Bill Whitehouse

Born in London on the 1st April 1909, Bill ‘Big Billy’ Whitehouse was a car dealer, owning Westmount Garage in Blendon, Bexley, Kent, which was later the base for the Gemini Formula Junior Team. After racing motorcycles he became one of the early competitors in 500cc F3 racing after the World War II and during this time became friends with fellow car dealer Bernie Ecclestone. He enjoyed considerable success with Cooper, competing as a factory driver in 1951 and later contested one World Championship GP and also competed in several non-Championship races.

He started racing a Cooper in 1949 and scored a creditable fifth place in the Allcomers, and second in the Production Car race, at Silverstone in July but retired from the 100 Mile race. He did not qualify at the Blandford Trophy in August though in September was third in the Madgwick Cup at Goodwood (to Stirling Moss and Eric Brandon’s similar T9s) plus was third in another outing at Silverstone.

In April the following year at Brands Hatch’s inaugural event in April he was second in an open challenge heat, second in the final, first in a professionally built cars’ heat plus first in both the final and in the 10 fastest final. In May at Silverstone’s Grand Prix d’Europe he was second in his heat and seventeenth in the final then at Goodwood’s International Trophy was second in his heat and retired in the final. Brands Hatch in June saw victory in the heat and second in the final of the Open Challenge Race while in the following month he was tenth at Reims, first in his heat at Brands Hatch and won at Rouen. He won at Rouen in July, beating John Cooper and Eric Brandon, and on the August Bank Holiday contested the Daily Telegraphy Trophy at Brands Hatch. There were three seven-lap heats to decide the field for the final of the Open Challenge Race and in his heat, although George Wicken in a Cooper-JAP led throughout, he was pushed by Bill in second place. In the final, the early laps saw a tough battle between the pair, with Bill faster along the straights. After five laps Moss was second, then re-passed by Bill, but he re-took the place and chased after Wicken after eight laps. It proved an epic fight, with Bill pressing the leading two, but Wicken took the victory over Moss while Bill had lost the place and came home fourth. Then came four seven-lap heats of the Daily Telegraph International Challenge Trophy, with Bill leading the first. At the start of the thirty five lap final, Moss (having already set a new lap-record) stopped while in second place, behind Wicken, who had led from the start. After a hard battle, Bill was in second place after seventeen laps and it looked as though he would take the lead but Wicken kept the place and took the victory with hardly any petrol remaining. In his final outings at Brands Hatch in October he was second in an open heat, third in the final, third in a Brands Hatch championship heat plus third in the final.

He raced for the works team in 1951 alongside Ken Carter in Cooper Mk Vs and, starting in March at Castle Combe he was third in his heat and second in the final. There were two races at Brands Hatch the following month where he had third place results in the open heat, the Brands Hatch championship heat plus in the team prize and later was first in the open challenge heat, fourth in the final plus third in the Brands Hatch championship final. In four race meetings in May he was third in his heat but retired in the final at the Luxembourg GP, was sixth at Silverstone’s Daily Express International Trophy plus finished second in the heat at Monza plus second in Genoa. He was third at Nurburgring in June and at the end of the month at Brands Hatch he retired in the open challenge heat, took second in the international heat and was fifth in the final while races on the Continent in July saw retirements at Avus and Rouen then third at Nurburgring. He was fifth in his heat and sixth in the final at Ibsley, won the international heat and the international final at Brands Hatch, though retired at Boreham and Silverstone’s Commander Yorke Trophy. In his final race, at Brands Hatch in late September, he won the open challenge heat and finished fourth in the Brands hatch championship heat. It proved to be a highly competitive season though and Ecurie Richmond’s Eric Brandon took the National F3 Championship. Bill also tried his hand at F2, driving an Alta and finished sixth in a Formula Libre race at Castle Combe, seventh at Winfield in Scotland and ninth place finishes at Glenzlandring and the Goodwood Trophy. Away from the Cooper and Alta, there was an early outing with an Aston Martin Special at Rufford though he did not finish while further Aston Martin drives with a DB2 saw third at Gamston and sixteenth at the Silverstone International but he retired at the British Empire Trophy at Douglas.

He continued in F3 during 1952, now in a Mk VI, and in two races at Brands Hatch in May he was fourth in the senior heat and the handicap race plus sixth in the senior final. The following month saw victory in his heat at Snetterton then a fourth place in July’s British GP meeting while August produced a third place in the Sprint Race at Brands Hatch but he wrecked the car while racing at Zandvoort.

