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Ted Lisle

Ted Lisle, Cooper S, Caversham 1966 (Lionel McPherson)

THE LISLE family have a long connection with motoring - Edward Lisle (the first) founded The Star Motor Company in Wolverhampton, UK, as an offshoot of the family bicycle manufacturing business, producing their first car in 1898. The firm was one of the most successful in Britain before World War 1, and was producing expensive medum sized luxury cars when it folded in the Depression, only a few years after being bought by the Guy Company.

Edward John (Ted) Lisle, grandson of the first Edward Lisle, joined the RAF straight out of school, and when the war came he found himself in France, flying antiquated Fairey Battles against the might of the Luftwaffe. When France collapsed, he flew back to UK in his plane with nothing but the clothes he was wearing and a stray kitten. He converted to Lancasters, and flew more than 100 bombing sorties over Germany. He ended the War in the famous Pathfinder Squadron, and had won the DFC.

For a time he flew Lancastrians (the passenger conversion of the Lancaster) for British South American Airways, a risky business in the immediate postwar years. Notoriously, two Lancastrians vanished without trace over the Atlantic Ocean en route to South America, and the type was subsequently barred from carrying passengers. His own Lancastrian flying was in Latin America itself, arguable even more hazardous than the Atlantic route.

He then rejoined the RAF and was on the development team for the giant Avro Vulcan delta-wing bomber. It was then that he got interested in Vintage Sports car racing, driving Bomber Command's own 3-litre Bentley. He paid £20 for a box of parts of an Amilcar, which turned out to be parts of three cars. This led to a quest for information on this French sports car, and the formation of the Amilcar Register, which is still active today in the UK. He built two complete cars from the box of bits, and both cars had long Vintage racing careers in Ted's and other hands. He also raced several modern racing cars, including a Formula 2 Harper-Max Climax FWA in 1958, and even had a test drive in the prototype Kieft Grand Prix car.

After he left the RAF he ran a plant hire business, and then decided to pack up and migrate to Australia. He first made enquiries to find out the most suitable car to bring out for racing. The very sensible advice was to bring a Cooper S, so in 1964 he made his debut at Caversham in an ex-works Mini Cooper 1071S. The Cooper was just about unbeatable in the Under 1100cc class, and Ted was lucky enough to experience the last of the happy-go-lucky round-the-house days, including the last Albany meeting in 1964.

The 1071S later became a 1275S, as the arrival of more Cooper S sedans made the competition tougher. His greatest rival was Jeff Dunkerton in the ex-Manton car, and Ted and Jeff were constantly trying to outdo each other. Working for Don O’Sullivan at The General Agency meant that he was well placed to secure a drive when Don bought the Lola, and it is a matter of history that the very first time the Lola T70 raced in WA it won – with Ted Lisle at the wheel. He co-drove for Don in the Surfers Paradise Six Hour race, but their race ended when the Lola struck oil and slammed into the Armco.

Ted Lisle’s racing career virtually ended with the closure of Caversham in 1968, but his son, Rick, also a Mini Cooper S driver, kept the Lisle name before the public for a few more years with his mastery of the Mini Cooper S.

In 2002 Ted was holidaying in Bali when he had a massive stroke and died, aged 82.