page_title: John Crosthwaite
section_title: Dolphin Engineering
hierarchical_section_title: John Crosthwaite / Career / Dolphin Engineering
caption_attribution_description: English: John_Crosthwaite_with_John_Biehl_(sunglasses)_and_Frank_Monise_(glasses)
context_page_description: John Crosthwaite was an English race car designer and engineer, active in both the United Kingdom and the United States.
  Crosthwaite worked with Cooper Cars, Colin Chapman at Team Lotus and Mickey Thompson as well as drivers Graham Hill, Dan Gurney and Jackie Stewart. He designed and built cars for Formula Junior and the 1962 and 1963 Indianapolis 500. A chassis specialist, he worked at Formula 1 team BRM and later drew up chassis for the Intermeccanica Italia and Reliant Scimitar GTE road cars.
context_section_description: Early in 1959 racing driver John Biehl introduced Crosthwaite to anglophile and race car enthusiast Buddy Hull. Buddy had come into some money and was very keen to get involved in building race cars himself.  They started as a partnership, Hull as MD and financier and Crosthwaite to design and build a Formula Junior for their company "Dolphin Engineering". This was a single seater mid-engined car with a fibreglass body. The regulations stated that the car’s engine/gearbox were based on a production car of 1100cc or less. The chassis, suspension and bodywork were unrestricted. The chassis was a straight tubular steel space frame. The engine was a 1100cc Fiat and the gearbox an inverted Fiat 600. It had pressed steel wheels and the fibreglass body was made with the advice of a local boatbuilder. The front suspension and brakes were modified parts from a non-runner NSU Prinz that Crosthwaite had. The rear suspension he designed and manufactured himself.
   Late in 1959 the prototype was raced at San Diego and finished 5th. They decided to tidy up the prototype and go into production with the Mk 1 Dolphin. This tidying up turned into a lot more than that so the only thing left of the prototype was the basic chassis frame and bodywork. Formula One World Champion Jack Brabham test drove the Mk 1 Dolphin at Riverside International Raceway
  Because of the increasingly competitive Formula Junior market, Crosthwaite decided to design a Dolphin Mk 2 in 1961 (also called the Dolphin International). Twenty six were produced. It had a tuned 997cc Ford Anglia 105E engine sourced from Mike Costin of Cosworth in the UK. The new body was drawn to be as small, smooth and aerodynamic as possible. After all the hours spent making Mk 1 body moulds they decided to produce a master 'plug' made of aluminium for the fibreglass body of the Mk 2. This 'plug' was produced to Crosthwaite's specification by the local racecar body shop of Troutman and Barnes.  Dolphin Engineering tooled up with jigs for all the welded parts and Crosthwaite designed cast magnesium wheels for the car. The Mk2 was successfully raced by ex pat Ken Miles (a close second place on its debut). Kurt Neumann won in a Dolphin International at Riverside in June 1962. Count Giovanni Lurani, who was instrumental in persuading the FIA to make Formula Junior an international class, described the Dolphin as the best American Junior constructed. Original Dolphin cars are still raced today at historic car events.
caption: Crosthwaite (left) with drivers John Biehl (sunglasses) and Frank Monise (glasses) at Riverside in June 1958
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