Dennis Flather was a wealthy Sheffield steel merchant who first competed in a Marwyn fitted with a Scott engine and other modifications which he called "Marrot" (MARwyn scOTT) in 1948. Given that the Marwyn chassis was somewhat lacking and the Scott engine was less powerful than a JAP, the combination was less than successful. Replacing the Scott with a Vincent Grey Flash engine for 1949 failed to substantially improve things.

At Brands Hatch in 1951, the driver is Spike Rhiando.

For 1951, he built his own car along the lines of a Cooper Mk V but with fairings over the front suspension and rather more ground clearance. Initially, it ran with an HRD engine but this did not produce the required power and a JAP was substituted. Dennis' business was steel and the car was formally called the Flather Steel Special, something that was not officially permitted at that time.

Dennis had a range of automotive interests, including being a founder member of BRM, and in 1954 he hired former speedway rider, Bill Harris to maintain his cars and compete in the 500.

The second Flather Special was built and driven by Australian, Bill Harris  in 1954. Much lower and Cooper influenced, it used a long stroke Manx engine with wishbone and coil front suspension at the front and a de Dion at the rear located by twin trailing arms. Bill had rather more success with this car and continued to compete through to 1959.

Bill left Flather's garage to form the Alexis marque with Alex Francis, building Formula Junior and Formula 2 cars. He returned to Australia in 1965.

Bill Harris at Cadwell Park