Leonard Bailey became an apprentice at Austin at Longbridge in 1942 which at that time were building Short Stirlings for the Royal Air Force of World War II.
Building up his experience at Daimler and Rover in Coventry before moving back to Austin which became part of British Motor Corporation (BMC) in 1952 to work in the engine department.
Lola had completed a Ford-powered, mid-engined sports car in 1963 this would form the basis for the Ford assault on winning Le-Mans, the new project was to be based at FAV.
Early in 1966 several chassis were shipped to the United States to be fitted with the larger, more powerful engine in preparation for Fords third attempt at taking that elusive Le Mans win.
Although entered by three different privateer teams, all factory Ferraris had retired by 17 hours, as had nine of the Fords, but three held together long enough to score an historic photo staged 1-2-3 finish.
For 1967 Ford USA decided to concentrate its resources on a second Le Mans win and fielded the GT40 Mk IV, a newer car redesigned in the US with a different chassis and a different body.
While at Alan Mann Racing, Bailey designed the bodies of a pair of gull-wing door cars constructed of aluminum, used in the 1969 Gerry Anderson science fiction film Doppelgänger.
He followed this with more design work for JW Automotive, including the Cosworth DFV powered Gulf Mirage M6 sports car for the 1972 and 1973 World Sportscar Championship seasons.