STEVE HOLE TELLS THE STORY OF KEN NICHOLS AND NIKE. ANY PHOTOS AND CORRECTIONS/ADDITIONS WELCOME
First things first. The ‘Nike’ mentioned here is nothing at all to do with a maker of training shoes and sports equipment!
If you were into Formula Ford, F5000 or F3 in the sixties and early seventies, then the name Ken Nichols would have been familiar. Not only that, but sportscar owners, particularly Lotus drivers, would have almost certainly been aware of him.
He had a real skill in areas such as suspension and chassis fabrication and modification. He also restored historic sports models, too, and even today when cars come up for sale, if Ken had input on the car at some time in its past, the vendor made a point of mentioning it on the sales blurb.
Nichols had competed himself in Formula Junior and also in a Lotus 23, from about 1961. He was based in Holsworthy, Devon, with his business partner Mark Erwood.
They also produced cars under the Nike name, too, and you’ll see them to this day competing in F3 (Mk1), Formula Vee, Formula Junior, Formula Ford 1600 (Mk4, Mk6 and Mk10), Formula Junior, Formula 5000 and sports-racers. I think about 100 of all types were produced. The Mk10 might have been the ‘volume’ seller with 28 built.
The ‘Nike’ name was from the Greek goddess of victory, although it was actually formed from Nichols Engineering and Development Ltd.
Information on Nichols is ridiculously difficult to source, which is a shame, even though his daughter Carole does a great job keeping her father’s memory alive and there’s definitely a useful Facebook page dedicated to him and Nike. If anyone has any photos to share or corrections/additions to make, please do get in touch.
If you see a historic Lotus or F3 racecar or even a ‘Nike’ model and the name Ken Nichols (who died in 2014) mentioned in dispatches, you’ll maybe look a little extra closely. Oh … and if you see a historic Lotus with his name mentioned, you’ll also know it’ll be a cracker.