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.

[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.

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.