Frederick Charles Kenneth Wharton (21 March 1916, Smethwick – 12 January 1957, Ardmore, Auckland, New Zealand) was a British racing driver from England.
He competed in off-road trials, hillclimbs, and rallying, and also raced sports cars and single-seaters. He began racing in the new National 500cc Formula in his own special, and later acquired a Cooper. His World Championship Grand Prix debut was at the 1952 Swiss event, run to Formula 2 regulations, where he started from 13th position on the grid and finished 4th. He participated in a total of 15 World Championship Grands Prix, from which he scored 3 championship points. Info from Wiki
Ken Wharton /about him 1957/
The news that Ken Wharton had lost his life as a result of an accident during a New Zealand road race came as a shock to his many friends. I have known Ken for close on 20 years, from the time he competed with a supercharged Austin Seven at Donington Park. He was recognized as the greatest all-round driver of the present time, a maestro of trials, rallies, hill-climbs, an above-average Grand Prix conductor, and a skillful sports-racing car man. Dogged perseverance and genuine engineering skill brought him to the public notice, and, in his trial’s days, he was virtually invincible mainly due to an almost uncanny ability to produce the exact driving technique for particular sections. Again, he was an undoubted master of the eliminating test, I accompanied him as passenger in the first R.A.C. Trials Championship, in which he vanquished rivals who had been competing practically every weekend. Then who will ever forget the occasion when, after a complete absence from the sport, he constructed an A40 Austin-engined special, with which he once again trounced the opposition? In his three appearances, he won the Championship three times.
Ken was a natural for international rallies, winning the Lisbon event no less than three times, and also being victorious in the “Tulip”. In speed hill-climbs he had a remarkable record of successes, both with Cooper and E.R.A. Studying carefully the methods of the
bergmeisters Raymond Mays and Hans Stuck, it is fairly safe to say that he eventually surpassed the achievements of both, incidentally winning the R.A.C. Championship four times, and breaking innumerable course records. Probably the most recurring heading in Auto-sport was “Wharton Does it Again!”
He turned his attention to Formula 3 to gain experience in circuit events, but was only moderately successful in this class. In sports car racing Ken’s deeds with a Frazer-Nash soon brought his name to the notice of formula folk, and he eventually became a member of the B.R.M. team, driving that difficult 16-cylinder machine with great aplomb. He was a tremendous admirer of Raymond Sommer and of Juan Manuel Fangio. The latter was keenly interested in Wharton’s career, and offered him much valuable advice. At Albi in 1953, he initiated him into the art of ultra-high-speed cornering. Ken was a willing pupil, but, unfortunately, Fangio went into one bend even quicker than he normally does—which is very rapid indeed. Wharton, following behind, tried to keep up, but came completely unstuck. By some near-miracle he landed in a ditch, from which uncomfortable position he obtained a perfect view of his B.R.M. completely disintegrating as it somersaulted at about 150 m.p.h.
His experience with the Vanwall at Silverstone in 1955 was even more frightening, the car bursting into flames after crashing, and Ken escaping with burns. These incidents only made him more determined than ever. So soon as he was fit, Ken was at the wheel at the earliest possible moment, rather like the fighter pilot who, after baling out, is encouraged to go up right away.
In production car events Ken could always be counted on to supply the surprise element, and the public will not readily forget his fantastic drives with Daimlers, Austins and Ford Zephyrs. He was a member of the Jaguar team in 1955, and was also associated with the Swedish driver Joakim Bonnier, driving his Disco Volante Alfa Romeo on one or two occasions. In fact, it is almost impossible to estimate the number of different makes Ken drove during his career. I can name Austin, M.G., Alfa Romeo, E.R.A., B.R.M., Maserati, Ferrari, Frazer-Nash, Cooper, Daimler, Ford, Jaguar, Aston Martin, for a start, but there are probably far more.
Yes, indeed, the yellow overalls will be sadly missed from the circuits, The 40-year-old driver from Smethwick had a very large following in this country, and many a timid schoolboy had his day made when he went home from a race meeting with “Ken Wharton” scrawled in his autograph book.
Gregor Grant.
Source Autosport V14 N03 1957 January 18th – P69 Ken Wharton Obituary – source FB
