Built by Chevron Cars. It was the last from nine B26 fitted with the first Hart 420R engine, and painted in the famous brown with yellow stripe livery that led to its nickname ‘Chocolate Drop’.
The first race in May of 1974 was the Interserie race at Silverstone whit Peter Gethin driving. Brian Hart was also present to oversee his development engine. Chocolate Drop finished 5th overall against Porsche 917s and 8-litre McLarens to win the 2-litre class in a very impressive first race.
Chocolate Drop’s next outing was just a week later at the Nürburgring where it made its World Championship debut (also the first World Championship appearance for the Hart 420R engine). Gethin was this time paired with fellow works driver John Watson, and they qualified first in the 2-litre class and 8th overall against the Works Alfa Romeos, Matras and Gulf Mirages. In the 750km race on the full Nordschleife circuit, Chocolate Drop suffered a wheel bearing failure which put it out of the running in the closing stages while leading the 2-litre class. Watson was also using the Works Chevron outing to familiarise himself with the circuit ahead of the Grand Prix, and swiftly broke the 2-litre lap record with Chocolate Drop.
John Lepp then drove Chocolate Drop- Hart 420R in the European 2-Litre Sportscar Championship at Misano in July where he qualified 6th and finished 9th. Chocolate Drop’s biggest success would come in the British Airways 1000km at Brands Hatch in September 1974. Gethin paired up with Brian Redman. They qualified 4th overall, just 0.2 behind the best Gulf Mirage and well ahead of the Porsche contingent as well as over a second faster than the next 2-litre class contender. In the 1000km race, Chocolate Drop flew off the start and got between the works Matras in second place, before dropping to third. Gethin-Redman continued the pace but lost 8 minutes in the pits for a damper change, and remarkably still finish 4th overall, taking another 2-litre class win and just 38 seconds behind the 3-litre Gulf Mirage (Bell-Hobbs) in 3rd.
For the final round of the World Sportscar Championship at Kyalami for the 6 Hours, Chocolate Drop was repainted into Team Gunston orange and brown colours for Gethin to drive with native Ian Scheckter. They qualified 5th overall and 1st in class, once again right on the heels of the 3-litre DFV powered Gulf Mirages. Gethin and Scheckter recorded a no finish in the race however when the engine failed. Chocolate Drop’s strong finishes in 1974 helped Chevron secure 5th position in the World Sportscar Manufacturer’s Championship.
In 1975, Chevron Cars Ltd sold the 74-10 to Scotsman Iain McLaren. McLaren continued to campaign the car in the brown livery with yellow details but now with a Hart prepared Cosworth engine fitted. At his first race at Silverstone in March 1975, McLaren finished 3rd.
He campaigned the car in 1975 and 1976. Mclaren won the British Sportscar Championship in 1976.
McLaren then sold Chocolate Drop to Richard Philip and Alan Sharpe in 1977 and it was subsequently converted to a Skoda Super Saloon. In 1980 Jim Price raced the Skoda-car for the first time at Donington in March 1980. Chocolate Drop then went to Walter Robertson. While in Robertson’s ownership, the B26 was maintained by Colin Bennett Racing.
Robertson sold the car to Malcolm Johnstone in 1982 who raced it in before keeping it through the 1980s. Johnstone got in touch with ex-Chevron mechanic Neil Bailey about the possibility of him restoring Chocolate Drop back to its pure B26 form. Shortly after these conversations, Johnstone asked Bailey to sell the car for him. Bailey discussed it with Mike Pendlebury, who collected Chevrons at the time, and Pendlebury agreed to buy the car from Johnstone in 1989.
Bailey was then tasked with restoring Chocolate Drop back into pure Chevron B26 form from the Skoda configuration, with the works being completed in 1991. The restoration was aided by Steve Sheldon, who Bailey was working with, who was one of the original mechanics who ran Chocolate in 1974 with Gethin, Redman and Watson driving.
Chocolate Drop was then sold to John Lloyd in 1993, and on to Andrew Jackson in 1999. Jackson kept Chocolate drop until 2004 when he sold it to John Ruston. Ruston had Gareth Burnett of Pace Products, where Bailey was now working, go through the car completely and reunited the car with the 420R engine. Ruston then took Chocolate Drop to the Le Mans Classic in 2006 where it qualified 3rd in Plateau 6, and again in 2008.
In 2009, Chocolate Drop was bought by Charlie Remnant with the Hart 420R engine freshly rebuilt and the suspension crack tested.
In 2010, Remnant sold Chocolate Drop back to John Ruston who ran the car in Peter Auto’s CER 2. Ruston later sold Chocolate Drop to collector Carlos Monteverde in 2012, who then raced the car at Brands Hatch that year. It remained in his collection until 2015 when it was bought by the current owner, John Emberson. He shared the car with pro driver Nigel Greensall in the Peter Auto races around Europe. Simon Pragnell Fixcraft Racing is looking after the car.
There is a full story available. Motorsport November 2024
