Jack Fairman

John Eric George 'Jack' Fairman (15 March 1913 - 7 February 2002): British racing driver from Horley who was only an occasional racer, his main income coming from running the family precision tool manufacturing company. He got his first taste of motorsport before World War II driving an Alvis 12/50 in trials and hill climbs from 1934, quickly moving to races at Brooklands before the war intervened and he spent the duration in the Tank Corps on active service. He participated in 13 Formula One Grands Prix, making his debut on 18 July 1953, scoring five championship points all in the 1956 season. He was well regarded as a test driver, involved in developing Connaught's Formula 2 and Formula 1 cars.

In 1961 he was the last man to start a Grand Prix with a front-engine car and the first to drive a four-wheel drive car at the British Grand Prix. His reliable and dogged driving in sports car endurance racing saw successes with Bristol, Jaguar, Ecurie Ecosse, and Aston Martin. In 1951 he and Stirling Moss were paired at Le Mans 24 Hours acting as 'hare' to break the pace. In 1959 he won the Nürburgring 1000 Kilometers and the Tourist Trophy at Goodwood with Moss (and Carroll Shelby at Goodwood) in an Aston Martin DBR1/300.

His last F1 race was in 1963 finishing seventh driving Carel Godin de Beaufort's Porsche 718. He retired from the cockpit to run his engineering company. A pub named The Jack Fairman was opened in Horley in 2007 using buildings which originally housed the garage business.