His family's business was Parr's Ltd., initially a bicycle manufacturer who, like many others such as Triumph, moved into the newly evolving motor vehicle market at the turn of the 20th century.

Using his engineering background and immaculate attention to detail, and by cannibalising sister car R6B for spares, Gerard managed to get R4A running in time for the Cockfosters demonstration in mid-1945.

While both Bob and Joan Gerard continued to use R4A for a string of hillclimbing and sprint victories, newly purchased ERA R14B was rebuilt and modified for circuit racing.

In the first British Grand Prix, in 1948, Gerard drove the decade-old R14B to third place, beaten only by the brand new works' Maserati 4CLT/48s of Italian greats Luigi Villoresi and Alberto Ascari.

At the very first World Championship event, the 1950 British Grand Prix, the Gerard-R14B pairing only narrowly missed out on the points, finishing in sixth place, despite having started as low as 13th on the grid.

However, the rapid evolution of racing machinery, inspired by the rewards offered from the Championship, meant that for 1952 Gerard would have to abandon his old ERA in favour of something more modern.

Gerard himself continued to race into the 1960s, in a Turner sports car, and used his preparation expertise for the benefit of other drivers by acting as entrant for many promising newcomers right into the 1980s.