Norman Dewis in the Times

[cactusman]

Short but nice article in the register section of today's Times remembering the life of Norman. Picture of him in 2015 "at the wheel of a Jaguar C type"....looks like a very nice blue XK120 to me but the text is lovely

[chrisfell]

For those unable to penetrate the Times paywall.....

Norman Dewis;
Low-born, long-serving chief test driver for Jaguar who in 1953 risked his life when he broke the 'flying mile' speed record

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 43

LENGTH: 891 words

In 1953 Jaguar, the British luxury sports car manufacturer, was looking to take back the "flying mile" speed record for production cars that had just been set by a Spanish-made sports car.
Norman Dewis, who would go on to become Jaguar's chief test driver for more than 30 years, was the man tasked with driving a much-modified Jaguar XK120 on a closed section of motorway in Belgium to try to eclipse the record of 150.13mph.
A technically astute and brave test and racing driver, Dewis was used to taking risks, but on this occasion he was being asked to do something out of the ordinary. To improve the aerodynamic flow over the car the engineers at Jaguar had made a clear Perspex canopy to go over the driver's cockpit.
However, the only way this could be fastened to the bodywork was for it to be hinged along one side and then screwed down on the other. Dewis would be locked into an airless space inside a machine that could easily run out of control, most likely by going airborne at high speed. "It was one of those things," he recalled years later, still laughing at his youthful exuberance. "You look at it and think, 'Should I do it or shouldn't I?' I was always one for trying things out and I thought, 'It could work, let's try it.' " Dewis put his foot to the floor and took the car past the rev limit advised by the Jaguar engineers. He didn't just break the record, he smashed it, with a speed of 172.412mph. In an era when records of this kind mattered for the credibility of rival manufacturers, it was a triumph for Jaguar, one that was reported all over the world.
Dewis's biographer, Paul Skilleter, believes this was the most hazardous feat of the driver's long career, pointing out that a crash at that speed was likely to be fatal in a car that had no seatbelts or roll-over protection. Dewis did not even have a proper seat, but was sitting on a foam cushion in order for his head to clear the underside of the canopy.
Norman Dewis was born in Coventry in 1920, the second of two sons of Cyril Dewis and his wife, Florence (née Wilday). His father, who ran a coal delivery business using horse-drawn carts, served in the Warwickshire Yeomanry during the First World War and was gassed in the trenches, leaving him in poor health until his death at the age of 41. His mother was a shoemaker.
Dewis was brought up in the centre of industrial Coventry by grandparents because his mother and father were forbidden to have children in their house by their landlord. Dewis went to primary school in Folly Lane in Coventry and then attended Barker Butts secondary school, where he did well in English, maths and science. His best subject was art and he won a free scholarship to the Coventry art school, which he attended once a week.
Hopes among his teachers that he would continue his studies were dashed when Dewis decided at 14 that he had to go to work because of the death of his father. He started in 1934 as a delivery boy on his bicycle for the local Co-op greengrocer, but soon fulfilled a childhood dream by getting a job at the Humber car factory near the family home. Lack of reliable employment with Humber resulted in him moving to Armstrong Siddeley, the car and aircraft manufacturer, in 1935 where he began an apprenticeship. Within two years he was conducting chassis test drives.
In 1937 Dewis signed up for the RAF Volunteer Reserve and trained as an air gunner on Blenheim bombers. During the Second World War he flew Blenheims on operational sorties from RAF Church Fenton near Leeds and later from RAF Grangemouth on the Firth of Forth.
After recovering from a serious kidney infection brought on by the freezing conditions in the gun turrets of Blenheims, Dewis returned to Armstrong Siddeley and worked on the company's glider-towing project. He moved to Jaguar in Coventry in January 1952 as chief test driver and development engineer.
He played a key role in developing the new Dunlop disc brake and the Le Mans-winning C and D-Types, but also a stream of production Jaguars, including the iconic E-Type and the XJ6. He was co-driver to Stirling Moss in the 1952 Mille Miglia, drove a D-Type in the 1955 Le Mans 24-hour race and competed in the Goodwood Nine Hours. In all Dewis racked up more than a million test miles at an average speed of more than 100mph and survived three high-speed crashes without incurring injury.
A diminutive figure dressed in his trademark bootlace tie and cowboy boots, he travelled the world to motor shows and promotional events, enthralling enthusiasts with his recollections and talks. He married Nancy Elizabeth Miles in 1946. They met at a dance in a village hall on the edge of Coventry in 1943 when she was serving in the Women's Land Army. She died in 1993. They had two children, who survive him. Graeme is a retired airconditioning engineer and Linda is a breeder of Shetland ponies.
Dewis became not just a legend at Jaguar, but something of a heroic figure among car buffs and motor racing fans. "You can't think of Norman Dewis without thinking of the leaping cat," said the motor-sport journalist Simon Taylor. "All of his work has been not for the glory of Norman Dewis, it's all been for the glory of Jaguar."
Norman Dewis, OBE, test driver, was born on August 3, 1920. He died on June 8, 2019, aged 98
Dewis survived three high-speed crashes without incurring injury

[max-it-out]

" Exceeded the rev limit to smash the speed record "....I was glancing through the drivers handbook recently and noticed the advice was that 5500 rpm should not be exceeded > under any circumstances < ...the last phrase being in capital letters.I often wondered what would happen if I ignored this advice , and how far the engine could go before something broke.

[chrisfell]

One account of the time reports Norman took the car to over 7200 rpm!

When told the figure achieved, William Lyons is reported to have asked what that was in miles per hour.

[christopher storey]

The obituary is not very accurate, making no mention of his time as an aeronautical inspector, nor of the start of his testing career which was with Lea-Francis for about 4 years . For one of the very best books on Jaguar as a whole, I recommend Paul Skilleter's authorised biography of ND, containing many of ND's personal papers and photographs , and an altogether fascinating read for those interested in the history of Jaguar