Don Parker was born in Kent in 1908, the son of a horse trader he endured a difficult childhood and ran away from home at the age of twelve.

Just after the end of the war, now in his late thirties, Don was running a small engineering shop under the railway arches in Battersea, South London. Another, nearby, railway arch was occupied by Charlie Smith, a successful grass track racer, on bikes, who turned his attention to 500 cc cars with the CFS. Don and Charlie joined forces to build a second car which made its debut at the British Grand Prix meeting in 1948. Sadly, Charlie was killed in practice for a motorbike race and his widow turned the car over to Don. He rebuilt the CFS to suit his slight frame, renaming it the Parker Special and raced the car at Brough, winning two trophies. By the end of the 49 season, he had won two races and twice beaten Stirling Moss.

A classic duel, Don leads Peter Collins during the 100 mile race at Silverstone in July 1949. Don eventually finished third in spite of having to stop for fuel due to the absence of a long range tank.

By 1950, Formula 3 was beginning to be dominated by the works Cooper's with Manx Norton engines. With only a JAP engine in his own car Don should have been outclassed but he achieved 10 wins plus second in the Dutch GP and third in Monaco.

For 1953, Don continued to modify the car, noticeably the pointed nose, and enjoyed even more success. He won 30 races from 44 starts and finished on the podium in a further 12, all against top class opposition, including many who would go on to Formula 1. His second championship was a formality.

In 1954, Don came close to a hat trick, battling throughout with Les Leston. Don thought he had won the championship at Cadwell Park in October but an extra race was added for Boxing Day at Brands Hatch. Leston finished third and Don, fourth so Les took the title by half a point!

Don paints the race numbers on his Kieft:

For 1951, Don switched to a JBS and began to receive works JAP engines but the project fell apart when Alf Bottoms was killed in the Luxembourg Grand Prix in May. Don picked up twelve wins in spite of this.

During this year he met Dora, at Goodwood. Their relationship caused something of a stir as Dora was considerably younger than Don but they married and remained together for their whole lives.

Also in 1951, Don was invited to drive the prototype Kieft CK 51 of Stirling Moss. Don built his own car from Kieft parts and enjoyed a great 1952 season with 22 wins and the Formula 3 championship.

Don leads Stirling Moss in the 1952 Grand Prix Meeting.

Reg Hargrave in the Parker Kieft

and on the trailer at Goodwood in 1955:

Exiting Druids Hairpin, Brands Hatch in 1955:

By 1955, the Kieft was showing it's age but Don took 10 wins including his 100th. An impressive tally for a man building and maintaining his own engine and car. From 1956, Don switched to  a Cooper Norton and took his third Formula 3 championship title in 1959 at the age of 50. He retired shortly after having chosen not to move to Formula 2 or 1 and rarely raced in any other category. Eventually Don moved to the South Coast and died in 1998 at the age of 89.

A shot of Don at Brough in March 1951, unusually in a JBS. He would win that day. Photo courtesy of Michael Aikey.

Immediately after victory at Snetterton. Probably the 5th June1954.