Chris Lawrence, synonymous with names such as Lawrence Tune, Deep Sanderson, Monica and Morgan passed away in late August. While he could be described as a very talented engineer with an eye for design and “off the wall” thinking, his business acumen left a lot to be desired. As a driver he won the Freddie Dixon Trophy in 1958—the British Automobile Racing Club’s (BARC) award for the most successful driver in a marque sports car, a three-year-old Morgan. His racing success was attributed to his ability to tune his car more effectively than most of his competitors. His class win at the 1962 Le Mans 24 Hours brought him to international prominence, as he won against formidable opposition.
Like many others, I had been intrigued by the name of his cars—Deep Sanderson. Speaking to him a couple of years ago I asked why he had used that particular name. “It grew from my father and his jazz band, The Gilt Edged Four. As part of their act they performed a tune called ‘Deep Henderson’ that I had on record and played over and over again. When considering a name for the car this tune whirled around my head, so I originally had the notion of calling the car Deep Henderson. My mother had been very supportive of the project and had assisted with the financing. I could not let her part be omitted so, instead of Deep Henderson I decided on Deep Sanderson—Sanderson being her maiden name.”
The first car to bear the name Deep Sanderson was his Formula Junior. In March 1960, at the Goodwood BARC Members meeting, Chris faced daunting opposition from such as Jim Clark, John Surtees, Trevor Taylor, Pete Arundell and Mike Spence. However, it was the car rather than the driver that failed. After spending many months of development and refinement, the Deep Sanderson “came good” at Oulton Park late in the 1960 season and he won. “In those days,” he said, “it was still a rarity for a driver to win in a car of his own construction.”
Lawrence competed twice at Le Mans in Deep Sandersons. In 1963 his Mini-engined DS 301 topped the speed charts with an amazing 152.6 mph, only to retire with engine failure after just 110 laps, and in 1968 he took his Ford Cortina-engined car to La Sarthe, only to be excluded due to technical issues.
It was in the late 1960s and early 1970s that Lawrence became involved with the design and development of a Chrysler-powered supercar. Funding for the project came from French businessman Jean Tastevin, and was named after Tastevin’s wife Monica. Over 20 prototypes of the car were built, but only eight of these luxury machines were completed before the oil crisis of 1973 halted production.
During the mid-1990s Lawrence worked on the design of the Morgan Aero 8, losing the trademark ash wood frame in favor of a modern aluminum monocoque. He was part of the team that took Morgan back to Le Mans in 2004 with a car now powered by a 3394-cc V8 BMW engine, driven by Adam Sharpe, Neil Cunningham and Steve Hyde, who finished an unclassified 26th, completing 222 laps.
As he battled cancer, Lawrence was still working with Morgan on its Aeromax project—a Morgan for the 21st Century. Learning of his death, Charles Morgan, grandson of the founder and current Managing Director of the company, said, “Chris was a formidable engineer, with a real instinct for the machines he worked on. We will all miss him.”
By Mike Jiggle
