We received the sad news that one of our Honorary Members, Mark Finburgh, passed away last Thursday following a short illness.
Mark’s name may be familiar to motorsport enthusiasts and Club members as he featured in May 2025 Porsche Post ‘The Le Mans legend that completed the collection’ in a fascinating report of how he and his brother Aubrey acquired one of the ‘greatest race cars ever built’ – the legendary Le Mans winning Porsche 917, chassis number 013/034.
Born in November 1939 near Medbourne in Leicestershire, Mark and Aubrey grew up in a village that was close enough to former WW2 airfield Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground for them to hear the roar of cars being tested at the aerodrome.
Perhaps it was the engine sounds carrying across the rural Welland Valley and rides in a Jaguar XK120 owned by a friend’s father that fired their car ownership enthusiasm – an enthusiasm that saw them collecting a C-Type Jaguar, an AC Ace, a Ferrari 250 Europa, Ford GT40, and a 911 2.7 RS among others, as well as the famous 917.
These cars provided Mark’s family with a host of memories - daughter Clare has a cherished memory of traveling as a very young child on the tiny rear seat of the Ferrari 250 Europa as her mother Derashi and father traversed Europe. Mark’s younger daughter Joanna also fondly recalls such moments, including falling asleep to the sound of race car engines at many of Europe’s great racing circuits.
Despite the glamour of these cars and visiting various race circuits, they were not, by Clare and Joanna’s account, a grand family. Nonetheless, the cars collected by Mark, and particularly the 917, provided Mark and his family with a ‘golden ticket’ into an otherwise inaccessible world. The family have a genuinely humble gratitude for the many experiences and memories afforded them at racetracks, or attending car events such as Hurlingham Concours d'Elegance alongside various celebrities or proudly seeing the 917 form the centrepiece in a Harrods window display.
Clearly, while Mark took great pleasure in these cars, he was not precious with them – he raced the 917 and lent it to drivers such as Le Mans winner Richard Attwood to drive at Goodwood’s Festival of Speed. Family member Flavien Marcais gratefully recalled that Mark never thought twice about letting him race the cars.
Mark had great delight in sharing his good fortune – indeed, he was keen that others should be able to view the 917 and his GT40 and, consequently, they are currently on loan and on display with the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu.
Mark is survived by his wife Derashi and daughters Clare and Joanna.
Mark Finburgh
20 November 1939 – 2 July 2026
Porsche Post June 2025 the-le-mans-legend-that-completed-the-collection