JACK LORD
M
y Dad Jack was born in Burnley,
Lancashire, in 1934. For those who
remember those years, it wasn't easy for
anyone but for our Dad, it was particularly enduring
. After losing his mother at the tender age of four,
he was brought up mainly by his grandmother.
Ever the resourceful lad, he found work on a farm
close by and such was the poverty around him
that this at least took care of breakfast and meant
he started the day with a full stomach, something
many around him didn’t have.
At school, he was
an “A” student. He
qualified for the
one free place
available
at grammar
school but with no money for
such finery as a uniform, dad
knocked out the first person who
commented on his clothes and was
expelled from Day One.
Such intelligence requires an outlet and thankfully
he chose to focus on gaining an understanding of
the petrol engine. This meant he would spend his
time tinkering with the farm machinery - in
particular the farmer’s Motor cycle. Around the
age of 17 , he met Mum, who became his lifelong
wife which lasted until August this year.
Dad enlisted in the army joining the REME without
1934 - 2013.
telling anyone, which of course allowed him to
choose the service he wanted - which was the
Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. As a
young Army cadet, he was racing for the REME
Speedway Team in Egypt and raced around the 33
mile camp perimeter in all kinds of army vehicles.
Leaving the Army, Dad had become a fully
qualified Motor Vehicle mechanic. It was in the
1960s that his fascination for racing started with
the newish sport of Stock car racing. Over the
years, he also ventured into sprint racing against
the clock and a little bit of circuit racing - but it was
always the Stock Car that Dad enjoyed the most
racing F1s, F2s and Outlaws.
As time went on, Dad got his own garage and I
always remember seeing some sort of racing car in
there. In fact I cannot remember a time when
he wasn't either building an engine, a
racing car, a kit car, renovating
a classic car or a motor
bike. Over the
years, Dad and
my two brothers
started racing at the
same time at their local
track Warton Raceway,
Lancashire. Dad was in his element when he was
building a new car and engine and we've covered
some of his strange and wonderful (now classic)
cars in our previous magazines.
Dad's cars would be tuned to absolute precision. If
he could lighten the car by changing the style of
the chassis, he would. He’d do anything that could
give him the edge and a better chance of winning.
If HE didn't win, others did with his car. He did win
a few races over the years including one meeting
where he won three out of three races on the day something he would reminded my brothers of on a
regular basis. However it was Dads Pride and Joy
that both my brothers had taken the track
Championship
a first!
As his daughter, I vividly remember him saying
things that sounded ridiculous (at the time) - for
example, when I was 18 (1978) he said - "One day,
smoking will be banned from all public places". In
July 2007 - 29 years later - it happened. When I
was 23, he said "One day, computers will fit in your
pocket. " In \