When racing was still affordable
02/26/2018
A formula racing car for a three-digit sum of money? Unimaginable, but a fact in 1968. The Russell Alexis Formula Ford cost exactly £999, fully assembled and ready for racing, apart from the need to break in the Ford Cortina GT four-cylinder engine and adjust the hardness of the shock absorbers to personal preference.
The monoposto was of course relatively simple in design, but Jim Russell, once a Grand Prix driver himself and a member of the Cooper works team, had used all his experience to develop the racing car. The bodywork consisted of three plastic elements that could be dismantled within 30 seconds.
It should also be noted that in 1968, 999 British pounds was equivalent to around 9500 DM or 10,260 Swiss francs and that you could have bought almost two VW Beetles for the equivalent value of this money. But on the racetrack, the Formula Ford was at least twice as fast as the Beetle and certainly a lot more fun.
