britain’s
Greatest
test driVer,
normandewis
obe, passes
awaY
The manresponsible
for developingsome
of themosticonic
Jaguars ever, Norman
DewisOBE,has
passedaway aged
98.Over a 33-year
careerwithJaguar,
Dewis’fearlessness,
extraordinarytalent
andfriendly, humble
demeanorhelped
establishhimnotonly
as Britain’s greatest
ever test driver, buta
veritablelegendanda
dedicated friendto the
Jaguarbrand.Dewis’
historywithJaguar
is remarkable:he
developedthemultiple
Le Mans-winningC-
andD-typeracingcars,
theclassic XK 140 and
150 sports cars, the
pioneering2.4/3.4 and
Mk2 saloons,plusthe
MkVIIandMkVIIM
models,thelegendary
E-type(includingthe
LightweightE-type),
theXJ13mid-engined
prototype,theworld-
class XJ saloons,the
XJ-S andthe‘XJ40’
models.Eachandevery
modeldevelopedwith
Dewis’helpremainsan
icon of theautomotive
world to thisday for its
impeccableblendof
comfort andhandling.
Prof. Dr. RalfSpeth,
JaguarLandRover
ChiefExecutive Officer
said:“Today is an
enormouslysadday for
theJaguarbrand,Jaguar
fans worldwide,andfor
mepersonally. Putting
Norman’s hugely
decorated careeraside,
his friendlynature,
captivatingstorytelling
andunbridled
enthusiasmmadehim
exactlythekindof man
you couldn’thelpbut
want to spendtime
with– he willbe sorely
missed.The Jaguar
brandis synonymous
witha numberof big
personalities;the
founder, Sir William
Lyons,thegreat
designer, Malcolm
Sayer, innovative
engineer, Bill Heynes,
and– of course – the
greattest driver,
NormanDewis.”mclarenautomotivebuilds
its20,000thcar
McLaren Automotive, theluxuryBritishsportscar
andsupercarcompany, hascelebratedthe 20 ,000th
cartobehand-assembledatitsMcLarenProduction
Centre (MPC)inWoking, Surrey.
The 20 ,000thcarbuiltwas a right-handdrive 600LT
SpiderinChicaneGreyfromthebrand’s SportsSeries
line-up.
Launchedonlylast summerasthenextchapterinthe
McLaren‘Longtail’story, allproductionslotsforthe
Coupevarianthavealreadybeenfilled.
Thislatest milestonerepresentsa furthersignificant
achievementfortheBritishmarqueandcomes
eightyearsafterthefirst McLarenroadcarleftthe
ProductionCentre inJuly2011.
WhileMcLaren’s productionreachedjust over 4,
carsin 2018 tomeetrisingglobaldemand,output
willremainaround5,000 a yearintothenextdecade
before increasingto6,000 before theendofthecurrentTrack25businessplaninordertomaintain
exclusivity.
Automotive nowemploysover 2,300peopleand,
helpedbya diverseproductporfolioandmore
customersusingthebrand’s bespoke division
McLarenSpecialOperations, contributeda significant
proportionofMcLarenGroup’s overall £1.2bnof
revenuein 2018.
Theintroductionofa secondproductionshiftin 2016
tomeetrisingglobaldemandforMcLarenvehicleshas
seenproductiondoublefromaround 10 carstoover 20
a day.
Over 90 percentofvehiclesbuiltinWokingare
exportedtomore than 32 marketsaroundtheworld.
TheMcLarenProductionCentre was designedby
Foster+ Partnersandtook 14 monthstobuildfrom
breakinggroundin 2010 toJuly 18 , 2011whenthefirst
car, a McLaren12C, was approved forshipping.indus
try
news
stuffyou need
toknowthat
didn’tmake
theheadlinesRight-hand drive 600LT Spiderin ChicaneGrey takes thehonour