Background
Francis was born in Danzig but left during World World War II, first for Portugal, then by sea to Liverpool in the United Kingdom, where he joined the Polish 1st Armoured Division.
designer engineer mechanic author
Francis was born in Danzig but left during World World War II, first for Portugal, then by sea to Liverpool in the United Kingdom, where he joined the Polish 1st Armoured Division.
After World World War II, he changed his nationality to British, and his name to Alf Francis. He became a racing mechanic for Stirling Moss and the Chief Mechanic at Rob Walker Racing Team. At Rob Walker Racing Team, he maintained many Grand Prix cars including Cooper-Climax and Lotus 18, and helped developing the team"s own Formula 1 car called Walker Special.
In 1963 he returned to England where he was involved in the unsuccessful Derrington-Francis Formula One project
He subsequently emigrated to the United States of America, where he built cars for lower racing formulae. In 1966 he authored his biography Alf Francis: Racing Mechanic with journalist Peter Lewis.