WHEN Huddersfield racing driver John Mitchell had a premonition of dying at the wheel of his sports car, he just had to sell it.

Just weeks later, its new owner was killed in the Brabham BT 14.

As a founder of the Huddersfield Racing Team which won 54 national and international races in 1959, John has witnessed five fatal accidents and learned to trust his instincts.

Soon to be 80, he lives with his wife of 26 years Audrie in Farnley Tyas. He now finds it harder to relate to the modern sport – but still watches!

He said: “You can’t compare driving now to what it was then, the health and safety is so much tighter.

“Once we raced at Oulton Park and it was only when there was an accident we discovered the ambulance had no battery.

“The demands of the machine has taken away so much skill.

“I think my driving was a bit more like Jensen Button’s, you have to feel part of the car.

“If you don’t have the top car now you haven’t a cat in hell’s chance so it’s become more about the machine than the man.”

John grew up around cars, his father Laurie Mitchell being one of Ford’s first agents in the UK, his son soon making trips to Dagenham to collect parts and bring them back to Brockholes Motor Company at the bottom of East Parade.

Aged 18 in 1948, he went to Ford for a five year course, immersing himself in every aspect of the work and returning to Brockholes as a manager and eventual sales director.

He said: “We started with the old Ford Popular and I ran one, it was perfectly tuned so it was pretty quick!

“Then, I bought my first racing car, a Lotus for about £400, with a Japanese 500cc rear engine.

“I raced all over the country and the reports would appear every Wednesday in The Examiner.”

His career records include around 150 first places, in an age when indulging in competitive driving was to take your life in your hands.

Lovers of the Ford Anglia, however owe a debt to John.

He said: “That was a car I was invited to test drive, as were Graham Hill, Roy Salvadori and Bruce McLaren.

“We were paid £600 a week which was a lot of money in those days.

“We had added ZX tyres and the only problem was the wheel bearings started to go.

“We had to drive it for 10,000 miles and Graham Hill flipped it – he later confessed to nodding off.”

In July 1959 with Tony Lanfranchi, 24 and John Heppenstall, of Elland, the Huddersfield Racing Team enjoyed an exceptional year of 54 awards, driving Marcuses (“horrible, made completely of wood”) and his favourite, The Ace Bristol.

Aged 40 however, John thought he was pushing his luck and ended his competitive career, going on to establish John Mitchell’s Honley Ltd and selling the business before moving as a director to Appleyards.

He added: “When I retired I got into boats and had a 37-footer – a lot safer.”

Now enjoying retirement, he said: “I liked working in the business, but all I ever wanted to do was race motor cars.”