1955 HWM Jaguar
POA from Fiskens, London, UK
MANY GREAT teams raced with Jaguar engines in the 1950s, but few were as successful as HWM – the privateer team founded by George Abecassis and John Heath. They had enjoyed some victories in singleseaters, and quickly set upon developing a Jaguarengined sports racing car to take on the big teams.
Racing actively around Europe from 1953 to 1957, this team often managed to do just that, regularly outperforming factory-supported works teams operating on much larger budgets.
The first of two final cars run by the team, chassis #52106 with registration HWM 1, was entered into the 1956 Mille Miglia – but failed to finish, after a significant accident. It was rebuilt and sent down to the Brighton Speed Trials by Noel Cunningham-Reid, then campaigned at Goodwood by Dick Protheroe. Cunningham-Reid once again drove the car to finish the season at Snetterton, taking a victory.
For 1957 it was again campaigned heavily by a roster of high-quality drivers, such as Peter Blond, Jack Fairman and Les Leston. Following this final season of racing for the team, HWM 1 was sold to a group of club racers, known as Team Speedwell. John Bekaert made up part of the team, and was regularly spotted driving the car to circuits around the UK. Whether it’s true or not, the story of Bekaert being stopped by the police doing exactly 100mph over the speed limit shows that the car was genuinely used on the road.
Moving between numerous owners in quick succession following that season, it soon found its way into the hands of Kirk Rylands, a well-known Historic racer. It was extensively raced and rallied for the next 34 years, being maintained and improved by respected preparation expert Arthur Mallock.
In more recent years this car has regularly competed at the Goodwood Revival, and with a full set of HTP papers it will be eligible to enter in many others. The HWM was returned to its original specification and colour during an extensive rebuild in 2008 by its most recent owner, and is now offered for sale by Fiskens – ready-to-race. This is a car that is crying out to be driven hard. The next owner should feel obliged to further its long and interesting competition history with some new stories.