Image FF

[stevie m]

Does anyone know if the Image FF2/3/4/5 that raced during the seventies in Formula Ford 1600,were raced in FF2000? I've the chance to purchase a roller(FF2/3?) but don't fancy building it back into a 1600.

[Steve Wilkinson]

Originally Posted by stevie m

Does anyone know if the Image FF2/3/4/5 that raced during the seventies in Formula Ford 1600,were raced in FF2000? I've the chance to purchase a roller(FF2/3?) but don't fancy building it back into a 1600.

I am pretty sure there was a FF2000 version.

[Alan Morgan]

I run the Historic FF2000 Association with Iain (Delta) Rowley, and I've been doing quite a bit of research on the manufacturers. I'm up to 1980 at the moment, and I haven't found any mention of an Image FF2000, I'm afraid, even in the track test that Autosport did that year. If you can show I'm wrong, then you would be very welcome to convert the car and race with us.

Hope I'm allowed to post this link - http://www.historicff2000.co.uk

[Chris Townsend]

I'd agree with Alan on this. I've been building up FF2000 programmes for my results database and can't find an Image up to 1982.

Chris

[stevie m]

Oh well,back to the drawing board on that idea.Thanks for looking into it for me lads

[Dan Rear]

I agree, Image were one of the few 1600 makers who didn't convert a car to 2000, as far as I know. Why not keep it as a 1600 anyway, it'd be quite rare I would think, and distinctively looking.

[Alan Raine]

Robert Synge may know. He was involved with Image before setting up Madgwick Motorsport.

He's now involved in a company called Apollo Developments Ltd.

[Steve Wilkinson]

Having double checked my records I can't find any FF2000 Image cars. I must have been put-off by this car:



Peter Schoefield (Image) taken at 3 Sisters back in 2004 and looking very much like an FF2000.

[Alan Raine]

Originally Posted by Steve Wilkinson

Having double checked my records I can't find any FF2000 Image cars. I must have been put-off by this car:



Peter Schoefield (Image) taken at 3 Sisters back in 2004 and looking very much like an FF2000.

The exhaust is on the wrong side for a FF2000.

[Steve Wilkinson]

Originally Posted by Alan Raine

The exhaust is on the wrong side for a FF2000.

It was running a 1700 X-Flow rather than a Pinto.

[Dan Rear]

Looks like a Mallock mk 16 nosecone.

[stevie m]

Again,thanks for the info I take it that the yellow Image is in fact a converted FF1600 Chassis?,the nose and rear wing look like period FF2000 spec but the wheels are too big(but not for speed events)

[acadvent]

I was scanning through the posts on the subject of Image Race Cars as I am keen to try and find an FF2 or FF2B, part of the reason is that when I was very much younger I used to spend all my evenings and weekends working on the cars and trailing them all over the UK to race meetings.

When I first got involved the factory was in an old chicken farm complex at Tangmere near Chichester in Sussex.

I seem to remember the guy in the next unit was Tony Harvey and he ran Gunnar Nilsson when he was racing a Chevron in Formula Atlantic. Gunnar used to call by and we would use him as the weight when doing the set up on the Image as he was much the same weight and size as the then works driver, Frank Bayes.

I am still in frequent contact with Alan Langridge who was Image Race Cars and with Frank Bayes.

There has to be a an Image or two out there somewhere so if anyone has one it would be really good to hear.

These were the heady days of Formula Ford and the Image would often take the fight in the championships of the time to the likes of Derek Warwick, Derek Daley, Bernard Devaney, Rick Morris and I guess Jim Walsh and many others.

I have seen other odd manufacturers surfacing in the Historic and Classic Formula Ford grids so an Image is part of the missing ingredient!

Having read the other postings I cannot recall the factory ever building an FF2000 car even in the days when Robert Singe was involved.

Image did produce one, and only one, Formula Vee car that was exhibited at a show in St Johns Wood, London.

Mark Goddard was going to buy the car to race but i think it was not finished in time so he went a different route. I found all the original conceptual drawings for this car a while ago so it would be good to know where that went too?

So, if you have an Image lurking in the depths of a barn or shed somewhere it would be good to know about it if only to find out where they all went to!

Thanks for reading the post!

[Carlos Alberto]

Originally Posted by acadvent

I was scanning through the posts on the subject of Image Race Cars and .... When I first got involved the factory was in an old chicken farm complex at Tangmere near Chichester in Sussex.

That would have been 1974/1975... Is that you, Barry?

>>> I seem to remember the guy in the next unit was Tony Harvey...

Tony was working for a racing drivers' school based at Goodwood - I believe it was run by a guy called Peter Semus.
But Tony and Alan were friends and we used to meet him quite often when we had lunch at the Goodwood cafeteria. I hung around Tony's workshop for a few weeks and then got friendly with Alan and began to show up at Tangmere on a daily basis, trying to help out.

>>> I am still in frequent contact with Alan Langridge who was Image Race Cars...

Wow, so the old Francis Drake descendant is still alive and kicking!!! Please tell him Carlos from Brazil says hello! I "crash-tested" the original Image FF car twice in F Libre races in 1974: at Oulton Park in October and then again on November 04 at Llandow. I still carry 3 broken vertebrae from that last shunt, and that chassis was a write-off.

