Kim Johnson

James Thacker reported to me last month that his very good friend Kim Johnson had died just 2 days after being diagnosed with lung cancer. James says:
“I don’t think you ever met him but my very dear and close friend Kim Johnson died on Thursday evening very suddenly. We were both at Shelsley on 29th Aug and he won the historic sports and saloon class on scratch and I was 2nd equal with someone else in a 2.0 litre Alfa. I have been in Cornwall for two weeks and during this time Kim became unwell. He went to the doctors on Tues 15th and was taken by ambulance to hospital where he was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer and died two days later. I had known Kim from the late 1960’s when we both had and raced our MG TF’s and then progressed to Spridgets. Kim did some circuits but then specialised in speed events particularly at his home venue Shelsley and Prescott and Loton. To my knowledge his time in his Midget up Shelsley in the 33 second bracket has never been achieved by any other Midget. [ I was in the 34 second bracket]. The only other A series production sports or saloons to do that time with an A series are 1400 cc Minis with 8 port twin cam heads and fuel injection. etc. Kim had a conventional 1380 five port with split Webers. Kim was very much the engineer who rebuilt TZA 238 with me and Kim being an engineer [ex Longbridge Austin apprentice] and me the amateut; he was the major player by far. I cherish the memory of the many hours we spent together both in the barn working on cars and on the track”. [Photo: courtesy of Zipp Photography]