A 1951 HWM Single-seater, Alta F2 & a 1954 HWM-Jaguar, VPA 8

A 1951 HWM Single-seater, Alta F2 & a 1954 HWM-Jaguar, VPA 8
A 1951 HWM Single-seater, Alta F2 & a 1954 HWM-Jaguar, VPA 8
A 1951 HWM Single-seater, Alta F2 & a 1954 HWM-Jaguar, VPA 8
A 1951 HWM Single-seater, Alta F2 & a 1954 HWM-Jaguar, VPA 8
A 1951 HWM Single-seater, Alta F2 & a 1954 HWM-Jaguar, VPA 8
A 1951 HWM Single-seater, Alta F2 & a 1954 HWM-Jaguar, VPA 8
A 1951 HWM Single-seater, Alta F2 & a 1954 HWM-Jaguar, VPA 8
A 1951 HWM Single-seater, Alta F2 & a 1954 HWM-Jaguar, VPA 8
A 1951 HWM Single-seater, Alta F2 & a 1954 HWM-Jaguar, VPA 8
A 1951 HWM Single-seater, Alta F2 & a 1954 HWM-Jaguar, VPA 8
A 1951 HWM Single-seater, Alta F2 & a 1954 HWM-Jaguar, VPA 8
A 1951 HWM Single-seater, Alta F2 & a 1954 HWM-Jaguar, VPA 8
A 1951 HWM Single-seater, Alta F2 & a 1954 HWM-Jaguar, VPA 8
A 1951 HWM Single-seater, Alta F2 & a 1954 HWM-Jaguar, VPA 8
A 1951 HWM Single-seater, Alta F2 & a 1954 HWM-Jaguar, VPA 8

HWM Single-seater, Alta F2 (1951)

In 1951, having gained considerable success on the racing circuits of Europe with their offset Formula 2 sports car chassis, HWM (Hersham and Walton Motors) made the switch to real single-seaters. And in the Walton-on-Thames works five cars were built. Lead drivers were the 21-years-old Stirling Moss and Lance Macklin. During the season HWMs scored seven wins, seven seconds and ten thirds. At the end of the season one of the five cars was sold to Australia — where it still resides — and three were later converted by the works into Jaguar-powered sports cars. [The Club does not have information on the fifth car.] This is the only 1951 single-seater that remains in its original form.

The engine is the four-cylinder twin-cam Alta unit, driving through a pre-selector gearbox, with independent suspension by coils and wishbones at the front, with trailing quarter-ellipticals and De Dion tube at the rear. The driver sits astride the gearbox with the throttle and the brake on the right-hand side and the gearchange pedal for the pre-selector on the left. That gear selector is on the steering column. The aluminium body was made by local firm, Leacroft, and has been turned out in HWM’s works’ colours of metallic light green.

After the works had sold this car it was raced by amateur drivers Ted Whiteaway and Alan Mann. It was the last HWM to enter a World Championship Formula 1 race: the 1955 Monaco Grand Prix; it didn’t qualify. And it was the last to run in any Formula 1 race: the 1957 Naples Grand Prix. In the 1970s and 1980s it was raced in historic events by Ray Potter. It then became a works’ car again when it was bought by HWM’s long-time chairman Mike Harting. After being put into perfect order it continues in its long racing life, which has lasted so far with little interruption for nearly 70 years.

The two HWMs on display at the Royal Automobile Club are here to mark the launch on 20th June of a major new book by Simon Taylor: John, George and the HWMs: the first racing team to fly the flag for Britain.

Displayed courtesy of Mr Mike Harting from Monday 17th June to Sunday 23rd June 2019.

———————————————————————————————————————————————

HWM-Jaguar, VPA 8 (1954)

In 1952, Tony Gaze, the highly decorated Australian Second World War fighter pilot, used an HWM single-seater to become the first Australian to compete in the Formula 1 World Championship. Impressed then by the Jaguar-powered sports racing car that had been built for HWM (Hersham and Walton Motors) partner George Abecassis, he ordered one for himself. This second HWM-Jaguar, in common with the Abecassis prototype, harnessed a C-type 3442cc Jaguar engine and gearbox to a strong twin-tube frame and was clothed in a simple aluminium shell. The suspension used wishbones and coils at the front, and torsion bars and De Dion tube at the rear.

Gaze’s first race with his new acquisition was at the 1954 Reims Twelve Hours; he and his co-driver, Graham Whitehead, finished a fine seventh behind the works’ Jaguars and Cunninghams. He then raced it until the end of the 1955 season after which time he took it ‘Down-Under’, scoring wins in New Zealand and Australia. Subsequently he sold it to fellow-countryman Lex Davison. Unfortunately during the following year it was badly crashed on the road by Davison’s mechanic. And for almost 40 years, the wreck languished— as successive owners tried and failed to rebuild it.

Finally, Julian Phillips of Perth instigated a magnificent rebuild which took six years and was completed in 1996. And twenty years ago it returned to the United Kingdom, the country of its birth, and started a new life as a highly competitive car in historic racing.

After, it had won a lot of races and had put on a great show in the hands of successive owners: Julian Bronson, Mac Hulbert, Michael Steele and Roger Buxton, the car was bought by Sussex racer and collector Martin Hunt in 2016. Prepared by Blakeney Motorsport, it is now as fast as at any time in its 65-years life (so far) and its successes have included the winning of the Freddie March Trophy at the 2018 Goodwood Revival meeting.

The two HWMs on display at the Royal Automobile Club are here to mark the launch on 20th June of a major new book by Simon Taylor: John, George and the HWMs: the first racing team to fly the flag for Britain.

Displayed courtesy of Mr Martin Hunt from Monday 17th June to Sunday 23rd June 2019.