Uncle of Jason Cronshaw

World Champion
1971
British Champion
1970   1976
British Open Cup
1979
Champion Of Champions
1976
Driver Of The Year
1975
Grand National Champion
1975
Northern Drivers Champion
1971   1975   1980
Yorkshire Open Champion
1975
World Championship Semi-Final
1970   1972   1981
Frida and Peter Arnold Memorial Trophy
1975

Doug Cronshaw: The Innovator

This all happened way back when of course, and some people may consider nostaglia an overrated commodity, but as Carl is making a massive effort to document the sport for posterity, it is an excellent notion for anybody with a personal recollection to advance the exercise and contribute to the pot. Any road up, what about this Cronshaw fella?

The Smith/Cronshaw saga is one of Stock Car Racing's most famous, of course. The exploits of the Dynamic Duo and their subsequent split are well known. What the breakup gave us was two intriguing stories and a development that took two directions. On the one hand Smith pursued his goals with a determination that approached obsession, while observers at the time could assume that Cronshaw just seemed to enjoy it more. Respective parentage has more than a little bearing here.

Innovation might be the last thing you would think of with regard to the Cronshaw offering in 1969, which was a very fair copy of the Ron Rogers ex-Nev Hughes car which was built in '63. The logic was that the Hughes package was still effective despite the effects of several seasons hard use. A reincarnation with a better motor and a heavier foot on the throttle (no disrespect of Ron Rogers is suggested here) should produce results. One thing put a spanner in the works, Mr Smith and his battering ram was a revelation, and the new Topolino bodied 396 machine did not handle as well as the Rogers car, which was well bent by '69 but evidently none the worse for it. In fact the Nev Hughes Buick soldiered on for several more seasons and even won a final on the rutted dirt of White City in 1974, in the hands of... Doug Cronshaw!

Factors which produced something different and startling for 1970 were the necessity to carry on with Doug's existing motor, a Pontiac 389 and a Cronshaw fan passing a collection of "Hot Rod" magazines back issues to Doug. Mainly devoted to street rods and drag racing there was a modicum of attention given to oval track machinery, and evidently a seed was planted. The carried over Pontiac necessitated weight saving on a grand scale, and frame construction based on 3.1/2 x 3.1/2 tube with a wall thickness of 3/16th. In these metric times that equates to circa 90 x 90mm with a wall less than 5mm. , Front and rear crossmembers were notable for their absence, the minimal bumpers did double duty. The engine and Ford gearbox were set well back in the frame, mounted via the cylinder heads. The nerf rails were vestigal to say the least, and the whole thing was topped off with a well fabricated roll cage that was crash tested early on at Northampton.

The pictures of the car as completed featured a WOT2 axle up front, springs from the same source and a British standard Morris LD. The stance of the car was much improved by an early replacement of the WOT2 setup with an LD front axle and springs. The rude mechanicals were nothing out of the ordinary, the radical approach to the bodywork was what people talked about. At that time the stock body was still in the rule book, although how it was acknowledged varied more than a little. George Ansell had just ignored the rule in 1967 and produced a car almost as minimal as the 396. By contrast Jim Potter had a Darkie Wright construction which looked bog standard Gangstermobile, pinstriped overalls would have been appropriate.

The soon to be christened Potent Mix made do with a chunk of Triumph Herald for the roof, and a boot robbed from a Standard 8, which was so basic when introduced that it lacked an opening boot, the metalwork cut and shut quite nicely. The car was featured in "Custom Car" magazine at the time and the body was said to be an absolutely standard Triumph!

Doug Cronshaw has recently confirmed with hand on heart that the car as seen weighed bang on 22cwt. It was a calculated risk to produce such a car at the time; a good example of the confidence of youth and excellent fabrication skills. It is very easy to have weight creep into a car build, Willie Harrison took delivery of car which attempted to carry over the appearence of his Leighton car in 1970. Built by Tony Neal to a high standard, the legend on the chassis stated "24cwt 2lbs". At a weigh-in at Belle Vue in '71 the weight was recorded as 28cwt and change. The same scale session recorded the Potent Mix as over 25cwt, the lightest star car.

The reason for its middle age spread was a damn great Chevrolet 454 replacing the Pontiac motor and much more sensible side armour and ironwork front and rear, which ruined the car to such an extent that it lucked into a World Final win! Go figure. The label on that Chevrolet's valve cover confirm that it was a standard factory motor but just about the best vintage of '71, an LS6. The figures for the engine were thought to be understated by the factory with a view to slipping into a lower drag class but the E.T's told the truth. This "first 454" won WF71, almost won WF72 and served Dave Chisholm well. One of a batch imported by the Cronshaws, Douglas remembers the piece as "a good lump". An interesting titbit to end on, one of the batch was a small block, which DC advises went to Mike Holt. Clearly, DC was in a pi**ing contest with SS in 1971 so he had to have the Rat motor but imagine the Potent Mix with a well fettled small block!

Words and photos by John Nolan