E.J. “Ted” Cutting (1926–2012)

Ted Cutting, the man who designed the Aston Martin DBR1 that took Carroll Shelby and Roy Salvadori to victory at Le Mans over 50 years ago, has died. It is little known, but due to a fact-finding visit to Maserati, initiated by John Wyer, he didn’t see his cars cross the finish line in the top two places as they beat the Ferraris.

Edward John “Ted” Cutting had joined Aston Martin in 1949 following his training as an engineer and draftsman, a short spell at KLG Spark Plugs, the intervention of war and working at the Allard Motor Company. At that time, the Chief Engineer at Aston Martin was Prof. Eberan-Eberhorst of Auto Union Silver Arrows fame. Such was Ted’s ability, that just six years later he became Chief Racing Designer, responsible for all of Aston’s racing and competition cars from 1955–1963. While the DBR1 took victory at Le Mans in 1959, the car had already scored a hat trick of wins at the Nürburgring 1000K in 1957-’58-’59, and was to be his most successful racing car.