I was back in England from 1977 to the end of April, 1978, and Alan had moved to the Super Shell by then. The original chassis was bent like a banana and propped up against the outside wall. I used up one of my lives that rainy day at Llandow!

I'm sorry to butt in like this, but I've just found this forum and I had to register and jump right in!

[uj kid]

Hi, when was it that you did a bit of running arround for Alan ? I worked for Image from June 1976 at Tangmere and then carried on when we moved up to the 'Super Shell Building' at Goodwood. After the last of the ff's Alan designed the Navajo, this was a slightly larger version of the Mini moke and was based arround the Austin/Morris 11/1300. It did not go into full production though, I think about 6 were made. I made the 'plug' and mould for the all in one bonnet and the produced the first bonnet from that mould. I know that my reply is a couple of years late, but anyone reading this and who knows Alan and any of the workforce,,, It would be good to hear from. Brian.

[Andersxx11]

Would like to add some info about me owning a Image FF4 car.
I have chassie nr 002 and would really like to get info about initial owner.
Im in the process of making a complete refurbishing of the car and also need all info and input possible.
Would be nice to get some photo showing details of chassie etc.
Recently found one photo of a FF4 in germany.
Attaching that photo!
Best regards and hoping for more inputs.
Anders Öberg
Sweden

[Andy Turnock]

There are some body parts for an Image FF2/3 for sale on Ebay at the moment.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Formula-Ford-Image-FF2b-and-FF3-Cockpit-/271000155699?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item3f18de3633
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Formula-Ford-Image-FF2b-and-FF3-Nosecone-and-Mould-/271000156006?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item3f18de3766
Must be usefull if you've got one as spares.

[Andersxx11]

Ref: Image parts for sale on Ebay above message.
I contacted the seller and this is about all I got from him concerning Image:

From seller:
I had an FF3 I built in the factory at Goodwood back in early 77 and raced it through til end of 78
Initially it was front rad/wide nose but we changed to the later sharp nose/side rad
The FF2b of 74-76 was perhaps the most numerous model with numbers dropping until I think the FF5 was the last one?
The designer (Alan Langridge) was involved with the Navajo project http://www.ado16.info/navajo.php
Then he went to S. Africa in the late 80's, perhaps the USA in the 90's and appears to now be in France
I don't have any current details but you can read this forum at http://tentenths.com/forum/showthread.php?t=128817
and see what connection you might find..
Pictures online are very rare from this era![/I][/I][/B]:

Next reply:

No I didn't work for Image, I went to the factory to build up a kit of parts
The cars were sold as ready made or optionally as a kit for less money
I dont have any photos of the works & dont know much after 'my' years with the car
IIRC, a chap called Button (not Jensen!) raced the works FF4 for a while until budget problems arose..
There is so little info available about those 'analog days'!
BB
(Thanks to
- bigbikes929 seller of the Image parts on Ebay.

The search continues!!!
Best regards
Anders Swedish Image Owner.

[matteamotorsport3]

Originally Posted by acadvent

I was scanning through the posts on the subject of Image Race Cars as I am keen to try and find an FF2 or FF2B, part of the reason is that when I was very much younger I used to spend all my evenings and weekends working on the cars and trailing them all over the UK to race meetings.

When I first got involved the factory was in an old chicken farm complex at Tangmere near Chichester in Sussex.

I seem to remember the guy in the next unit was Tony Harvey and he ran Gunnar Nilsson when he was racing a Chevron in Formula Atlantic. Gunnar used to call by and we would use him as the weight when doing the set up on the Image as he was much the same weight and size as the then works driver, Frank Bayes.

I am still in frequent contact with Alan Langridge who was Image Race Cars and with Frank Bayes.

There has to be a an Image or two out there somewhere so if anyone has one it would be really good to hear.

These were the heady days of Formula Ford and the Image would often take the fight in the championships of the time to the likes of Derek Warwick, Derek Daley, Bernard Devaney, Rick Morris and I guess Jim Walsh and many others.

I have seen other odd manufacturers surfacing in the Historic and Classic Formula Ford grids so an Image is part of the missing ingredient!

Having read the other postings I cannot recall the factory ever building an FF2000 car even in the days when Robert Singe was involved.

Image did produce one, and only one, Formula Vee car that was exhibited at a show in St Johns Wood, London.

Mark Goddard was going to buy the car to race but i think it was not finished in time so he went a different route. I found all the original conceptual drawings for this car a while ago so it would be good to know where that went too?

So, if you have an Image lurking in the depths of a barn or shed somewhere it would be good to know about it if only to find out where they all went to!

Thanks for reading the post!

Hello from Australia!

i have just found this forum and was looking for some information
i am currently restoring an 1978 image FF3 no. 023. to comply with the class rules the car must be as it was back in 1980 when it was first raced here. the car, somewhere along the way, has been converted to pushrod rear suspension in place of the out board shock that it had originally been running and now, to comply with class rules, the out board suspension must be used. i was wondering if anybody in this forum had and photos and/or drawings of the out board suspension on the FF3. if this is unsuccessful, does anyone know of a way to contact Alan Langridge to acquire any drawings from him.

