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Derrick White

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Born:

20 Mar 1929
East London, South Africa

Died:

22 Sep 1970
Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire

Nationality:

Great Britain

Teams:

Cooper, Honda (1966-1968)

Ex-racer and talented designer who tragically died, aged just 41, from a brain infection called Meningoencephalitis. White initially moved to England in 1952 to work as a chassis engineer before joining the Connaught team. He later designed the Cooper T81 for the 1966 and early part of the 1967 season. The car won both the last race of 1966 at Mexico with John Surtees and then the first race of 1967 with Pedro Rodriguez. He also designed the T86 which was used from 1967 and 1968 with some success, but the Formula 1 team folded at the end of 1968. White, a favourite with John Surtees, then followed the Englishman to Honda and then latterly worked at British Leyland and their Standard Triumph. He also worked on Kieft cars and even drove himself racing an Impala Special. Before Cooper, White worked for Jaguar and was influential in the Jaguar E-Type development. A modest, and often forgotten designer, White's tragically early death was a real blow to car design in Britain.

Biography last updated 20 Jul 2021