About Laurence Brownlie

The Racing Driver & Artist
 
Laurence Brownlie was born on 18/10/43 in Balclutha, Otago, New Zealand and when he was one year old his father bought the Kelso Garage in the township of Kelso. 
 
He served his mechanical engineering apprenticeship in this garage, became an A Grade Mechanic and was determined to become a racing driver.
 
In 1965 he bought his first car, a Daimler SP250 and raced it at South Island meetings with success and earned a reputation as a very spectacular driver.   He bought a Brabham Ford 1.5 litre single seater racing car and raced it with considerable success culminating in a 4th overall placing at the Teretonga Tasman cup meeting, (his rivals being in the larger engined 2.5 litre cars) to become the local hero.   A newspaper report stated that he could become as well known as Jack Brabham or Jim Clark.
 
 
For the 1967 season he obtained a purpose built 1.5 Brabham from the UK which he again raced with some success and the week before the 1968 Grand Prix at the Bay Park meeting was hailed as a champion due to his performance.   Sadly, at the Grand Prix he and Denis Hulme crashed during the closing stages of the race and the news media reports suggested that it was his (Brownlie's)  fault. It later emerged through the official enquiry that Hulme’s car moved into Brownlie’s after Brownlie had left the track to avoid a collision – perhaps due to a freak gust of wind!
 
After the crash Brownlie lost everything – no insurance on racing cars in those days – and the New Zealand drivers went through the crowds at the various following race meetings to gather money in their crash helmets to get him back into racing again, such was their belief in his ability as a driver.

Hulme and Brownlie a second or two before contact..

Laurence married Yvonne Kidd from Invercargill at Easter 1968. Just before his wedding he won an Automobile Assn trip round the world encompassing all the Grands Prix as well as Indianapolis.   Unfortunately this trip was for one person only so he turned this into an Australian honeymoon.   While in Sydney he was the guest of well known journalist and racing team owner David McKay, who invited him to drive in Australia for his team.   Laurence was offered the drive in the Holden Dealer team in 1968 at Bathurst in the new Monaro Coupe.   Single seaters were his love and he turned this offer down.   McKay also wanted to send the P4 Ferrari sports car to NZ for Brownlie to demonstrate at two meetings but the motor sport association were not keen to put up the $500 McKay asked as a contribution towards the cost and thus the P4 Ferrari was never seen in NZ.
 
Through the NZGP Association and Rothmans, a F2 Brabham was obtained through a lease deal for the 1969 season from Frank Williams racing.  Laurence had not raced a car since the NZGP crash the previous year, the car was lost in transit from South America and arrived the night before the last day of practice for the GP.   The car was dirty and not race ready and in practice the gear linkage fell to pieces.   It was a season of mixed results caused by mechanical failures though he was again the fastest NZ local driver in practice at the final round at Teretonga.   Because of another mechanical failure, Laurence had to start the race from the back of the grid but had caught and passed every local driver within 2 laps, only to spin on dropped oil and could not then catch the NZ champion, Roly Levis, who was one lap ahead.
 
The NZ Grand Prix Assn then offered Laurence the opportunity to be NZ Driver to Europe if he bought the car and raced it under Frank Williams Racing in F2 races in Europe.   However, after his loss from the GP the previous year and this very indifferent season, he was not in a financial position to take up this offer.   Graeme McRae then bought the car and was made Driver to Europe.
 
Laurence then broke the NZ Land Speed record in what was in effect a McLaren Can Am Sports Car that George Begg bought of Bruce McLaren.   The drive train was then put into a Begg single seater frame to become the first F5000 car to be made in NZ.   He raced at a Teretonga meeting and a driveshaft broke at 110mph causing the car to leave the track and cartwheel at a height of 30ft above the ground, wrecking it.   George Begg asked Laurence to be his F5000 driver but he turned him down thinking that the cars were not good enough, a fact later confirmed by George himself in his book.
 
After many years of frustration, dreaming of what might have been, Laurence decided to paint Dennis Hulme, airborne in his Brabham BT24 at the German Grand Prix.   He shares Sir Jack Brabham's sentiments that this model of Brabham was the best they ever made.
 
Apart from a 3 day art course many years ago, Laurence is self taught and continues to develop his style.   To him the use of light and detail as painted by Rembrandt is an inspiration in his art, as Stirling Moss and Jim Clark were the inspirations when he started his racing career.