Ted Cutting

Aston Martin chief racing designer associated with the DBR1, which Carroll Shelby and Roy Salvadori drove to victory in the 1959 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Edward John “Ted” Cutting was born in Clapham, London, on 11 October 1926 and died in Brentwood, Essex, on 22 March 2012. He worked at KLG Spark Plugs before joining Allard in 1946 and Aston Martin in 1949. At Aston Martin, he began as a draughtsman and moved into the design team under Professor Robert Eberan-Eberhorst.

In 1955 Cutting became Aston Martin’s chief racing designer and was responsible for its racing cars through 1963. Aston Martin identifies him as the DBR1’s designer; it describes the car as a sports-racing prototype developed under new 1956 rules, with a multi-tube chassis, torsion-bar suspension and an all-aluminium six-cylinder racing engine. Five DBR1s were built.

The DBR1’s sole 1956 Le Mans entry retired. It began winning at Spa and the Nürburgring in 1957 and completed a Nürburgring 1,000 km hat-trick in 1959. On 20–21 June 1959, the No. 5 DBR1 of Carroll Shelby and Roy Salvadori won Le Mans, ahead of the Trintignant/Frère DBR1; Aston Martin subsequently secured the World Sports Car Championship.