J.W. Automotive Engineering Ltd. was founded in 1967 by John Wyer and John Willment. Wyer was an English automobile racing engineer and team manager whose career highlights include winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans several times as a team manager and team owner. The team also won the 1000 km Nürburgring over three consecutive years. In 1963, Wyer left Aston Martin for Ford Advanced Vehicles (FAV) in 1964. After two years of dismal results with the GT40, mostly due to reliability issues related to mechanical failure, the Ford GT40 program was entrusted to Holman Moody and Carroll Shelby. This was followed by the famous victory at the 1966 and 1967 24 Hours of Lemans. After the 1966 season, Ford closed the FAV, and that is when Wyer and Willment formed JWA to take over the Slough factory and continue to build production GT40s on Ford's behalf.

Mr. Willment was also a well-known individual in the motor racing arena, and among his many accomplishments was helping to bring saloon car racing to Britain in the 1960s.

The J.W. Automotive Engineering Ltd., with backing from Gulf Oil and team manager J-O Bockman, created the Mirage M-1 prototype with familiar Ford power. Rule changes in 1968 limited prototypes to a 3,000cc displacement, while sportscars were allowed up to 5,000cc if at least 50 examples were built. This rule applied to the Ford GT40s, which were modified by Wyer. Wyer would win the World Sportscar Championship for Ford in 1968 with the 302 cubic-inch V8 Ford GT40s.

Three examples of the M1 were built and made their racing debut at Monza. The Following race was at Spa, where Jacky Ickx and Dick Thompson won the race over two laps ahead of the Ferrari P4.

John Wyer partially retired in 1974, and the team was renamed Gulf Research Racing. The newly developed M6 was renamed GR7. The team would finish the World Championship season in 2nd place behind Matra. For 1975, the efforts were concentrated on a victory at the 24 Hours of lemans. The timing was perfect for the team, as stringent refueling regulations were put into place after 1974. The 1975 event became known as the 'Le Mans Economy Run.' Ferrari and Alfa Romeo withdrew, and Matra retired from the sport at the end of 1974. This left Ligier and Gulf as the two front-running works-teams.

When the checkered flag fell, signaling the end of the 1975 24 Hours of LeMans, the race had been won by Jacky Ickx and Derek Bell in their Gulf GR-8, just one lap ahead of the Ligier of Jean-Louis Lafosse and Guy Chasseuil. Even with the fuel restrictions, the team had managed to complete just one lap less than the winning car of the previous year.

At the close of the 1975 season, Gulf withdrew their sponsorship and the team was bought by Harley Cluxton III, a former racing driver. The team continued to add to their competition resume, and in 1976 and 1977, the Mirage finished 2nd at LeMans, behind the factory-supported Porsche Martini 936s.

In the early 1980s, the FIA introduced the Group C category of motorsport for sports car racing, along with Group A for touring cars and Group B for GTs. The new Group C category replaced both the Group 5 Special Production Cars and Group 6 Two-Seater Racing Cars.

The new Mirage created to contest the Group C Category was the M12 ground-effect car, designed by John Horsman and built by Howden Ganley's Tiga Race Cars Ltd. in England. It was given a 3.9-liter Cosworth DFL V8 engine and fitted into a bonded aluminum honeycomb monocoque chassis that was suspended by double wishbones and pull-rods at the front with lower wishbones and top rockers at the rear. Ground effect tunnels ran on both sides of the engine, necessitating the suspension to be mounted in-board. A total of two chassis were built and clothed in American-built bodies. The sleek coupe bodywork was designed specifically for the high-speed straights at LeMans. The body panels were formed from Kevlar and fiberglass with a carbon-fiber rear wing placed at the rear.

The two Mirage M12 cars were intended to compete at the 24 Hours of LeMans with Mario and Michael Andretti driving one example (M12-001) and Rick Mears and John Morton driving the second car (M12-002). During practice, the M12 was among the fastest cars with an impressive 212 mph on the Mulsanne Straight. Chassis number M12-002 arrived at the 1982 LeMans as a partially assembled spare car. It was not needed and returned to Grand Touring Cars Inc. in Phoenix, Arizona, where the assembly was completed.

The Andretti-driven M12 qualified on the fifth row of the grid. Unfortunately, the car's trouble began when it was driven onto the grid, prior to the start of the race. Officials made notice of the oil coolers, which were mounted behind the gearbox and in violation of regulations. Somehow, the car had made it past scrutineering in this configuration, which understandably made Cluxton very upset. Without time to make the changes, the Mirage M12 was not allowed to race.

Cluxton vowed never to return to LeMans or the World Championship. The Mirage M12 assigned to the Andretti's was later raced in three IMSA GTP races by Conte Racing. Chassis number M12-002 never raced in period, however, it was tested alongside its sister car, M12-001. M12-002 was later put into storage for a number of years until being acquired by its previous caretakers in 2003.

by Dan Vaughan