Terry Hoyle

Terry Hoyle should need no introduction to motor sport enthusiasts He first worked for Gilby Engineering which ran Gilby sports and Fl cars for Keith Greene. He moved on to Cosworth Engineering, and then Maranello Concessionaries, which forged his love hi Ferraris. Eventually, he became head ot the engine Workshop in Ford’s Boreham Competition Department

After leaving Ford in 1973 to set up his own engine business, Hoyle’s engines won 11 major championships, including the World Rally Championship. After an unfortunate business deal nearly drove him under, he regrouped arid concentrated on historic Ferraris and Maseratis.

One day a Spitfire pilot dropped by with a view to buying a Ferrari, and suggested that Terry worked on a spare Merlin engine he owned. “At that time most Merlins were being rebuilt in the States, but as V12 engines are my passion, I had no difficulty in agreeing.” The Royal Netherlands Air Force, which maintains historic aircraft, heard about the Merlin project, and suggested that they worked together.

Another early customer was Nick Harley, whose Merlin sits in his Rolls-Royce Phantom car.

Currently on his premises, Terry has five Packard-built Merlins, two Rolls-Royce Griffins and a Napier Sabre. It takes one man six months to rebuild a unit, using only original parts.