The story of the Ensign N176 from 1976 actually begins in the previous season. In 1975, Ensign was sponsored by the Dutch company HB Bewaking, which required at least one of the team's cars to be driven by a Dutch driver. Team owner Morris Nunn complied with the sponsor's request by giving one of the cars to Roelof Wunderink. However, the inexperienced Dutch driver failed to achieve any notable results and was eventually sidelined after suffering a serious accident mid-season. By the time he had fully recovered, his seat had already been taken by veteran New Zealander Chris Amon, whom Nunn was unwilling to replace.
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| ENSIGN N176, Jacky Ickx Zandvoort, Dutch GP 1976 |
This dispute led to a legal battle between HB Bewaking and the Ensign team. The Hoogenboom brothers, owners of the HB company, accused Nunn of breaching the contract. In a rather unusual court ruling, the judge found Nunn at fault and ordered him to hand over the only existing Ensign N175 chassis as compensation to the Hoogenboom brothers. This ruling, issued just before the start of the 1976 season, left Nunn without a ready-to-race car for the beginning of the championship. As a result, Ensign had to revert to the older N174, once again entrusted to Chris Amon.
ENSIGN N176, Chris Amon
Montecarlo, Monaco GP 1976
Due to the court ruling's late timing and the technical work required to prepare the old N174, Ensign was unable to start the 1976 season until the second race, held in South Africa at the Kyalami circuit. Meanwhile, Dave Baldwin, the team's Technical Director, was working hard on the design of the new Ensign N176, which was ready by the Spanish Grand Prix, the fourth round of the championship.
ENSIGN N176, Patrick Néve
Paul Ricard, French GP 1976
The new single-seater, based on the previous N175, was a simple yet decently performing car, managing to secure fifth place in its debut race. Unfortunately, the rest of the season turned into a nightmare for Nunn’s team, with frequent retirements and, more critically, serious accidents due to the car's fragility. After a series of crashes, Chris Amon decided to retire from racing altogether. His seat was successively taken by Patrick Nève, then Hans Binder, and finally the experienced Jacky Ickx, who also suffered a terrible crash at Watkins Glen during the penultimate race of the season. The car was completely destroyed.
ENSIGN N176, Chris Amon
Zolder, Belgian GP 1976
As a result, the British team chose to skip the trip to Japan and ended its 1976 season early. With only two points scored by Amon in Spain, Ensign finished in 12th place in the Constructors' Championship.
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