Kenneth McAlpine, OBE DL (born 21 September 1920 – dead 8 April 2023) is a British former racing driver from England. He was born in Cobham, Surrey.
He participated in 7 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 19 July 1952. He scored no championship points. Info from Wiki
Bio by Stephen Latham
Kenneth McAlpine participated in 7 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, making his debut on 19 July 1952.
During the development of the Connaught Racing Team, he became a financial backer and enjoyed several team owner triumphs, including Tony Brooks’s memorable F1 victory at Syracuse, Italy in 1955. The team was eventually broken up in 1958 and cars sold off, one or two going to a young Bernie Ecclestone.
After retiring from Grands Prix, he established a successful wine growing business at his estate in Lamberhurst, Kent.
A member of the famous McAlpine construction family, Kenneth McAlpine competed in several Grands Prix races in the 1950s and was also the chief financier behind the Connaught marque. He started to compete in hillclimbs and sprints with an ex-Whitney Straight Maserati 8CM and would later compete on the great road racing circuits of Europe, both in the Connaught L3 sports car and the Connaught Grand Prix cars.
His Maserati 8CM was prepared and developed for him by Mike Oliver and Rodney Clarke Clarke, at Bugatti specialists Continental Cars. He was impressed and agreed to fund their plans for the construction of a new sports car in 1950. The following year the Connaught company built F2 machines and he finished second in one in the Daily Mail Trophy at Boreham.
1952 saw an expansion and there was a works team with them being joined by drivers such as Ken Downing, Reg Parnell and Mike Hawthorn.
He raced in the 1952 British and Italian GPs, finishing 16th at Silverstone though retired at Monza. In the following year, he unfortunately retired from the British and Dutch GPs though finished 13th at the German GP.
He made one more GP start, in 1955, though his Connaught retired in the British GP. During that time he also finished second in the British Empire Trophy at Oulton Park though sadly retired from his debut in the Le Mans 24 Hours with engine failure during the night. Besides his racing, he enjoyed several team owner triumphs, including Tony Brooks’s memorable F1 victory at Syracuse in 1955.
1955 was his last season and he retired from racing to get married and work in the family business. The Connaught team continued racing with drivers such as Archie Scott-Brown, Jack Fairman, Ron Flockhart and Stuart Lewis-Evans though the team would later be broken up in 1958 and cars were sold off, including one to a young Bernie Ecclestone.
Although his racing was largely confined to England, he had nevertheless raced at Le Mans, learnt the 170 plus corners of the Nurburgring, slipstreamed along the straight at Monza and experienced the vertical and horizontal G forces on the AVUS track in Berlin with its brick banking.
To replace the exhilaration of racing cars, he took up yacht racing and Kenneth would later be awarded the OBE for services to the building industry while further business interests included McAlpine Helicopters and his acclaimed Lamberhurst Vineyard on the Kent Downs.
