Team Ensign

Based in: Walsall (1973-80), Chasetown (1981-82) Founded: 1970 (active 1973-1982) Principal: Morris Nunn

Former racer Mo Nunn started building F3 cars with considerable success and from this, Rikky von Opel, heir to the German car company, commissioned Nunn to build an Formula 1 car for 1973. While starting as the team's owner and principal, Nunn also acted as the designer in the first two years of the team's existence.

The car turned out to be competent but von Opel's lack of experience and ability didn't help in the development of the project. Von Opel moved to the fully developed Brabham team to continue his short-lived F1 career.

That left Nunn to carry on alone and without any major finance. A Dutch sponsor, HB Bewaking, put Gijs van Lennep in the car and the team scored their first championship point in 1975. The high point for the team was tenth place in the Constructors' Cup in 1977 while the low point was a crash in 1980 that ended Clay Regazzoni's career and put the Swiss driver in a wheelchair.

In 1983 the team was amalagamated with Teddy Yip's Theodore Racing Team although the merger was not successful and the team faded away by the end of the season. Nunn continued in racing and took his talents to America where he was chief engineer to Emerson Fittipaldi during his successful 1989 Indycar challenge.

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