As a tribute to mark the sad passing of legendary motorsport team manager Stuart Turner on Monday 8 September, we publish the following report of ‘An Evening with Stuart Turner’, hosted by Swansea Motor Club 14 April 2013
Almost 150 South Wales motor club members and business leaders were held enthralled for three hours on Wednesday 10 April, when renowned motorsport personality and award-winning speaker Stuart Turner gave a talk on his career in international motor sport and business.
The evening was organized by Swansea Motor Club with support from Trainer Mini of Swansea and held at the Village Hotel in Swansea’s maritime quarter (below).
With his typical self-deprecating, modest and laconic style of easy-listening delivery, Stuart started by saying that despite coming from a non-motoring family he developed a lifelong interest in motorsport following a chance outing in the rear seat of a car competing on a short club rally. This ignited his enthusiasm, leading to him competing in 60 events in his first year: sometimes three in a weekend! As his expertise and reputation grew he became co-driver to some famous and successful names including Erik Carlsson and Pat Moss in most of the major international rallies of the era.
He became so consumed in rallying he rejected a respectable career in accountancy and took a job as Sports Editor of ‘Motoring News’, sharing office space with the redoubtable Bill Boddy and roving grand prix correspondent, Denis Jenkinson of sister publication MotorSport.
The reputation and good connections he soon created for himself in journalism and motor sport made him the natural successor to Marcus Chambers when he retired as Competitions Manager at BMC, managing the rally team and becoming the architect of a hat-trick of wins for the Mini Cooper S on Monte Carlo Rallies in the 60s.
The list of Stuart’s dining companions at one of the post Monte Carlo rally victory dinners read like a who’s who of the era; Jo Bonnier, Graham Hill, Paddy Hopkirk, Henry Liddon and – Fangio, although neither spoke the other’s language.
Stuart considered this his finest hour; closely followed by an impromptu concert given by Peter Cook and Dudley Moore one evening after a BMC publicity function for upmarket guests and dealers in an idyllic chateau on the Cote d’Azur; when the guests had finally departed the audience comprised of the chateau owner, his stunning wife, Turner, Cook and Moore.
Oh, and then there was the time that Ringo Star missed his flight to the USA with the rest of the Fab Four and, ever the PR professional, Turner collected him in a Mini Cooper and rushed him to catch another flight, all done in the midst of a plethora of popping press flashguns.
Stuarts’s tenure at BMC was followed by two years as Publicity Manager at Castrol and, after a respectable buffer of time, Stuart joined one of BMC’s fiercest competitors, Ford, as Competitions Manager.
At Ford he guided the team to wins on the Safari and London-to-Mexico blue-riband rallies as well as many others. Later he headed a special Ford Division which designed and manufactured performance cars and, in 1975, was elevated to the role of Director of Ford Public Affairs.
In 1983 Stuart was appointed as Ford’s Director, European Motor Sports, with responsibility of their race and rally program across Europe and it was under his leadership that Ford secured both World and European Championships.
He then recalled his delight at working with UK chairman Sam Toy and European vice president Walter Hayes in the top strata of management within the ‘blue oval’ which included a prominent involvement in Formula One facilitating the Cosworth DFV and working with Jackie Stewart, John Surtees and Colin Chapman, to name just three of the many F1 luminaries he worked with at this time.
The Turner name was later connected with running Lotus and Stuart did admit to having a pleasant lunch with ‘Chunky’ Chapman, but both agreed that they were unlikely to be able to work in harmony together and shook hands before going their separate ways.
Stuart told of the vagaries of gaining homologation from the FIA for international competition and the subterfuge employed by some manufacturers. He also recalled projects that had been successful under his tenure; Escort Turbo, Sierra Cosworth, together with those he had been forced to cancel, including the RS 1700, C100 Sports Prototype, GT70 and of course the RS200.
The latter following group ‘B’s demise, when the FIA cancelled the category as a knee-jerk reaction just hours after Henri Toivonen’s fatal and violent accident whilst leading the 1986 Tour de Corse.
By coincidence, the man responsible for manufacturing the high-quality fibre glass bodywork for the Ford RS200; Ken Attwell was in the audience at Swansea’s Village Hotel. Seeing the time was right, Stuart retired from Ford in the early nineties but has been active ever since with a myriad motorsport interests, writing over 20 books and high-profile speaking engagements.
He was in fact voted Benedictine ‘After Dinner Speaker of the Year’ in 1988, my statement not his. Stuart’s project involved making a DVD for the Motor Sport Safety Fund, for which he is a founder member and trustee. He was also a passionate advocate of grass roots motorsport and motor club life which explains his willingness to deliver regular talks to enthusiasts throughout the world.
Stuart Turner 1933 – 2025
© Words by Ken Davies
