The RE, also known as Realpha, was a home-built Formula One racing car constructed by Rhodesian Ray Reed at his Ray’s Engineering (RE) base in Gwelo. The car was structurally based on a Cooper and like many South African home-built Formula One cars of the time, it was fitted with a modified  Alfa Romeo Giulietta 1.3-litre twin-cam engine. Read first raced his car in 1964 Rand Grand Prix. The race was  held on 12 December 1964 at Kyalami, South Africa. It was the first round of the 1965 South African Drivers Championship, but attracted some European F1 drivers. Graham Hill in Brabham-BRM was the winner, while Reed retired due to engine failure. He also entered the 1965 South African Grand Prix, but the entry was withdrawn before the race. Many sources say that entry was cancelled because Ray died in air crash in January 1965, but this is not correct. He actually was killed piloting his aircraft, but it was on May 8, 1970.   The RE – Alfa Romeo later appeared at the 1966 Rhodesian Grand Prix, the last round of that year’s South African Drivers Championship, entered by local driver Peter Huson, but he retired from the race after an accident. After Peter crashed in the car during the 1966 Rhodesian Grand Prix, Ray bought back the remains with the intention of building a sports racing car, but this was not realized.

SeasonSeriesEvent
1966South African Drivers ChampionshipRhodesian GP
Driver No.Entrant
Peter Huson10Peter Huson
Scale ManufacturerCollection
1:43Villa Model
Cat. No.QualityRarity
VM378