Chris Lawrence (1933­–2011)

Chris Lawrence, synonymous with names such as Lawrence Tune, Deep Sanderson, Monica and Morgan passed away in late August. While he could be described as a very talented engineer with an eye for design and “off the wall” thinking, his business acumen left a lot to be desired. As a driver he won the Freddie Dixon Trophy in 1958—the British Automobile Racing Club’s (BARC) award for the most successful driver in a marque sports car, a three-year-old Morgan. His racing success was attributed to his ability to tune his car more effectively than most of his competitors. His class win at the 1962 Le Mans 24 Hours brought him to international prominence, as he won against formidable opposition.

Like many others, I had been intrigued by the name of his cars—Deep Sanderson. Speaking to him a couple of years ago I asked why he had used that particular name. “It grew from my father and his jazz band, The Gilt Edged Four. As part of their act they performed a tune called ‘Deep Henderson’ that I had on record and played over and over again. When considering a name for the car this tune whirled around my head, so I originally had the notion of calling the car Deep Henderson. My mother had been very supportive of the project and had assisted with the financing. I could not let her part be omitted so, instead of Deep Henderson I decided on Deep Sanderson—Sanderson being her maiden name.”