Thank you in advance.

[John Turner]

Good first post acadvent; welcome.

[acadvent]

Hi thanks for the comments.

I dont know why I havent been on this site and forum before; I must have had my head well buried in the sand!!

There is a mine of information here one way or another.

Interesting that there is reference to Image Race Cars on a different thread, it would seem sensible for the two to merge somehow as now we have two possible cars that could re-emerge into racing.

In days gone by there were a few classes for older cars.

Pre 74 has become HSCC Historic Formula Ford I think.

Then is there a Classic Formula Ford for cars up to 1982?

I have two Lola T644Es which would have been eligible a few years ago for the BRSCC Super Classic series but that has died a death now I think?

One of the dilemmas of UK Motorsport, way too many formulae and way too confusing!!

I have been in this for several decades and I can still get lost with it so what must it be like for someone just taking their ARDS test and thinking of racing??

James Beckett should have knighthood for his efforts in trying to bring all the Kent brigades together and the likes of Diz at BRSCC NW and Pete Alexander for their unfailing enthusiasm!!

Maybe I should have registered as "Confused of Norfolk"!!!

[MikeB]

I ran an Image FF2B in the 1980s. I bought it as a roller with Mk8 Hewland from a FF team near Snetterton as the Pre 74 class had just been announced, so it fitted the bill !! Got it back to Belfast and about a month later the MSA issued a release saying that the FF2B had been withdrawn from the Pre 74 list........

However, I was running it in hillclimbs and sprints, so that didn't matter too much.

Here is the car in testing at Kirkistown




However the first sprint was at Aghadowey, another airfield track with chicanes marked out with lorry tyres !! So when I misjudged my braking the nose was first to suffer.

I ran it with a makeshift alloy one on it for a while until Ian maple gave me a couple of spare nose cones he had about........which came off a Mallock. This was grafted onto the surviving end of the Image nose to produce this :-




Not necessarily the prettiest but Hey the 80s aren't known for their fashion

From what I remember about the car, they were short wheelbase and reasonably twitchy, so let's just say it taught me to be neat, especially on the Ulster hills. This is Croft about 1986.




I was getting married and the car was sold to help finance that, for about 900 quid I think.

Before I bought it I had been offerred a Crossle 30F complete and a 25F rollers for £1800 and I didn't buy them.........Ouch !

[Chris Townsend]

There's a really useful feature on Image in Autosport 15 May 1980, pages 28-30

From it we can pretty much summarize the build history of the cars

1974
FF1 prototype raced by John Morrison, then Mike Wrigley
Funnily enough, this car for sale in Autosport 15 May, 1980, p. 67 "original works car" Melton Mowbray phone number

three sold
"1" Mike Fulmar Taylor
"2" David Wigdor
"3" John Woodcock

1975
FF2 works car for Frank Bayes
10 cars sold by the end of the year

1976
FF2B works car for Bayes, debuted at Boxing Day '75 Brands meeting
Six at least sold
Mike Fulmar Taylor
David Wigdor, later sold to Barney Holland-Martin

Bayes has accident, whilst he's recovering works car loaned to Stanley Dickens in Sweden

1977-78 Break in production

1978
FF4 development chassis

1979
FF4 Works car for Tony Reid then Gary Scott
Two works rental cars
One of the works cars sold in 1980 to Martin Stone

Chassis sold to
Ian Thomas
Cliff Webb
Brian Sims
Andrew Rickman
Werner Janus [Germany]

1980
FF5
Sales to
Guy Wrench
Werner Janus [Germany] I think Janus was acting as an agent
Stephen Samengo-Turner
Robert Synge


Wonder if we can work out where they are!

Chris

[Alan Morgan]

I used to work with a guy called Chris Delaney at Gordon Spice's warehouse in Staines. Chris bought a new Image in 1976. From memory it was a similar shade of green to the Jim Russell Lotus 59 that Emerson Fittipaldi drove.

[Carlos Alberto]

Originally Posted by Chris Townsend

There's a really useful feature on Image in Autosport 15 May 1980, pages 28-30

From it we can pretty much summarize the build history of the cars

1974
FF1 prototype raced by John Morrison, then Mike Wrigley
Funnily enough, this car for sale in Autosport 15 May, 1980, p. 67 "original works car" Melton Mowbray phone number

Hi - it's really "funny" that this car should have been for sale: I wrote this chassis off on November 04, 1974, in practice for the F Libre race at Llandow. Mike Wrigley had just qualified it for the FF race and I went out and smashed it up against the guardrail. The last time I saw this chassis (late April, 1978) it was bent like a banana and propped up against the outside wall of the Super Shell building at Goodwood, where Alan had moved his new company (Image) after wrapping up FSL Cars. The original FF1 car (tested/set up (raced?) by Morrison and raced by Mike and me) was never rebuilt after Llandow. At least as a race car!

Humm.... it reminds of the story that famous Western gunfighter Bat Masterson used to buy up cheapo guns from pawnshops in New York City and sell them to people who asked him for his original guns from sheriff days...

Just my 2 cents!