The Wooden Shed Where Ken Tyrrell Built an F1 Empire Has Been Saved

Modern championship-winning F1 teams have over 1000 people and operate out of enormous facilities that look like something that would launch a spacecraft instead of a race car.

Over 60 years ago, Ken Tyrrell and a small handful of engineers built world-championship cars from the inside of a humble wooden shed. That shed was at risk of demolition recently, but the good people of Goodwood stepped in to save the day—and the shed.

“The shed stood in its original home in Okham Village, Surrey, for more than 70 years, but after a period of sensitive restoration, it has now been relocated to Hurricane Lawn at the Goodwood Motor Circuit after the estate was approached to save it from demolition,” read a statement from Goodwood Road & Racing.

Restoration work was aimed at retaining as much of the shed as possible, down to the stickers on the walls, Goodwood sources said. When it was done, the building was relocated to the Goodwood Estate 40 miles away.

After an attempt at driving in Formula 2, Ken Tyrrell decided to found his own team and pursue the sport from that angle. In 1958 he set up a workshop in the wooden shed in a lumber yard owned by his family. Tyrrell was particularly good at picking the right people to work with, and even had John Surtees and Jackie Stewart as drivers when the team was competing in lower formula races from 1958-1967.

The team made the jump to F1 in 1968 and almost won the title its first year with Stewart at the wheel in a Matra chassis. The next year Stewart won his first championship in a Tyrrell built in a barn.

The team won two more championships in 1971 and 1973 using Tyrrell chassis, including the famous six-wheeled P34.

After that the team built another, larger structure next to the shed but continued to use the original wooden building. Ken Tyrrell sold the team in 1998, whereafter it became BAR, then Honda, Brawn, and finally Mercedes, one of the most successful teams in F1 history.

But it all started from an asbestos-roofed wooden shed in the rural village of Ockham, Surrey. Goodwood Road & Racing Club members will get the first opportunity to view the historic structure at the 81st Members Meeting April 13-14, which is open to the public, and at the official public opening at the Goodwood Revival on Sept. 8.

The public are able to buy tickets to the member’s meeting at goodwood.com.