Jeff Uren was a very well respected racing driver, engineer and team manager in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and after some early club racing, drove in the inaugural year of the British Saloon Car Championship in 1958.

The following year he won the series in a Ford Zephyr beating the Works cars and drivers, prompting Ford to offer him a very prestigious Works drive.

He left in 1962, and joined John Willment as competition manager, preparing and racing Ford Galaxies, Falcons, Cobras and of course GT40s.

When Willment stopped racing, Uren felt ready to strike out on his own, and formed Race Proved Ltd having recognised the rapidly-expanding market in tuning and modifying road-going saloons.

There were a large number of companies already catering for those customers who wanted better camshafts, big-valve heads etc., however, he planned a different approach by fitting larger capacity engines into production cars.

When the Mk.2 Cortina was launched in 1966, Jeff saw the car's poten...