John Gott Collection

This is a collection of material compiled and collected by John Gott. It mostly relates to rallies in which he took part, including road books, official programmes and other material relating to the planning and completing of these rallies.

Open to bona fide researchers. By appointment only.

Unknown

John Gott was born in Cheshire in 1913, his early interest in motor sport being nurtured as a riding mechanic at Brooklands. His first event as driver was the 1933 RAC Rally and he then did various hillclimbs, sprints and trials. He joined the police force in 1937. Between 1942 and 1945 he was attached to Bomber Command and he was awarded the George Medal for rescue work during an air raid, and the MBE for rescuing the crew of a blazing RAF plane. In 1947 he acquired an HRG and finished every Alpine Rally from 1948 to 1951, winning a Coupe des Alpes in 1951. By the late fifties he was a member of the highly successful BMC works rally team which dominated the Alpine and Liege Rallies of 1960, and he also took class wins on the Tulip, Liege and Geneva rallies, mainly in Austin Healeys. In 1960 John was appointed Chief Constable of Northamptonshire and retired from rallying. He held this post until his death, and was known for his outspoken views on the wearing of seatbelts and speed limits. He took up club motor racing in an ex-works Austin Healey, with which he had many class, race and championship wins. He was also Vice-Chairman of the RAC Competitions Committee and sat on the CSI International Court of Appeal. He was killed at the wheel of his racing car in 1972.