It was pretty tough to grab headlines at the 31st running of the world’s most famous endurance race at Le Mans in 1963. But if anything came close to upstaging the mighty Ferrari 250GTOs on their full debut, the Cobras’ brutal – but ultimately failed – coup, or the astonishing attrition rate that led to just 12 classified finishers, it was the news that a 997cc Mini-powered racer had blasted through Les Hunaudières café speed-trap on the Mulsanne Straight at 152.6mph. In the blink of an eye, a little equipe from Acton (the ‘Deepy’ team as it was known in the pitlane) went from a last-minute arrival, which missed practice and struggled through scrutineering, to the shoestring-budget folk heroes of the event.
The Deep Sanderson that achieved this feat was the brainchild of racer, designer and maverick Chris Lawrence at the suggestion of trusty lieutenant Len Bridge. The name, supposedly derived from the jazz tune Heep Sanderson and Lawrence’s mother’s maiden name, had first adorned his Formula Junior racers, which used his pioneering LawrenceLink front suspension. Having made his name by dominating the production sports car scene with a Morgan +4, and having cleaned up in class at Le Mans in 1962, Lawrence started to cast his net further.