We're Peter and Guy Smith — businesspeople, motorsport lovers and Ford fans. From building rally cars out of scrapyard parts to hauling karts across Europe in a homemade Transit motorhome, racing and work have gone hand-in-hand for us with Ford as a backdrop throughout. We took a trip to the Ford Heritage Centre to reminisce and share our story.

Peter: Maybe it was fate that the family business I’ve led for over 50 years built around home comforts on the road grew out of my dad Ken starting a mobile launderette.

It was the 1950s and times were pretty tough. Hardly anyone had washing machines back then, so Dad bought a few and would trailer them around to local houses in the morning, pick them up at lunch and go somewhere else in the afternoon. It was a good business until people had the money to buy their own. But Dad was a practical man so he got hold of some tools and set up a workshop making sheds and greenhouses.

Around that time, Hull was the hub for caravan-making in the UK and business was booming. With so much opportunity, people would set up their own company rather than move somewhere else for a better job — including a man called Ken Day, who knew the caravan business but needed premises. My dad had the workshop and the tools, so the Kens partnered up to build the Ten, their first caravan. That's how Swift started.

Dad bought Ken Day out in 1965 and when he passed away in 1972, mum and I took over. Today I’m chairman, my son Guy is part of the company and my granddaughter is in the business too. It’s wonderful having three generations still involved — we’re a proper family firm.

Out Of Office: Early Days in Motorsport

Besides family and running Swift, motorsport has been the other big thing in my life.

The motor club was where you used to go on a Thursday night for the social scene – it’s actually where I met Guy’s mum — and at least in the early days, the rallying and competitions were just part of the fun rather than why I joined. It was something to do when I wasn’t selling caravans and I had no idea that racing would end up being such a strong influence on the business.

“My first proper event was in a Ford Cortina GT, in 1971. It was a nighttime rally on public roads and we got lost, as you do. Motorsport's a drug though and I was hooked.”

Peter Smith, chairman of Swift Group and former rally driver

My first proper event was in a Ford Cortina GT, in 1971. It was a nighttime rally on public roads and we got lost, as you do. Motorsport’s a drug though and I was hooked. The car of choice back then was a Ford Escort. I bought the shell of one and another written-off Escort from a scrapyard. With no idea what I was doing, I put the best bits of both together by torchlight under a tarpaulin at night after work.

I was very excited, on the start line for my first rally in it, and then the flywheel fell off the front of the engine because I’d not fastened it properly! But we fixed it, carried on and had fun anyway. The camaraderie is what makes motorsport special; once an event is all over, you have a laugh together or help pull each other’s cars out of ditches if someone’s overdone it. That spirit made those motor club days special and it’s still there in the historic racing that Guy and I do today.

I never aimed to be a professional rally driver, but I still recognised that it could be a good advert for the business. In fact, the phone number for Swift on the side of that Escort is still the same one that customers contact us on today.

There was even caravan rallying back in those days, and lots of the big names got involved. It was a night of navigation tests on public roads, then daytime speed trials on race circuits all while towing a caravan. We also had precision exercises like driving into a farmyard, turning around without hitting anything and driving out again.

It was absolute mayhem — we’d come flying in, handbrake turn, hope the caravan hadn’t flipped and head out again. The rules said you needed a kitchen and toilet, but we wanted to make the caravan as light as we could so argued a little gas cooker and some loo roll counted. Somehow that passed scrutineering! We’d even try to find ways to make the roof vents more aerodynamic. Great fun, but it’d never happen nowadays.

Karting Started Us Off in Motorhomes

“Once I came along, Dad’s fun stopped. Or at least his time behind the wheel did.”

Guy Smith, Peter's son and retired professional racing driver

Guy: Once I came along, Dad’s fun stopped. Or at least his time behind the wheel did. The business was growing and as a young lad growing up surrounded by motorsport and engineering, my direction was set from early on.

Swift was still a caravan company back then. I was racing karts and we spent weekends going all over the UK, and then around Europe once I reached that level. The kart used to go in the back of a Transit van that Dad had fitted a fold-out bed and little gas stove to. I guess you could say that was the first Swift motorhome.

