Ken Brittain

After a brief period in electronics, Ken Brittain took up Automotive Engineering studies at the University of Kingston-upon-Thames, achieving the top student award in the final exams. This was followed by a years course on Law and Management when he then joined the Motorsport Industry as a race engineer, specialising first on chassis and then on to engine tuning and design. He swiftly progressed to development Engineer, still in his early twenties. He successfully produced leading Formula engines with his partner, the legendary Spike Winter, for their first company, Racing Services (Engines) Ltd, in the seventies, powering many world champions. Research and development projects followed for Ford Motor Company, BMW, Mazda Cars, Audi, Citroen and Fiat during this period.

Ken was a founder member and technical director of Brodie Brittain Racing Ltd in the eighties and nineties. He was team manager for the Mitsubishi Works Racing Team from 1983 to 1986 after which his company directed its efforts to the Ford Cosworth and many other turbocharged vehicles. Ken developed the now-famous turbocharged MX5 for Mazda GB, which was marketed as an official Mazda model throughout most of the nineties. He also developed turbo kits for a number of other vehicles such as the Mitsubishi Shogun, Isuzu Trouper, Suzuki Vitara, BMW 3, 5 & 8 series, Ford Escort, Lotus Elise and MGF, becoming a guru in forced induction techniques, and was the brains behind many other projects for the company and their various high profile clients.

Ken also pioneered the "chipping" business in 1983, spawning a whole new industry in the UK, which thrived through the rest of the eighties and well into the nineties.

His company developed a strong electronics division and under his guidance, BBR grew to become one of the largest tuning companies in Europe. The company won a coveted DTI SMART award for pioneering work on diesel engines in 1996 and a European FUSE award for new electronic engine management technology in 1999.

Ken left the business at the end of 1999, becoming project manager for Zeus Motorsport, developing Le Mans vehicles, brushing up on his chassis knowledge in the process. He has now formed Brittain Consulting to offer his many years of experience, and with his fellow consultants, a very wide range of engineering and design skills from R & D to manufacture.