 In 1952 he met Tommy Sopwith, son of Sir Thomas Sopwith, who was also doing a short apprenticeship at his father’s factory.They got on well and as Sopwith was interested in sports car racing and knew Crosthwaite was knowledgeable about cars he asked Crosthwaite to be his mechanic.Initially they used an Armstrong Siddeley 3.4 litre 6-cylinder Saphire engine, Allard JR chassis and preselecter gearbox.