Mark was humble about his talents behind the wheel but makes no bones about the challenge these cars present. The incongruous mixture of a dainty F1-esque body and chassis with a big burly, heavy, fire-spitting V8 is its own unique challenge in the pantheon of single-seaters. Most of the time, he hands hot-seat duty to Matthew, finding himself most useful on the end of a wrench:
“Matthew drives it for me mostly. We have a good functional relationship of 'he’s better in it, I’m better under it'. When you’re driving one of these things you have to be focused and he’s up to it.
“Racing big bruising V8 beasts was good preparation but you still have to be on it – the back end is always trying to get away from you. It’s not progressive at all – you have to absolutely commit in every corner. It’s snappy. It’s a bit of a beast to drive. When you put the brakes in it’s like the thing’s going to summersault over you... but it’s rewarding to drive.
“If you’re used to something like a 450bhp+ TVR – something with more power than grip really. That’s our trouble when we raced it in the HSCC, I think the F2 cars don’t quite understand in a corner that with this thing when you’re committed, that’s it. The F2 cars are so nimble, they can tighten or widen the line without worry.”
While this chassis is a proven championship-winning tub, no amount of achievement can shield a car from the harsh eventualities of motorsport. Machinery steeper of provenance and popularity has been claimed all the same. In 1971 following Gethin’s departure from the seat of his championship-winner and subsequently, F5000 itself, the car would take a dip in the lake at Mallory Park. That’s where the story of M10B 400-6 ends. M10B 400-6A and B would rise from the (watery) ashes, with the former – this car – utilising the major components including the championship-winner’s tub. For all intents and purposes, now more than ever in this immaculately-restored form, this is the Gethin championship car.
Alas, you can take the tub out of the winner but you can’t take the winner out the tub. Mark and Matthew’s fairytale victory in the aforementioned Peter Gethin Trophy at Brands is a testament to that, as is the successful sprint career this car forged in the years following the rebuild – second in 1974, first in 1975 and 1976.