Allan Staniforth

[PatClarke]

I hate to be again the bearer of bad news, but sadly, our old mate Stanny has passed away after a short illness.

This is another catastrophic loss to Formula Student and FSAE. No-one whoever met the man was not touched by him, his wisdom, his friendliness and his sense of humour.

Allan died peacefully on Saturday in hospital near his home. Our deepest condolences to his family and his many many friends.

Farewell Stanny.

Sadly

Pat Clarke

[DJHache]

I remember meeting Mr Staniforth at competition in 2005. I was head of suspension design and he was my judge. It was pretty cool having the author of CC Suspension here in front of me ready to discuss suspension design with me. After a little bit of quizzing he went straight for the ridicilously small toe base on the rear uprights I had designed. I don't think I'll ever forget the sight of the rear wheel toeing in and out about 5 degrees as he pulled up and down on the toe rod. "It's all for nothing if the basics aren't there" he said.

Needless to stay the lesson stuck and it's the first thing I look at in any suspension design.

I feel honored that I took part in a design competition where he was a judge and that he personnally evaluated my design.

I would like to add my condolences to Mr. Staniforth's family and friends

[Kevin Hayward]

Allan Staniforth's book Competition Car Suspensiond was largely responsible for getting me into suspension and racing cars. It was an early sign that suspension wasn't some "black art". It is still one of only a few books that can be considered required reading for those beginning in racecar engineering.

Getting to meet him and talk to him about FSAE and his cars in England was great. Allan was very friendly and generous with his time.

I am very sorry to hear of his passing.

Kevin Hayward

[Calum Douglas]

Thats bad news,
I met him at FSG in 2007 and became an instant fan. He even took the time to reply to several letters I sent him with suspension questions; his lengthy replies were all done by hand on a typewriter! Must have taken him ages.

The fact he did that sort of thing for a fairly drunk student he met in germany once really says it all about Allan.

Sorry we didn`t get your car down to put on our 4 poster Allan!

Cheerio

Calum

[Mike Hart]

I met Alan briefly on two occasions, both of them when he was deep in conversation with our two suspension designers. How the man could possibly know the amount of stuff he did amazes me. He was always friendly, interested, enthusiastic and knowledgeable. It's not often you come across people like him. People who are both so experienced and well respected in their fields AND so modest and friendly.

RIP Alan! Wherever you are, I get the feeling the cars will suddenly start to handle a whole lot better! We will most definitely miss you massively down here. My thoughts are with all his close friends and family.