Mathwall Engineering Ltd, (Purple Engineering Ltd), Thursley: a brief history
- Jul 24
- 4 min read
Updated: Jul 31
Thursley History Society has put transport as the main focus of its activities in 2026. We are delighted to publish this history of Mathwall Engineering written by Peter Hunter.
Today, July 2026
The transition of the Red Lion Garage from what it was in the days of Reg Cottle (see: The Red Lion Garage, Reg Cottle and many road traffic accidents) to today’s modern state of the art motor engineering centre is quite staggering. The Red Lion Garage was first established in the 1930s and was eventually taken over from Reg Cottle by Mathwall Engineering Ltd in 1978 when they moved from their original premises in West Byfleet.
Mathwall Engineering Ltd was formed in 1967 by Stuart Mathieson and Peter Wallace, both of whom had left Alan Mann Racing having worked on the highly successful Ford racing programmes. See: About – Mathwall
Mathwall’s primary business was, and remains, the development of high-performance internal combustion engines to be used in motor sport - something they have done successfully for many clients over several continents. See Mathwall’s 50th anniversary brochure from 2017 which is reproduced in full in the pdf below:
One of the company’s most famous efforts was in conjunction with Alan Mann racing with the engineering of the Ford GT40 Mk ll that came 1st, 2nd & 3rd in the 1966 24 Hour Le Mans Grand Prix. In fact, all three cars crossed the finishing line precisely together in a photo finish following team orders. The race stewards then had to decide the winner, which they did by choosing the car that was furthest from the start line at the beginning and therefore had travelled some few metres further than the others. That car was driven by Bruce McClaren with Ken Miles, who had been the overall leader, placed second.
This development came about due to the competition between Mr Henry Ford ll and Sig. Enzo Ferrari. About that time Henry Ford ll wanted to acquire the Italian specialist car manufacturer but was rebuffed by Enzo. This led to Ford determining that they were therefore going to beat Ferrari on the track. In order to achieve this, they turned to the British engineering firm, Alan Mann Racing, which Stuart Mathieson was part of. The whole of this story of competition between Ford and Ferrari was the basis for the very successful film ‘Le Mans 66’ produced in 2019 by 20th Century Fox and starring Matt Damon and Christian Bale.
Later in the 80’s here in Thursley, Stuart Mathieson prepared cars and engines for Stirling Moss (Sir). During this period of cooperation Stirling’s 1965 Shelby GT350 Ford Mustang was frequently seen at the Goodwood Motor Circuit and on one such occasion in 1992 Lord March decided to launch the Festival of Speed, which has now become a popular annual event in the motor racing calendar. It was in 1909 when Moss and Mathieson were at the T&I Super Sports Festival at the Okayama Circuit in Japan, Stuart was pleased to see that almost all of the V8 powered cars on the grid were fitted with Mathwall engines prepared in Thursley. These cars all achieved speeds well in excess of 200 mph.
In 2007 Stuart Mathieson handed over the business to his son, Mark Mathieson. The company continued to invest in new technologies and facilities, one of which was an advanced dynamometer. A dynamometer or "dyno" is a device for simultaneously measuring the torque and rotational speed (RPM) of an engine, and for many years the Formula 1 engines from McClaren Motors of Woking were tested here in Thursley. It would not be surprising that not many villagers would have been aware of this as the extreme noise made when these engines reach peak performance was well contained in a fully soundproofed 20’ container!
Mark Mathieson has been a leading light in the motor sport world since he graduated from the University of Bath (MPhil) with a Postgraduate Research in Engine Design & Development. Between 1999 and 2008 Mark was head of F1 high performance engines and Formular One Development Manager at Mercedes. For eleven years from 2008 he was working for McClaren motors both as chief engineer of the power train sector and Director of McClaren Applied Technologies.
Mark Mathieson was awarded an MBE for his and his team at McClaren work on developing in record breaking time the urgently required medical Ventilator during the Covid-19 pandemic. The associated company, PurpleSector* is now also located at the Red Lion Garage premises here in Thursley and specialises in fast development of technologies spanning a plethora of industries and as their website states:
“Born in the white heat of Formula 1™, we’re an engineering-led, data-driven consultancy that builds solutions for complex, high value challenges.”
So now the Red Lion Garage has truly leapt from the post steam age to the highest level of technology in the 21st century.
It is to be noted that a Thursley resident, Andrew Shepherd, had his racing AC Cobra prepared by Mathwall for many years. Further, it would seem that our Parish is becoming quite a centre of Formula 1 celebrities with the addition of the well-known CEO of McClaren Racing (Woking), Zak Brown and his wife, becoming permanent residents.
* In Formula 1 Motor Racing, each circuit is divided into three sectors, roughly one-third of the track each, to allow detailed analysis of lap performance. A purple sector occurs when a driver records the fastest time of anyone in that sector during a practice, qualifying, or race session. The term comes from F1’s color-coded timing system, where purple represents the best or fastest sector time, green indicates a personal best, and yellow shows no improvement.
