Primary Designs are world leaders in the design and manufacture of high performance exhausts. With a motorsport pedigree dating back to the early 80’s and a team of over 20 highly skilled engineers, we have been supplying thin wall Inconel, Titanium and Stainless-Steel exhausts to the motorsport industry for over 22 years.
Motorsport Pedigree
Our motorsport heritage dates back to 1978, when managing director and owner Pat Barrett started fabricating monocoques for Formula 2 and Formula 3 cars whilst working for race car manufacturer March Engineering, located in Bicester, Oxfordshire. At that time the company were focusing their concentration on the BMW works team, driven by Bruno Giacomelli who later went on to win the Formula 2 championship.
From there, Pat went the same way as most people in motorsport did, to Formula 1. In 1981 he was offered a job at Formula 1 team Williams Grand Prix, who later won the Constructors Champions that year. Whilst there, Pat spent his time predominantly making exhausts, as well as sharing the odd Autosport magazine with Keke Rosberg, who went on to win the 1982 driver championship.
After leaving Williams, Pat was put in touch with a motorsport based exhaust system manufacturer back in Bicester, Parallel Motion, where he spent the next 11 years doing what he knew best, making race car exhausts and eventually becoming Managing Director.
The Beginning
In 1998 with Parallel Motion moving in a different direction, Pat decided to go his own way and start up his own exhaust company, Primary Designs Ltd. With initially just himself and one other employee, they set up their first factory in Thame.
Primary Designs first project was with Lola, making exhaust systems for their sports cars. This was soon to be followed by a phone call from Stewart Grand Prix, looking for a supplier to make exhaust systems for their SF02 Formula 1 car. Pat worked with Stewart through it’s final years and continued to do so after their transition to Jaguar Racing, this was a partnership that would lead to our involvement in the supply of exhausts to the Formula 1 industry today and help build the foundations for Primary Designs prestigious reputation in the motorsport world.
Since then Primary Designs has supplied exhaust systems to a wide range of motorsports and other industries of all kinds, including:
- Formula 1
- Formula 3
- LMP1, LMP2 and LMP3
- WTCC, BTCC and CTCC
- DTM
- WRC
- World Rally-Cross
- Australian V8 Supercar Championship
- FIA GT Championship
- Ferrari Challenge
- Supercar and Hypercar Manufacturers
- British Super Bike and World Super bike
- Moto GP
- Historic Formula 1
- Engine Dyno installations
- Aviation and Aerospace
The Present Day
Today, Primary Designs is a family run business, with Pat now joined by his two sons, specialising in motorsport exhaust design and manufacture at the highest level. Supplying exhausts to championship winning formula 1 teams and world record breaking hypercar manufacturers, amongst many others.
Now with over 20 employees’ and our new purpose-built facility in Thame, Primary Designs continues to grow and we continue to put in to practice, with all of our customers, what we have learnt from our experience with our Formula 1 clients over the years; superior quality, precision, attention to the finest of details and respect for confidentiality.