It’s not everyday we get to see somebody’s last ever motor race. At Silverstone earlier this month, we got to see just that. New Zealander Allan Scott who at 75 years young brought down the curtain on his time behind the wheel, and has hung up his helmet for good – electing a British Automobile Racing Club event to take his final laps.
The Kiwi is the current custodian of the fabled – lesser spotted Mazda 323F Super Tourer. The halcyon days of Super Touring will be perhaps remembered with the examples from Ford, Vauxhall, Renault – maybe even Volvo and Nissan. Mazda was there and played a part in the mystique of the era. Patrick Watts campaigned the early Shell-backed 323F before Ian Cantwell took it into private hands in ‘93.
In that same season Watts was tasked to develop the ‘Rhubarb and Custard’ coloured Xedos which included a maiden pole position at Snetterton. While Watts was drafted into the Peugeot fold for 1994, David Leslie and Matt Neal stepped up to drive for the Japanese manufactuer, but the project folded halfway through the season. Ex F1 driver and ABBA drummer Slim Borgudd was lined up to race the new compact Mazda 323F in the BTCC 1995 – but the car never raced in Britain despite lapping at the media preview day.
Fast forward 30 years, the car with its current owner was taking to the track – for a special occasion as Allan’s family travelled from different places around the world to watch him take part in his final race weekend. We sat down with Allan to talk about the car and his fascinating career in motor racing.
Let’s go back to the beginning. Where did it start?
“Well, I’m from New Zealand, so we were basically special stage rallying. Then I came to the UK thinking I would do some rallying but I decided maybe it was better to actually work in this situation! I ended up staying in the UK for 16 years and I was involved in engine design and I worked for a company called TWR and helped set-up their engine division. So I did all of the Jaguar Group A and Group C engines. The last thing I did here was the first year of the Volvo in the BTCC, and then I returned to New Zealand.”
You come back across to compete in events here?
“I came over for Brands Hatch in June and now back for my final motor race at Silverstone. This was going to be the last race I ever do and then I am going to sell the car. I’m 75, the cars are quite a handful, as far as they’re quite physical – but it was something I wanted to own and drive and wanted to just enjoy it all in 2025. I’ve owned a few cars back in New Zealand. I’ve owned two of the factory Rovers. and I bought this about seven years ago and made some friends over here many years ago and they helped me run the car. I’ve got three grandchildren now and my youngest daughter has a business in Cambodia. She’s come over for the race. This is the first time she’s seen me race – so it’s all come full circle!”
Was there a particular reason which drew you to the Mazda 323 – because it’s got quite an interesting history hasn’t it?
“I knew Roger Dowson from Roger Dowson Engineering who built the car, he actually was a weekend warrior at TWR. The car came up for sale, I thought, yeah, okay – I’ll buy it. I’d owned two Rovers before, one remains in New Zealand and I sold one that came back to the UK. So it was just one of those things you do and the connection with Roger and it’s a lovely wee car, I love it.
“It was built at the end of 1994. I think it was the last Mazda that Roger built. It was built for Slim Borgudd, the ex F1 driver and session drummer at ABBA. And then something happened, the money never turned up. So the car sat for a long time. I think there was a court case over it, unfortunately. Bills not being paid, etc. Then it’s been raced probably by three or four other people in historic racing over the time. And I’ve owned it for seven years.”
You mentioned your time at TWR. You must have had some great experiences with Jaguar in Group C and the like. What was that like to be a part of that project?
“It was obviously tough at the beginning, but then the rewards came at the end. TWR was a company that grew rapidly. I started in 1979 when they were racing one car. So Tom was always probably one year ahead of where you felt you were even uncomfortable with doing something! Group C was quite a challenge because there was a fuel formula, there were a lot of differing opinions on how and where to go. I really wasn’t supportive of the V12 engine to start with, but we didn’t have many options either. Tom had someone else in Europe working on a turbo six cylinder but that never actually saw the light of day and by that time I’d been working with Zytec, and when we got to 1985 we had a fairly advanced engine management system and I think that was the key to turning the V12 into a decent engine. It was definitely the right thing because people think about and talk about the V12 to this day. It is quite the iconic engine… and sound!”
It’s an honour for the British Automobile Racing Club to have you compete in our events, especially your last one. What was the feeling, what’s the emotional state like now?
“Well, truly, I mean, six years ago, I was going through the right hander at the end of the Hamilton straight in fifth gear, and I started the weekend going through fourth. So that says it all perhaps! By the end of the race I was just about having the confidence to grab fifth however!
“I said to my friends at the beginning of the year, I never thought that I would ever, as a 75 year old, come to Britain to race at Brands Hatch and race at Silverstone and that’s the way I’ve decided to sign my racing life off. It mightn’t be very fast, but not many people can say they’ve driven one of these amazing cars at these circuits. Silverstone means more to me than say Buckingham Palace in terms of iconic British locations. I’m lucky to be able to do this with friends and family.
