Henry Taylor was born in December 1932 in Bedfordshire. He cut his racing teeth doing Speedway at West Ham and progressed to a Cooper Mk IV with a Vincent engine which was uncompetitive by the time he acquired it. He then bought a Mk VIII from Bob Gerard and having overcome paternal opposition was supplied with 2 new JAP engines by his father. The JAP engine wasn't equal to the best tuned Manx Nortons but Henry put in some creditable performances and took the Autosport Trophy in 1955 and, when there were JAP only races or a JAP class, Henry would always be to the fore and often the winner. In the Boxing Day meeting of 1955, he led the great Don Parker, in spite of his disadvantage and eventually finishing second. In 1959, Henry moved up to Formula 1 with the Yeoman Credit Team running Cooper T51s and then with the UDT Laystall Team using Lotus 18s. During the 60s he raced Ford Cortinas in the European Touring Car Championship before retiring from racing to become Ford's competition manager. After retiring from motorsport, Henry moved to the South of France to run a boat business in Cannes.

Henry in the Cooper Mk VIII at Silverstone in 1955.

The same car at Cadwell Park in 2004 now in the hands of James Holland.