Team story
Origins
After the 1973 season with Tecno, Chris Amon tried running his own team. John Dalton's funding enabled Gordon Fowell to be commissioned to design the AF101 for 1974. The New Zealander would therefore drive a single-seater bearing his own name, rather than seek another seat with an established constructor.
The Formula 1 journey
The AF101 started only the Spanish Grand Prix at Jarama, and retired. The other attempts did not produce any further starts; Larry Perkins was among the drivers involved. The four entries recorded in the archive therefore do not mean four races contested.
The available money was not enough to correct the flaws and continue the programme.
Historical timeline
Three chapters in the story of Amon
Three episodes to revisit the people, cars and races that shaped this journey.
First appearance · Spanish Grand Prix
Chris Amon · Spanish Grand Prix 1974. The recorded outcome is DNF. This is the first recorded race start, or the first entry if the team never started a race.
Sporting landmark · Amon
No classified race result is documented for this part of Amon’s record. The entries and cars listed elsewhere on the page provide the available reference points; they should not be read as completed races.
Latest recorded appearance · Spanish Grand Prix
Chris Amon · Spanish Grand Prix 1974. The recorded outcome is DNF. This is the last race start attributed to this constructor in the archive, not necessarily the end of the organisation behind it.
A distinctive way of racing
Fowell used the Cosworth DFV, but around that familiar engine he built a car with distinctive features, including titanium torsion bars and a fuel tank concentrated between the cockpit and engine. The pursuit of lightness left structural problems. During the later restoration, numerous components were remade more robustly, without pretending that the original configuration had already solved its problems.
What remains
Owner Ron Maydon recounts how Amon helped with the restoration by identifying the design's mistakes. Terry Carthy carried out the rebuild and the car raced again, taking tenth at the 2006 Monaco Historic Grand Prix. This is a documented second life for the AF101, not a World Championship result: the brief attempt as a constructor remains separate from Amon's long career as a driver.