It’s thanks to racing that we became the company we are today. I missed a lot of school and we’d drive to southern Italy or Spain in that Transit for races. It became a way of life and proved the competitive streak that definitely runs in the family.

Once, after a race in Belgium, we had some time to kill before the ferry home so Dad and I had a go in a couple of the little rental karts at the circuit. We don’t agree on exactly what happened, but neither of us made it past the first lap and Dad definitely broke a rib. The next weekend, we were at another race in Scotland together as if nothing had happened. He’s always been a fighter, I’ll give him that.

Professional racing became my life for decades. It took me into the heart of legendary teams and manufacturers as well as to the top step of the podium at Le Mans and to championship titles on both sides of the Atlantic. It was also great preparation for what I do now, as racers spend a huge amount of time in motorhomes and putting business deals together.

Racing quickly teaches you to work as part of a team, to know your strengths and how to get the right people in the right places to succeed. All of that works in the boardroom as well as the racetrack; today, I’m really enjoying the challenge of getting stuck into my role at Swift and helping the business continue to succeed in the European leisure industry.

How Racing’s Helped the Business

Peter: It was racing that got Swift into motorhomes, and racing that brought us together with Ford Pro too. I’m mates with Malcolm Wilson, the man behind M-Sport who have been Ford’s go-to rally team for decades.

“It was racing that got Swift into motorhomes, and racing that brought us together with Ford Pro too.”

Peter Smith, chairman of Swift Group and former rally driver

I’d sponsored a Fiesta in the British Rally Championship, bought some cars from M-Sport and sorted them out with motorhomes for the Dakar Rally. Malcolm put us in touch with Ford Pro, and now we’re a major customer in Europe for Transits in the leisure industry.

They’re just so good to drive. Previously the noise in a motorhome came from the tyres or wind, but when I drove a modern Transit it felt like a new level of quality. Now, the Swift motorhomes built on Transits just feel like driving a car. As a racing fan, I love that motorsport and making driving fun has been part of Ford’s history as well. That’s why all the historic cars we race these days are Fords.

We keep seeing Swift vehicles at racetracks across the country, which I’m very proud of. For club racing, a motorhome and trailer is a great setup. I’ve even sold motorhomes at the track. Somebody once reversed into me at Silverstone and as we were swapping insurance details in my Swift, they noticed how nice it was. Some of their friends were looking to downsize — lo and behold, two weeks later I got an enquiry for a motorhome!

The Blue Oval Comes Full Circle

Guy: Dad sent me a picture of an Escort rally car and a message:

Classic Dad — he hadn’t been rallying in 18 years but just turned up and did it.

Once I’d retired from professional driving, we thought about sharing a car together in some low-key historic racing for fun. In a lovely full-circle moment, we ended up racing a Lotus Cortina; it’s the boy racers’ poster car from when Dad was young and the high-performance version of the car he cut his motorsport teeth with.

Our historic Ford racing cars: Lotus Cortina

“It’s very close, but the Lotus Cortina is my favourite. It’s not too far off what I used for my first rallies, but modern engineering means this one feels faster than what I used to drive. The experience is more raw and it takes a knack to drive it quickly.”

Peter Smith, chairman of Swift Group and former rally driver

Ford Capri

“We went to a historic race, had a look around and it made me fancy a Capri. I was going through the typical situation of being a bloke in his later years looking at things I couldn’t afford when I was younger. Now I get to enjoy those things for real!”

Peter Smith, chairman of Swift Group and former rally driver

Ford Mustang

“It’s got some serious power, this car. The Mustang is all about straightline speed; it’s a bit more of a challenge on the brakes, although the steering is very smooth. This one’s been built by Alan Mann Racing, who ran the Ford GT40 at Le Mans in the Sixties.”

Guy Smith, Peter's son and retired professional racing driver

As well as the Cortina, we’ve also raced a Capri together and this year, we’re trying a Mustang. Dad had been desperate for one as a road car for a while but after being outgunned on straights in the Cortina a few times, we couldn’t resist the Mustang’s V8.

Peter and Guy Smith race historic Fords and are the family behind The Swift Group.