Tom Cole (racing driver)
| Tom Cole | |||||||||||
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| Nationality |
 British |
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| Born | Thomas Lionel Howard Cole, Jr. 11 June 1922 Llandaff, South Glamorgan, Wales |
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| Died | 14 June 1953 (aged 31) Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans, Pays de la Loire, France |
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| 24 Hours of Le Mans career | |
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| Participating years | 1950–1953 |
| Teams | S. H. Allard, Scuderia Ferrari and Luigi Chinetti |
| Best finish | 3rd (1950) |
| Class wins | 1 (1950) |
Tom Cole (11 June 1922 – 14 June 1953) was a British racing driver, who raced on an American racing license, who made a name for himself in the early 1950s, but paid the ultimate price for his love of motorsport.
Thomas Cole, Jr. was born in Llandaff, in South Glamorgan, Wales, but his family relocated in America in the late 1930s. His family arrived in New York City, August 1939, just a week before World War II began officially in Europe. Tom attended Harvard University for a year, then served in the U.S. Merchant Marine after the US entered the war. Later, he drove an ambulance for the American Field Service. Then, after the war, Tom who was a survivor of polio, he became enamoured of the East Coast racing scene. He started racing a Jaguar SS100 in 1949, later switched to a HRG 1500. His race debut was at the Bridgehampton Race Circuit in the Bridgehampton 100 Mile Race, and was beaten only by the Alfa Romeo 8C 2600 of George Huntoon. He finished the season with a fifth place in the Seneca Cup, and fourth in the Watkins Glen Grand Prix, both in the HRG.
Cole’s ability soon exceeded the potential of the Jaguar. After approaching Bill Frick of Frick-Tappet Racing, if a Cadillac engine would fit the SS100. As the answer was no, Cole had his father (who was in the shipping business), to ship over an Allard J2 from England and installed the Caddy engine, and the Cad-Allard was born.
The first race for the new car was at Palm Beach Shores in January 1950. He led for two laps before being passed by the eventual winning, Huntoon. Cole finished seventh after a spin, but was disqualified for receiving a push. He also led the Heart Trophy race, at Suffolk County Airport, but following a cracked rear wheel, he followed Briggs Cunningham’s Ferrari 166 home, to finished second. After winning a minor race at Suffolk, he took his first major race victory at Bridgehampton Sports Car Races, leading flag to flag. He would also race at 24 Heures du Mans There, he was partnered by the car-builder Sydney Allard. They co-drove a Cadillac powered J2 to third overall.http://www.racingsportscars.com/results/Le_Mans-1950-06-25.html
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