Loweno

Loweno

André Loens was a regular Formula 3 competitor who raced a variety of cars during the 1950s, including a JBS, Staride, Cooper, Kieft and Martin In 1956 he built his own car, Loweno, the name coming from from André & Albert Loens, Eugène Wéry & Julien Noreille of l’Ecurie Flandre.

The Loweno sat low with a blunt nose and suspension consisting of wishbones and coil springs at the front and a swing axle at the rear and shares some features with earlier Ray Martin cars, indeed Autosport refer to the car as a Loens-Martin Special. Since André owned a Martin for a while, which he sold to Roger Gaillard, it seems likely that the he constructed a new chassis and body around Martin suspension components.

André did achieve some success in the car in continental F3 races, winning his heat and second in the final at Narbonne in July, then second at Roskildering in August '56, second at Helsinki in May 1957 and winning at La Châtre in July. Sadly André was killed in a Maserati in October 1957 and we do not know what happened to the car thereafter.

If anyone has any more details or photos of the Loweno, please get in touch.

André with his Loweno at Narbonne in July 1956

In action in the Loweno.

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Leading at Roskildering, August 1956