Chris Amon made his Formula One debut in , driving for
Reg Parnell's privateer team. After finding himself without a full-time drive in , he entered a
Brabham BT11 powered by a 2-litre
BRM engine at the
Italian Grand Prix, under the banner of "Chris Amon Racing". With most of the other cars running 3-litre engines, Amon struggled in qualifying and failed to make the grid. From until , Amon drove for
Ferrari,
March and
Matra, winning several non-championship F1 races while developing a reputation for bad luck in World Championship events. He then struggled in with the small Italian
Tecno team. But encouraged by the potential of the underdeveloped
Gordon Fowell chassis, Amon tried running his own Formula One car in . Financial backing came from John Dalton, and the car, designed by Fowell, followed the
Lotus 72 in some areas of construction, with sophisticated torsion-bar suspension and side radiators. The venture failed completely: retiring from the first race, Amon withdrew from the second, and the car was unable to qualify for two more before the team closed down due to financial problems. ==Amon AF101==