After acquiring an F2 Connaught for 1954, his first race came in June in the Curtis Trophy at Snetterton. Only eight cars started, with Roy Salvadori on pole and Les Leston second, while Bill started fourth. Attrition during the race claimed some cars and Bill was running in the top three and looking quite strong, and eventually took a creditable second to Salvadori at the flag. His next Connaught outing came later in the month at the Crystal Palace Trophy, where he qualified ninth for the second heat. As the heat progressed he worked his way up the field and was soon running near the top five. After two more cars retired, he eventually passed Fairman and with a few laps remaining was in third place and he finished in this position, behind Nuckey and Beauman. In the final, Parnell was on pole in his Ferrari and Collins second, while Bill was on the second row in sixth place. He made a great start and eventually was just outside the top three and at the finish Parnell took the victory over Collins while Bill was fourth.

Then in July he made his GP debut, where he started from the sixth row of the grid in nineteenth at Silverstone. He ran toward the middle of the pack through the first couple of laps and chose a careful pace through the wet conditions. Gonzalez was out in front though Manzon, Collins and Ascari retired in the early stages. Villoresi handed his Maserati to Ascari to allow him to continue but eventually oil pressure problems ended his race. Bira, Salvadori and Behra also retired but Bill was still in the race and seemed to be be running well. Unfortunately, his Connaught began developing problems and after sixty three laps, issues with the fuel system ended his GP. In the first of three races in August, he contested the International Gold Cup at Oulton Park, with a field that included Moss, Salvadori, Parnell, Behra and others. He qualified eighth of the nineteen starters and after a strong start looked consistently fast, with a number of retirements helping him to move up the field. Behra was out after just two laps because of magneto failure and Salvadori had started the race on the same row as him but crashed on lap fourteen. At the finish, Moss took the victory (after an impressive drive from last on the grid), ahead of Parnell and Gerard and, although two laps down on the winner, an impressive performance saw Bill come through in sixth place. In the following week he was at Snetterton for the Redex Trophy, where the attrition rate meant that by lap nineteen there were only nine cars remaining. Although Bill was still running, he was having transmission problems and his race ended on lap twenty three. At the end of August he was at Castle Combe for the Joe Fry Memorial Trophy race, where a high attrition rate saw many cars out early and only four cars finished. Horace Gould took the victory in his Maserati 250F over Bill in second place, who was in turn ahead of Connaughts driven by John Riseley-Prichard and Michael Young. His next race was not until early October when he travelled to Aintree for the Daily Telegraph Trophy where it would be a tough challenge as the field included nine F1 cars and a number of top drivers, including Moss, Behra and Hawthorn. Moss was on pole in the Maserati, ahead of Behra, Hawthorn and Schell, with Bill starting thirteenth on the grid and, apart from Rosier and Salvadori, the eighth through nineteenth places were all F2 cars. When the race started Moss and Hawthorn fought for the lead, though three cars would be out in the early stages and unfortunately he followed them after nine laps due to mechanical problems.

Formula 2 was to be cancelled in 1955 so he retired for a period and was involved in his garage business preparing the Gemini Formula Junior cars though returned to the sport in 1957. Racing a Cooper T43 he entered the Gran Premio di Siracusa in Sicily but after starting from the last row he retired due to mechanical problems on lap thirty nine of the eighty lap race. Back in the UK he took part in national events, with his son Brian as team mate (who scored an impressive third place at Mallory Park). Then in July he entered the Coupe Internationale de Vitesse at Reims, with two T43s for himself and his son but during practice his engine broke. Roy Salvadori had both a Cooper T43 and a Cooper T39 Bobtail (in which he had set strong practice times) so loaned him the T39. Brian dd not start the race but tragically, while on his way down to the Thillois hairpin, a tyre failed on Bill’s car and he lost control, with the car flipping through the air and crashing through a tyre barrier. The car caught fire and the marshals managed to extinguish the fire in a few minutes though he had suffered multiple fractures and extensive, serious burns. He was transported by helicopter to hospital in Reims, but died shortly afterwards. The race continued after the accident but on lap thirty, Herbert MacKay-Fraser lost control in his Lotus, leaving the road and the car rolled several times, crossing an embankment, before coming to rest in a field. He was thrown from the car and, grievously injured, was also taken by helicopter but died en route to the hospital.

It was said Bill’s death hit hard at the Cooper factory, where he was a popular figure, and he was buried at St.Michael & All Angels Church, Wilmington, Dartford.