Forsgrini Engineering

History

Their first effort, the Mk. I, was constructed for SCCA H Modified specifications and used a Crosley engine with a fiberglass body. The second car, the Monte Carlo, relied on Fiat parts and proved successful. In 1966 Lyle Forsgren finished second in the SCCA National Championship Runoffs in the H Sports Racer class, behind Dan Parkinson in a Dolphin America.

Lyle left Boeing in 1968 to build race cars full-time. That year the company produced its first single-seater, the Ford-powered Mk. 10, which Mike Campbell drove to a Formula C victory at the Runoffs at Riverside International Raceway, beating Bill Rutan's Saab-powered Quantum by six-tenths of a second. Forsgrini also entered Formula 5000 in 1968; Lyle Forsgren finished twelfth at Laguna Seca in a factory Chevrolet-powered Mk. 10 D. The Mk. 11 Formula 5000 car appeared in 1969, entered in two pro championship races: Harry Swanson finished thirteenth at Seattle International Raceway, and Lyle Forsgren retired from the Riverside Speedway race with overheating and a fuel leak.

Forsgren scored his only championship points in 1970, finishing seventh at Sears Point Raceway in the new Mk.14. Campbell raced a Ford Boss 302 powered Mk.14 in the 1970 Tasman Series, scoring one point with a sixth at the Lady Wigram Trophy and a tenth at Warwick Farm Raceway. Lyle Forsgren closed Forsgrini Engineering in 1971 and moved to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, to work for Mercury Marine.