Jolus Formula Junior
... they still don't carry the same mystique and aural impact of a brightly colored field of Formula Juniors.
Notable.
"The track is my canvas. My car is my pencil" - Graham Hill.
www.jolus.infoUpdated: April 27th 2010
The Jolus Formula Junior
a beginning....
Nearly every Motor-Racing-Enthusiast decided to get in on the act and build Formula Juniors between 1959 and 1963. Many of these builders (see "The Producers") produced very few cars, from as few as one to five or six. There were few ‘production’ builders, and even those produced less than 30 cars/year. By far the biggest builder was Lotus, and their biggest year was 1960 with approximately 125 cars built. The JOLUS on the contrary was built by a man named Bob Joas, in Australia. He was a local builder of hill-climb cars at the time and was eager to built a Formula Junior car when the hype swept over to Australia.
Bob was confronted with an inquiry to build a formula junior from a local racing driver called Ron Smith in 1960. After they had settled for a price of 1.500 pounds sterling (including a new Ford 105E Engine), Bob sat down and designed a space frame chassis. Obviously Bob had to think of a name, and inspired by the successful manufacturers such as Lotus and Lola came up with the name JOLUS, which also sounds much like his own name. Beside the chassis, Bob also constructed cast aluminum rear uprights, JOLUS wheels and the rear brake fins. Also, of course, the body and the suspension parts. Everything else was generic as was the case with most of the Juniors, i.e., Triumph Herald uprights.
Ron Smith did not prove to be the most inspired driver, so JOLUS number one did not show up high in the rankings at the time. Nonetheless, Paul Bolton showed up at Bobs front door that winter, asking for a JOLUS number 2. Paul already had a tweaked Ford Cosworth Engine that he could supply to the car. Other modifications included Weber carburetors which replaced the S.U. carburetors used on chassis number 1 and a modified rear suspension to fit a top upper link as this was by long standard in 1961. Paul Bolton proved to be quite successful at the time, also setting up a new record for the standing quarter mile in 1962. He raced the JOLUS in local club events near Sydney and then converted it to a Formula 2. Before being put out to pasture it was finally installed a cross-flow Ford and ran as a Formula Ford.
Bob Joass built a total of three Formula Juniors, all three of these still survive, JOLUS number 2 being the only car away from Australia.....
JOLUS number 2 was restored in Australia with the help of Bob Joass and completed in 1984. The new owner raced the car extensively and did very well, usually placing in vintage events. JOLUS number 2 then moved on to America in 1991, where it ran successfully in historic events at Laguna Seca, Sears Point, Portland International Raceway, Seattle International Raceway and Westwood in Canada.
The car then moved on to the U.K. in 2006 where it had two extensive racing years, racing at nearly every Formula Junior event. JOLUS number 2 turned up in Silverstone, Goodwood, Dijon, Brands Hatch and many other Race tracks. Shortly before the car was brought to Germany in December 2008, the car was brought back to America to race at the Monterey Historics, Lime Rock and Watkins Glen, where it placed well in its class.
a beginning....
Nearly every Motor-Racing-Enthusiast decided to get in on the act and build Formula Juniors between 1959 and 1963. Many of these builders (see "The Producers") produced very few cars, from as few as one to five or six. There were few ‘production’ builders, and even those produced less than 30 cars/year. By far the biggest builder was Lotus, and their biggest year was 1960 with approximately 125 cars built. The JOLUS on the contrary was built by a man named Bob Joas, in Australia. He was a local builder of hill-climb cars at the time and was eager to built a Formula Junior car when the hype swept over to Australia.
Bob was confronted with an inquiry to build a formula junior from a local racing driver called Ron Smith in 1960. After they had settled for a price of 1.500 pounds sterling (including a new Ford 105E Engine), Bob sat down and designed a space frame chassis. Obviously Bob had to think of a name, and inspired by the successful manufacturers such as Lotus and Lola came up with the name JOLUS, which also sounds much like his own name. Beside the chassis, Bob also constructed cast aluminum rear uprights, JOLUS wheels and the rear brake fins. Also, of course, the body and the suspension parts. Everything else was generic as was the case with most of the Juniors, i.e., Triumph Herald uprights.
Ron Smith did not prove to be the most inspired driver, so JOLUS number one did not show up high in the rankings at the time. Nonetheless, Paul Bolton showed up at Bobs front door that winter, asking for a JOLUS number 2. Paul already had a tweaked Ford Cosworth Engine that he could supply to the car. Other modifications included Weber carburetors which replaced the S.U. carburetors used on chassis number 1 and a modified rear suspension to fit a top upper link as this was by long standard in 1961. Paul Bolton proved to be quite successful at the time, also setting up a new record for the standing quarter mile in 1962. He raced the JOLUS in local club events near Sydney and then converted it to a Formula 2. Before being put out to pasture it was finally installed a cross-flow Ford and ran as a Formula Ford.
Bob Joass built a total of three Formula Juniors, all three of these still survive, JOLUS number 2 being the only car away from Australia.....
JOLUS number 2 was restored in Australia with the help of Bob Joass and completed in 1984. The new owner raced the car extensively and did very well, usually placing in vintage events. JOLUS number 2 then moved on to America in 1991, where it ran successfully in historic events at Laguna Seca, Sears Point, Portland International Raceway, Seattle International Raceway and Westwood in Canada.
The car then moved on to the U.K. in 2006 where it had two extensive racing years, racing at nearly every Formula Junior event. JOLUS number 2 turned up in Silverstone, Goodwood, Dijon, Brands Hatch and many other Race tracks. Shortly before the car was brought to Germany in December 2008, the car was brought back to America to race at the Monterey Historics, Lime Rock and Watkins Glen, where it placed well in its class.
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Racing 2010
F.I.A. Lurani Trophy* April 17th-18th Hockenheim Historic*
* May 22nd-24th Spa*
* June 5th-7th Imola
* June 19th-21st Dijon
* July 3rd-4th HSCC Superprix
* Aug. 14th-15th Nuerburgring*
* Sep. 19-21st Goodwood Revival*
All dates Provisional !
Events that are marked with a * are events, that Jolus # 2 is planned to run at.
Visit: "www.formulajunior.com"
