Gordon Spice
Nationality	British
Born	(1940-04-18)18 April 1940 London, England
Died	9 September 2021(2021-09-09) (aged 81)
Retired	ca. 1989
World Endurance Championship
Years active	1980–1989
Teams	Spice Engineering, Rondeau
Starts	50
Wins	0
Best finish	1st in C2 class in 1988 10th in overall standings in 1987
Previous series
1960s–1980	British Touring Car Championship

Gordon Spice (18 April 1940 – 10 September 2021) was a British racing driver who competed in both sports cars and Touring Car racing in the 1960s and 1970s, before starting Spice Engineering with fellow racing driver Ray Bellm in the 1980s.^[1]

Racing career

Spice was most notable for his involvement with the Ford Capri, both as a driver and as part of Spice Engineering. Starting off his British Saloon Car Championship career racing Minis in the late 1960s for Downton Engineering^[2] Spice went on to paid drives in Minis for Jim Whitehouse’s Equipe Arden team in 1968 (winners of the British Saloon Car Championship title with a Mini the year later with Alec Poole) and raced John Cooper’s team Minis with Steve Neal in 1969 but despite Spice’s pace and occasional race win were outclassed by the 1300 Broadspeed Ford Escorts. Gordon eventually progressed to the works Ford team, CC Developments, co-run by Dave Cook, running the Capri 3.0S.^[1] He won his class on five occasions between 1976 and 1980, but never won the championship outright. In all, he took 24 overall race victories.^[3] In 1980, he took on Andy Rouse as teammate, and the two dominated their class, only losing out on the title to Win Percy.

In the 1980s, Spice competed in the World Endurance Championship with his own cars, under the banner Spice Engineering, or those of Jean Rondeau.^[4] He won the C2 class in the World Championship in 1988.^[5]

Spice, as well as running a car accessory shop in Ashford (Middlesex), in the early days of car accessory retailing, he co-founded in 1971, with his brother Derek, Gordon Spice Cash And Carry. They supplied motor accessories to trade customers and, at the peak of the business, they had cash and carry depots in Staines, Watford, Canning Town and Leicester.^[6] Subsequent flotation as a PLC in 1986, and an over ambitious investment in a state-of-the-art central distribution centre, plus changing market conditions, led to the demise of the company.^[7]

Personal life

Spice died on 10 September 2021 from cancer, at the age of 81.^[8][9]

Racing record

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1964	Lawrence Tune Engineering	Chris Lawrence	Deep Sanderson 301	P 1.3	13	DNF	DNF
1978	Charles Ivey Racing	Larry Perkins John Rulon-Miller	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	IMSA GTX	278	14th	2nd
1979	Dome Co. Ltd.	Chris Craft Tony Trimmer	Dome Zero RL	S +2.0	40	DNF	DNF
1980	Belga Jean Rondeau	Philippe Martin Jean-Michel Martin	Rondeau M379	GTP	329	3rd	1st
1981	Otis Jean Rondeau	François Migault	Rondeau M379	GTP 3.0	335	3rd	2nd
1982	Malardeau Automobiles Jean Rondeau	François Migault Xavier Lapeyre	Rondeau M382	C	150	DNF	DNF
1984	Spice-Tiga Racing	Ray Bellm Neil Crang	Tiga GC84	C2	69	DNF	DNF
1985	Spice Engineering	Ray Bellm Mark Galvin	Spice-Tiga GC85	C2	312	14th	1st
1986	Spice Engineering	Ray Bellm Jean-Michel Martin	Spice SE86C	C2	257	19th	6th
1987	Spice Engineering	Fermín Velez Philippe de Henning	Spice SE86C	C2	321	6th	1st
1988	Spice Engineering	Ray Bellm Pierre de Thoisy	Spice SE88C	C2	351	13th	1st
1989	Spice Engineering	Ray Bellm Lyn St. James	Spice SE89C	C1	229	DNF	DNF

References

External links

• Summary on Haynes Publishing

Further reading

• Jeremy Walton, Life of Spice: The Autobiography of Gordon Spice ISBN 1-84425-568-9