Still, Clive Hayward continues to run Colchester Racing Developments, manufacturing Merlyn components and carrying out chassis repairs.
[citation needed] It had just one feature uncommon at the time: it was mid-engined, when the majority of other cars were front-engined.
[5] Ian Raby drove a Mark 3 in the BRSCC Formula Junior entered by Empire Racing Team.
[7] 1962 was also the first year Merlyn Racing entered the prestigious Monaco Formula 3 Grand Prix.
[8] Factory driver Jonathan Williams achieved a fifth-place finish driving a prototype Mark 5.
[9] The company was sufficiently successful in developing a Mark 4 sports car, built to FIA Appendix C regulations.
[12] By then, Merlyns had coil springs and dampers horizontally mounted, operated by rods from the suspension.
[13] Increasingly competitive Formula Junior racing kept works drivers Roy Pike and Jonathan Williams from dominating.
[18] A Merlyn MK 6 was entered by the team in the Group 7 British Sports Car Championship where it achieved some top 10 results.
[19] American driver Charles Barns won the SCCA National Championship Runoffs in the G Modified class in 1964.
[25][26][27][28] The factory team had a good run at the Grand Prix Adriatique at the Opatija Circuit in former Yugoslavia.
[29] The Mark 11, which debuted that year, was highly popular in the newly-introduced Formula Ford, including one driven by Australia's Tim Schenken, who handily won his first ten events in one.
[30] In 1968, Tony Lanfranchi was runner-up position in the BRSCC Formula 3 championship, 11 points behind Schenken.
The Mark 12, designed for Formula 2 and powered by a Cosworth FVA, was chosen by Bob Gerard's F2 team.
[40] In Canada a Merlyn MK 17 won the CASC Quebec Region Formula Ford 1600 championship.
The best result was achieved by Swede Håkan Dahlqvist in the Coupe d'Europe at Magny-Cours where he finished sixth.
Dave Loring finished fourth, Patrick Nève sixth and Hans Binder ninth.
Bob Arnott won the Townsend Thooreson Championship in 1972 at the wheel of a Mark 20 and Tim Brise piloted a highly modified Merlyn,[54] while American[55] David Loring drove a Mark 21, previously driven by Smiley, in the CASC Formula Atlantic in 1974.
Competition from Lola, Royale, Van Diemen and many others prevented Merlyn from winning any major championships.
Due to a combination of factors like the loss of a major client and the unfavorable dollar-Pound exchange rate, Colchester Racing Developments ended the production of racecars in 1979.