Obituary

Jim Whitehouse

Engine builder Jim Whitehouse, who has died aged 87, was the man behind the Arden name which through three decades achieved success with Minis and Toyotas. After racing Bentleys and his own Arden car in the ’50s, Jim built Mini engines which brought victory for John Rhodes and Gordon Spice. Alec Poole won the 1969 British saloon title using Jim’s Arden eight-port head, and there were wins for Chris Hodgetts in an Arden-powered Escort RS1600i, leading to a successful Toyota link. Jim built the Corolla engines for Per Eklund’s all-conquering British Open Rally Championship season, and Celica units for David Llewellyn’s GT4, as well as race engines for Win Percy and Barry Sheene. Jim never officially retired from Arden, but turned increasingly to restoring his own collection of cars.