs in the 1960s, and by 1970 he had progressed to International 2-litre sports racing, when he raced his Martin BM7 with BMW M10 engine in the Motoring News/Castrol Sports GT Championship. For 1971, he built a new Martin BM8 with Cosworth FVA and later FVC engine, while Edward Negus and Peter Gaydon used the older BM7. A BM9 followed in 1972, when the BM8 was sold to David Good for hillclimbs, until he wrecked it at Doune at the end of the season. Meanwhile the BM7 was updated to "BM9C" specification for Mike Oates, and a second BM8 was built for Tony Brown to use in hillclimbs.
For 1973, Martin updated his BM9 to BM10 specification and also decided to branch out into single-seaters, building a Formula Atlantic Martin BM12 which he would drive himself in the British series. It made its debut at Mallory Park in late June, but its entry into racing was so low key that it was barely mentioned. One of the few times it did get a mention in Autosport was when Martin finished a distant second to Jim Crawford in a Formula Libre race at Aintree in September. Martin did not drive in Formula Atlantic again, although the BM12 was entered for Peter Williams in a few races in 1974.
If you can add to our understanding of Brian Martin's cars, or have photographs that we can use, please email Allen at allen@oldracingcars.com.
New for Brian Martin to race in the 1973 British Formula Atlantic season, sponsored by Pinch (Plant) Ltd. Results were uninspiring, but Martin did finish second in two libre races that year, at Aintree and at Snetterton. Raced by Peter Williams (Brentwood, Essex) in libre and in at least one Formula Atlantic race in 1974, still sponsored by Pinch Plant. It was not seen again, but was advertised by Mike Burr (Forncett St Peter, Norwich) in May 1978 and then anonymously from a Wickford, Essex, phone number in June 1979. In both adverts it was offered as a rolling chassis, with the second advert saying it was unused since 1976. In May 1981, it was being used in hillclimbs, when Steve Wilkinson saw John Bailey (Northampton) driving it at Shelsley Walsh. It was then advertised from a Northampton phone number in January 1982 and from a nearby Wellingborough number in July that year. It was then said to have been a "class winner in 1981", presumably in hillclimbs. It was then used by Kevin Nolan in 1983 with a 1600cc twin cam engine. The car's FIA papers says that it was owned by Kevin Noyland (Roborough, Plymouth, Devon) but was not used from 1985 to 1994, when it was acquired by Martin Cowell (Hereford). Cowell used it for hillclimbing and then sold it to Bob Yarwood, who took it to the US and raced it there a few times. He brought it back to the UK in 2010, and in 2018 sold it to Antony Denham. In 2022, Denham raced it in the HSCC Aurora Trophy series.
Driven by: Brian Martin, Peter Williams and John Bailey. First race: Mallory Park (R6), 24 Jun 1973. Total of 15 recorded races.
Brian Martin continued to build cars through the rest of the 1970s, including a Martin BM16 with Chevrolet Vega engine for hillclimber Richard Brown in 1976, a Martin BM18 for Sports 2000, and later a Martin BM24 sports racer with Rover V8 power. Much of the work at his Thorpe Lane Farm near Wakefield, West Yorkshire, was sub-contract work. As well as building the Agent FF2000 cars, he also fabricated Chevron B16 and B19 chassis in the late 1970s and 1980s for historic racing.
Acknowledgements
My thanks to Alan Brown, Dan Rear, Steve Wilkinson, Alan Morgan and Anthony Denham for their help on this topic.
If you can add to our understanding of Brian Martin's cars, or have photographs that we can use, please email Allen at allen@oldracingcars.com.
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