Legendary Jaguar builder Norman Dewis, 98

NORMAN Dewis took just around 15 hours to drive a new Jaguar E-Type from Coventry in England to the Geneva Motor Show in Switzerland — a distance of some 1,100 kilometers. This happened in 1961, and the reason for this overnight dash was so that Jaguar could have a demonstrator E-Type for the press; the E-Type was scheduled to be launched at the event on the same day. As automotive stories go (not to mention driving feats), this is legendary stuff.

Now Dewis, responsible for having developed some of the most iconic Jaguars ever, has passed away. He was 98.

Spending 33 years at Jaguar, Dewis developed multiple Le Mans-winning C-Type and D-Type racing cars; the classic XK 140 and XK 150; the pioneering 2.4/3.4 and Mk. 2 saloons; the Mk. VII and Mk. VIIM models; the legendary E-Type (including the Lightweight E-Type); the XJ13 prototype; and several XJ series models.

He reported directly to Jaguar chief engineer William Heynes — apparently an unusual arrangement. But it worked because the two were able to give instant feedback regarding the development of cars. Dewis also sent copies of his reports to Jaguar founder Sir William Lyons.

Both Heynes and Lyons regarded Dewis’s inputs invaluable.

Besides the cars he worked on, Dewis was also involved in developing the disc brake — a project between Jaguar and Dunlop. The system was tested in a C-Type at the 1952 Mille Miglia. Sir Stirling Moss drove the car during the race, Dewis navigated.

Dewis in 1953 set a production car speed record — 172.412mph (approximately 277.470kph) — in a modified Jaguar XK120 on a closed section of the Jabbeke highway in Belgium. He also drove a 300kph works D-Type in the 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans alongside Moss, Mike Hawthorn and Juan Manuel Fangio.

Dewis retired in 1985. But he was regularly called on during Jaguar events. In 1995 he led Jaguar’s 60th anniversary celebrations for the race-winning D-Type. At the 2014 Goodwood Revival, Dewis, then 93, showed he was still quick as he drove a D-Type at speed. At the time of his death, he was a global ambassador of Jaguar Cars.