Lord Hesketh, in partnership with Anthony 'Bubbles' Horsley as driver, entered various Formula Three events around Europe in 1972, aiming simply to have as much fun as possible.

Hesketh worked out that the cost involved in competing in the top flight was hardly more expensive than F2, and decided to move the team up to Formula One.

[2] In 1974, Postlethwaite designed an all-new car for the team, the Hesketh 308, which was ready for the Silverstone International Trophy, which Hunt won, making its championship debut at the South African Grand Prix.

[5] In late 1975, Hesketh announced that he could no longer afford to try to produce the next British world champion, having raced without sponsorship, and ended his involvement with the team.

Guy Edwards joined in a second car from the Belgian Grand Prix onwards with Alex Ribeiro bringing in some funds later in the year.

Future Williams engineer Patrick Head noted that the 308D had significant aerodynamic issues at the rear of the car which hindered performance.

Ertl left and was replaced by Ian Ashley, but by now Keegan's was the only entry that usually made it to the grid, and his seventh place at the Austrian Grand Prix was the team's best finish of the year.

Derek Daly was the next to try the car, and at the wet International Trophy at Silverstone, in his debut, diced for the lead with James Hunt's McLaren before a stone cracked his visor and ended his race.

Unlike many privateer sports car entrants in the late 1970s, Bracey harboured serious hopes of winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race.

However, as the Hesketh racing team's fortunes dipped, the Ibec chassis dropped down the priority list and eventually Bracey moved production to Lyncar in Slough.

The total cost of designing and building the 308LM was less than £100,000,[9] approximately £0.5 million at 2005 prices, more than most privateer teams, but far lower than many contemporary factory race programs.

The car's first competitive outing was, as planned, at the 1978 24 Hours of Le Mans race, driven by Ian Grob and Guy Edwards, with Bracey himself acting as reserve driver.