1960 Norcon MkI Formula Junior

In 1958, former Huntington Park High School friends Larry Kent and Ray Weaver decided to take a shot at the C Sports Car record at the Bonneville Salt Flats. Racing under the banner “Northern Continent Engineering” and gunning for George Hanson’s class record of 144.322 mph, Kent sped to a respectable 141.50 mph in a super-tuned Corvette. Although not a record-breaking campaign, the effort did prove that Kent and Weaver could be competitive at a very high level.

Back in Huntington Park, California, the two men were road racing an Austin Healey 100S and race prepping customer cars in Kent’s backyard under the name Norcon Engineering (a contraction of the Bonneville team name). As their business grew and neighbors complained, the headquarters was relocated to a small shop in town. Working on Corvettes, Alfa Romeos, MGs, and Austin Healeys, Norcon Engineering quickly gained a reputation for quality craftsmanship. Weaver said, “In 1960, a Stanguellini Formula Junior showed up at Santa Barbara and we both fell in love with it and thought maybe we could build a similar car. I did the drawings for the body and Larry built a wood mock-up, and that was the beginning of the first Norcon Formula Junior.”