Ex Paul Hanson 1980 Barton Phoenix 750cc Racing Sidecar Outfit'During 1996 the Phoenix number 2 engine reappeared in the hands of Manchester sidecar racer Paul Hanson. Housed in a Derbyshire kneeler chassis the Phoenix was raced at a Forgotten Era meeting at Barkston Heath, after initially being outlawed on the grounds that it was too fast.' – Mick Walker & Rob Carrick, 'British Performance Two-strokes'.
This racing sidecar outfit was built in 1980 by its sole owner, Paul Hanson, utilising a new Barton Phoenix 750cc engine and a Derbyshire chassis. The Phoenix engines were produced in very small numbers, estimates varying between five and eight examples of the 750cc motor manufactured. Barton had been founded by engineers Barry Hart and Tony Ryan, and made its first impact on the racing scene with a three-cylinder water-cooled '500' based on the Suzuki GT380 bottom end. Ridden by Martin Sharpe, a Spondon-framed, Barton-engined 'Sparton' won the 1976 North West 200 with similarly-mounted Frank Kennedy in 2nd place, while the previous year Sharpe's bike had proved as fast as the works Kawasakis at the Isle of Man TT. The switch to a square-four engine came about after Barry Sheene asked Hart to convert an RG500 engine to 650cc, something the factory said could not be done. Hart nevertheless succeeded and used the knowledge gained to produce his own version of the Suzuki engine: the Barton Phoenix, initially as a '750' and later as a '500'. The Phoenix engine showed promise but the project never received the financial backing required to develop it, despite Hart's appeals to the patriotism of the motorcycling public and a deal with the Rank Organisation to provide machines for the 1978 film 'Silver Dream Racer' starring David Essex. Although it achieved little in solo form, the 750cc Phoenix engine enjoyed considerable success as a sidecar power unit in the hands of Nigel Rollason, whose first major success with it was a 2nd place finish in the 1979 Isle of Man TT. Rollason would go on to finish nine out of ten TTs with his Phoenix-powered outfit, eight of them on the leader board, the highlight being victory in the 1986 event. By then Barton Engineering had ceased to exist, having been purchased by Armstrong in 1981. Barry Hart moved to Armstrong as chief designer and would be responsible for its highly successful Rotax-based tandem-twin racers.
A well-known and respected sidecar competitor, Paul Hanson spent some time refining his outfit's engine and chassis, incorporating various developments such as Armstrong cylinders and an improved fuel supply system, a process that culminated in him winning the 1985 Formula 5 Championship with passenger Stuart Aspin. The outfit continued to be raced regularly until the late 1990s. Thereafter it was used only for occasional parades, the last outing being at the 'Festival of 1000 Bikes' at Mallory Park in 2010.
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Hanson Barton Phoenix
