SPORTING & HISTORIC CAR ENGINEERS - Key Persons
"My first job was with the Civil Service and after seven years I took a break to have my three children. I then worked for various companies bookkeeping and doing administration and secretarial work. In my spare time I have enjoyed sewing, singing (barbershop), amateur dramatics (panto), puppeteering and now looking after the grandchildren (phew)! My father had been in the motor trade and nurtured in me a love of cars so when I was asked to work exclusively for Tim it was just right for me. That was in 1991. I started doing Tim's books and gradually took on more secretarial work, running the office and eventually becoming Company Secretary. After nearly thirty years of working together we have seen the business grow into the successful company it is today."
Ben Bradley has had a passion for cars and engineering from an early age and over the past 20 years has established a career which has given him the opportunity to work on some of the most famous race and road cars in history, such as Porsche 993 GT2 & 962, Ferrari 250 SWB & 1957 Testarossa, Aston Martin Vantage GT3 & GT4 to name but a few! Having worked his magic at a respected Porsche race team, Ferrari dealership and Prodrive, Ben has always appreciated the old and the new when it comes to cars and finds working in this industry both exciting and rewarding. One of the highlights of his career has been to rebuild, prepare and support the 1959 Le Mans winning Aston Martin DBR1/2.
Ben has gained a wealth of experience in several different championships over his 20 year Motorsport career. He started with junior single seaters from Formula Ford, BMW, Formula 3, and then moved onto A1GP, Formula 1, British Touring cars, Speedcar, Prototypes, GT's and Formula E. There's not much he hasn't had his hands on over the years. Ben finds nothing more rewarding than building and preparing a beautiful car and is passionate in ensuring all work done at S&H cars is done to the highest standard and as efficiently as possible.
Duncan's love affair with cars started when he visited Beaulieu as a child, then witnessed Keke Rosberg's extravagant driving style in early eighties F1. A career in cars/motorsport beckoned, starting at renowned Aston Martin restorers Oselli. Ten years later he joined Prodrive as an engine technician, a few years later being in charge of the Subaru WRC engine build programme, winning multiple world drivers and Constructors' Championships with Colin McRae, Richard Burns and Petter Solberg. He joined Sporting & Historic to rekindle his love of classic cars, serving over 12 years to date.
Tim spent his childhood on a farm, saving his pocket money and buying his first motorbike - a BSA Bantam - when he was 10 years old. After leaving school he took an apprenticeship engineering course at Banbury College.
His first job was working for his local motorcycle dealer and when they took on a Yamaha agency he looked after that side of the business. Meanwhile he started preparing and racing motorcycles in the British Championship and home international with a lot of success.
In his spare time he helped a local enthusiast who owned some classic cars including a Ferrari 275 GTB where he got the bug for this type of work.
He worked for a while at Hesketh on the prototype motorcycle until the launch and then went to look for a change in career.
While working at a Ford dealership for a while he realised that part of the industry didn't really have what he was looking for so in November 1989 he found premises and set up on his own. He started out by looking for historic cars to prepare and restore and soon started working on Aston Martin, Porsche and Ferrari.
His first break came in 1991 when he was given the 1959 Le Mans winning Aston Martin DBR1. This required a total rebuild and, because it still had the original engine, it was decided to build a completely new motor. Tim sought out foundries and machine shops and oversaw the manufacture of his first engine. Its first outing was the 1993 Ecosse Tour where the proud owner enjoyed the car to its full extent. It was then decided that the car should be raced and, with Peter Hardman driving, the rest became history with numerous wins in all the major races.