In last month's Karting Magazine (in "noteworthy") I said I was looking to find out where David Ferris and Stephen South were today. I would like to thank Karting Magazine for the email explaining that they may be able to help by putting an article in the magazine. I would like to thank the following people who have helped me to get this far in trying to trace David Ferris: Karting Magazine; David Bewley; John Surtees and last but not least, Roy Salvadori, who rang me from Montecarlo on Saturday, 6 November, knowing I was looking for David Ferris. When I picked myself up off the floor, and spoke to him, he said he had not seen David Ferris for 30years - about the time David had his accident with the stone that went through his crash helmet. We had a short conversation on why I am trying to trace David and he said he would keep my phone number and contact me if he did find out where David is today. Anyone else who could possibly help me with this situation of trying to find David Ferris - please contact me on 01665 714169. Kind regards, Jim Coulthard
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DESPERATELY SEEKING DAVID.
"Yes, I’m David Ferris".
It is just over 30 years since I last met David. I had given up motor sport, and dropped in at Clay Pigeon to see whether any of my friends were racing. I was quite surprised to find David in the paddock. Not just because I had never seen him at Clay before, but also because he had given up karting to go into single seaters, and had then had a serious accident. What is more, he was alone, and nobody seemed to be aware of his presence.
I had never before seen Dave at a circuit without his father Horace, and in the past he had always been the centre of attention. Some things hadn’t changed, however. He was still beaming one of the broadest smiles in karting, and seemed genuinely pleased to see me. I hung around to give him a hand, and was surprised that nobody else came forward to offer to give him a push. He said he had been a bit bored, so he’d borrowed a motor and stuck it on to one of his old Barlotti chassis, and here he was facing up to the top guys who I had raced against at the end of my karting career. Of course, he won. He won with an ease which, once again, put other people’s talents to shame. I stood in a crowd about three or four deep, watching him leave everyone else for dead. We were standing by the fast right hander that leads on to the long straight past the pits. It is a tricky bend, vital if you want a fast exit onto the straight. Just after entering this bend, David took a hand off the wheel, turned his head to me and waved.
How did he know I was there? How did he find me in the crowd and take time to wave at the same time as making everyone else in the race look amateur? Well, I thought about it at the time, and I have thought about it many times since, and I just don’t know how.
David Ferris was one of a kind. I count myself fortunate to have been able to witness his rise to prominence. I first noticed him when he was racing against my mate Emlyn in Juniors. He was winning easily, and Emlyn thought he was great. I thought he was cocky. Almost immediately, he moved into the senior classes and won a bunch of classes at the British Championship finals, including the overall title. I wouldn’t have minded, but in the process he soundly beat all my boyhood heroes – Mickey Allen, Bobby Day, Jon-Jon Ermelli. The kid was obviously good, but that didn’t mean I had to like him!
It was when I was involved in the manufacture of Panther Karts that I finally got to know Dave a bit better. His father Horace got in touch with us because he wanted David to try the Panther, and he was so impressed that they ordered two, and went away with the prototype! To have had David racing the Panther would have been a ticket to immediate sales on a scale we hadn’t dared to consider. Unfortunately, the prototype worked in the wet, but not very well in the dry. The production Panthers worked well in the dry, but not in the wet. It was a dead end, and we were naturally very disappointed that Dave actually never raced the Panther.
But having been involved with the Ferris’, I got to know them well enough to have a very healthy respect for them both. They were straight and honest, they told you what they wanted, and they told you whether you were giving it to them. All the while they were entirely pleasant and friendly. I soon learned that David was not at all cocky, he was just very confident, and very happy. He just smiled all the time, was relaxed, open and friendly. He wanted to have fun, and he did. I don’t remember him ever being moody or depressed, even when he didn’t win important races.
As his true character became apparent, it dawned on me that his talent was an order above that of all the other drivers – including my heroes. He didn’t always have the best kit, but he was always competitive. I could waffle on for pages about the way I learned of the excessive skills of David – how long have you got? Let’s just say that in one corner he convinced me that I would never be a top driver. I knew he was behind me, and was determined to keep him behind. I was flat out in a 45 degree right hander when he overtook me around the outside. Oh well…….
Strip away the titles, take away karting altogether, and you still had a really nice bloke. I’ve often wondered what happened to Dave, where he went after karting. A search of the internet threw up no leads, apart from putting me in touch with one Jim Coulthard – a man obsessed with all thing karting. Jim knew Dave Ferris even less well that I did, but he held him in the same regard, and desperately wants to know that Dave is alive and well. So far his extensive efforts have led to nothing. Through former F1 World Champion John Surtees, jim was contacted by another ex-FI star, Roy Salvadori. Davis is his nephew, but they have had no contact in over thirty years. None of the great drivers of David’s era seem to know where he has gone.
Jim’s best lead was to a David Ferris living within a hundred miles of me. Rather than make a ‘phone call, I offered to drop in to try to meet him. It took a few months before I had the opportunity, but yesterday I asked a man who was cutting his hedge if he knew David Ferris, and he replied "Yes, I’m David Ferris".
I had ridden my motorcycle for about 100 miles, just to hear these words. Unfortunately, they came from the wrong mouth. It wasn’t the right David.
If anyone knows where he is, please let us know. There are a lot of people who, like Jim and me, just want to know that he is OK.
Simon Murphy
01404 891685
