Chevron B8 to celebrate with one-off race

The Historic Sports Car Club’s (HSCC) is to stage a dedicated one-off race for the Chevron B8 for the first time to mark the car’s 50^th anniversary.

Over 20 Chevron B8’s and early Chevron B6’s will at the Oulton Park Gold Cup meeting over the 2018 August Bank Holiday weekend.

The Chevron B8 remains one of the most enduringly popular sports-racing car designs and was one of the most successful projects from talented designer and engineer Derek Bennett, the founder of Chevron.

The cars were built in a former mill in Bolton and were regularly tested and raced at Oulton Park.

In 1967, Chevron produced around six or seven examples of the model initially called the GT. Later in 1968, the GT was re-named as the B6. One of the most successful B6s is the car of Michael Schryver, a regular winner in the HSCC’s Guards Trophy and a four-time HSCC champion over more than 30 years.

More than 40 B8s were built during 1968 as GT or Group 4 cars, many with 2-litre BMW engines although some used Ford-based FVA or FVC engines. More B8s were produced than any other Chevron model during the decade that the company was at the forefront of UK race car production.

The B8 made its race debut at Cadwell Park in early March 1968 in the hands of John Bridges and won its first race with Phil Silverston at Silverstone on 30 March 1968.

Grahame White, Chief Executive Officer of the HSCC, said: “The Chevron B8 is one of the most desirable and sought-after sports-racing cars of a generation and we thought it was very appropriate to mark the car’s 50th anniversary with a race at Oulton Park. Derek Bennett was a truly gifted race car designer and constructor but was a very unassuming character. I think he would be amazed, but quietly rather pleased, that we are going to celebrate 50 years of one his most successful designs.”