Worry not if haven’t heard of Hesketh before this; they’ve got quite some pedigree to back up their big claims. But, if you religiously follow Formula 1, or have seen the Chris Hemsworth movie Rush, you already know them, so feel free to skip the next two paragraphs.
Hesketh was originally a British Formula One constructor founded by eccentric nobleman (aren’t they all?) Lord Hesketh, that created various Formula Three cars with the sole intention of having as much fun as possible on the track and possibly off it. As you’d expect, they garnered very little in the form of victories, but quickly gained a reputation in the paddocks with their flashy lifestyle and extravagant parties regardless of the race results. Then they chanced upon James Hunt, who already had a reputation of his own for being very fast, but also for writing off cars, and at the time was unemployed.
With Hunt’s talent, Hesketh moved up to the big league, competing in F1 and even racked in some impressive wins against much larger and more focused rivals, notably against Niki Lauda’s brilliant Ferrari in the semi-wet Dutch Grand Prix of 1975. Later that year, however, Lord Hesketh abruptly announced that he could no longer afford trying to produce the next British World Champion, having raced without sponsorship, and ended the team. Hunt was offered the lead drive at McLaren and went on to become the legend he is today, while Hesketh quietly rolled over and slowly breathed its last.
Until entrepreneur Paul Sleeman came along a few years back. A motorcycle enthusiast, Sleeman bought the name for “less than £200,000” from retiring custodian Mick Broom in 2010 and set about to build the firm’s first motorcycle, the 24. To date, he has spent £1m on rejuvenating the brand and creating the new motorcycle, and it finally saw the light of the day at last year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed. By the way, ‘24’ was the racing number of James Hunt, so there.
The 24 (pictured) was favourably appreciated by moneyed enthusiasts, who quickly ordered 16 of the planned, yes, you guessed it, 24 units, even though it wasn’t cheap at £35,000.
Now, with that money, Sleeman, bless his soul, is ready to move on to bigger and bigger things. “If the 24 is like an Aston Martin, we’re working on a Bugatti Veyron,” he recently told The Telegraph from his factory/shed at Redhill, Surrey.
Whether his team of just six people can pull it off is dubious at this point, but props to him for trying.