Following two seasons competing in Formula Two races with the JBW Cooper T43 and T45, Brian Naylor decided to enter Formula One proper in 1959. To achieve this Fred Wilkinson constructed a car — the JBW Type 1 — that was strongly influenced by the contemporary Cooper designs, and carried its Maserati engine behind the driver. The first appearance of the JBW-Maserati was at the pre-season BRDC International Trophy non-Championship race at Silverstone, on 2 May 1959. Naylor arrived too late to post a qualifying time, and retired on lap 41 of the race with gearbox failure. On 18 July Naylor appeared in the JBW car at the 1959 British Grand Prix at Aintree. Although he managed to qualify ahead of such well known drivers as Tony Brooks, Jack Fairman and Ivor Bueb, again the JBW let Naylor down and the car's transmission failed on lap 18. One final outing that year resulted in a failure even to qualify, after Naylor suffered an accident during practice for the Gold Cup race at Oulton Park on 26 September.