Gordon Edward George Spice (18 April 1940 – 10 September 2021) was a British racing driver who competed in both sports cars and Touring Car racing in the 1960s and 1970s, before starting Spice Engineering with fellow racing driver Ray Bellm in the 1980s.

Racing career Spice was most notable for his involvement with the Ford Capri, both as a driver and as part of Spice Engineering. Starting off his British Saloon Car Championship career racing Minis in the late 1960s for Downton Engineering Spice went on to paid drives in Minis for Jim Whitehouse’s Equipe Arden team in 1968 (winners of the British Saloon Car Championship title with a Mini the year later with Alec Poole) and raced John Cooper’s team Minis with Steve Neal in 1969 but despite Spice’s pace and occasional race win were outclassed by the 1300 Broadspeed Ford Escorts. Gordon eventually progressed to the works Ford team, CC Developments, co-run by Dave Cook, running the Capri 3.0S. He won his class on five occasions between 1976 and 1980, but never won the championship outright. In all, he took 24 overall race victories. In 1980, he took on Andy Rouse as teammate, and the two dominated their class, only losing out on the title to Win Percy.

In the 1980s, Spice competed in the World Endurance Championship with his own cars, under the banner Spice Engineering, or those of Jean Rondeau. He won the C2 class in the World Championship in 1988.

Spice, as well as running a car accessory shop in Ashford (Middlesex), in the early days of car accessory retailing, he co-founded in 1971, with his brother Derek, Gordon Spice Cash And Carry. They supplied motor accessories to trade customers and, at the peak of the business, they had cash and carry depots in Staines, Watford, Canning Town and Leicester. Subsequent flotation as a PLC in 1986, and an over ambitious investment in a state-of-the-art central distribution centre, plus changing market conditions, led to the demise of the company.

Personal life Spice died on 10 September 2021 from cancer, at the age of 81.

Racing record

Complete British Saloon Car Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.) Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Pts Class 1965 Gordon Spice Austin Mini Cooper S BRH OUL SNE GOO SIL CRY BRH2 OUL 25th 6 9th 1966 Gordon Spice Austin Mini Cooper S SNE GOO SIL16 BRH10 19th 12 5th Morris Mini Cooper S CRY2† BRH8 OUL5† BRHDNS 1967 Gordon Spice Morris Mini Cooper S BRH5 SNERet SIL? SIL5 MAL3† SIL? SIL? BRHRet OUL3† BRHRet 10th 24 3rd 1968 Equipe Arden Austin Mini Cooper S BRH? THR10 SIL13 CRYRet† MALRet† BRH? SIL23 CRO11 OUL15 BRHRet BRH14 7th 40 1st 1969 Britax-Cooper-Downton Morris Mini Cooper S BRH4 SIL6 SNERet THR6 SILRet CRY1† MAL1† CRO7 SIL7 OUL14 BRH11 BRH14 5th 47 2nd 1970 Equipe Arden Morris Mini Cooper S BRH SNE THR SIL5 CRY2† SIL14 SIL18 CRO BRH12 OUL10 BRH10 BRHDNS 6th 48 2nd 1974 Wisharts Garages Chrysler Hemi 'Cuda MAL BRH SIL OUL THR SILRet THR BRH ING BRH OUL SNE BRH NC 0 NC 1975 Wisharts Garages Ford Capri 3000 GT MAL3† BRHRet OUL3† THR SIL10 BRH6† THR7 SIL MAL6† SNE4 SILRet ING BRH OUL BRH 7th 46 1st 1976 Wisharts Garages Ford Capri II 3.0s BRH1 SIL1 OUL2† THR2 THR6 SIL1 BRHRet MAL3† SNE1† BRH6 4th 58 1st 1977 Gordon Spice Racing Ford Capri II 3.0s SIL1 BRH7 OUL2† THR2 SIL5 THRRet DON3† SIL8 DONRet† BRH7 THR2 BRH1 5th 28 1st 1978 Gordon Spice Racing Ford Capri III 3.0s SIL3 OUL1† THR1 BRH1† SIL1† DON2† MAL1† BRH9 DONDSQ† BRH2 THR1 OUL2† 4th 75 1st 1979 Gordon Spice Racing Ford Capri III 3.0s SIL1 OUL1† THR1 SIL3 DON1† SIL1 MAL4† DON5 BRHRet THR1 SNE OUL4† 4th 75 1st 1980 Gordon Spice Racing Ford Capri III 3.0s MAL2† OUL1† THR1 SILRet SILRet BRH5 MAL1† BRH1 THR1 SIL1 3rd 67 1st 1981 Gordon Spice Racing Ford Capri III 3.0s MAL11† SIL2 OUL2† THR2 BRH SIL2 SILRet DON5† BRH4 THR7 SILRet 10th 38 4th 1982 Gordon Spice Racing Ford Capri III 3.0s SIL5 MAL3† OUL1† THR2 THR3 SIL4 DONRet BRH2 DON3 BRHRet SIL? 11th 39 4th 1983 Gordon Spice Racing Rover Vitesse SIL OUL THR BRH THR SILRet DON SIL28 DON4 BRH5 SIL 21st 5 9th 1984 Team Toyota GB / Hughes of Beaconsfield Toyota Celica Supra DON SIL OUL THR THR SIL6 SNE4 BRH BRH DON SIL 21st 4 13th † Events with 2 races staged for the different classes.

Complete Formula One non-championship results (key) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1970 Gordon Spice Kitchiner K3A Chevrolet 5.0 V8 ROC INT OUL 1971 Gordon Spice McLaren M10B Chevrolet 5.0 V8 ARG ROC QUE SPR INT RIN OUL VIC 1972 Gordon Spice Kitchmac M10B Chevrolet 5.0 V8 ROC BRA INT OUL REP VIC

24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 1964 Lawrence Tune Engineering Chris Lawrence Deep Sanderson 301 P 1.3 13 DNF DNF 1978 Charles Ivey Racing Larry Perkins John Rulon-Miller Porsche 911 Carrera RSR IMSA GTX 278 14th 2nd 1979 Dome Co. Ltd. Chris Craft Tony Trimmer Dome Zero RL S +2.0 40 DNF DNF 1980 Belga Jean Rondeau Philippe Martin Jean-Michel Martin Rondeau M379 GTP 329 3rd 1st 1981 Otis Jean Rondeau François Migault Rondeau M379 GTP 3.0 335 3rd 2nd 1982 Malardeau Automobiles Jean Rondeau François Migault Xavier Lapeyre Rondeau M382 C 150 DNF DNF 1984 Spice-Tiga Racing Ray Bellm Neil Crang Tiga GC84 C2 69 DNF DNF 1985 Spice Engineering Ray Bellm Mark Galvin Spice-Tiga GC85 C2 312 14th 1st 1986 Spice Engineering Ray Bellm Jean-Michel Martin Spice SE86C C2 257 19th 6th 1987 Spice Engineering Fermín Velez Philippe de Henning Spice SE86C C2 321 6th 1st 1988 Spice Engineering Ray Bellm Pierre de Thoisy Spice SE88C C2 351 13th 1st 1989 Spice Engineering Ray Bellm Lyn St. James Spice SE89C C1 229 DNF DNF

References

External links Summary on Haynes Publishing

Further reading Jeremy Walton, Life of Spice: The Autobiography of Gordon Spice