While I was away on holiday Mike Hewland died at the age of 89. His passing should be noted as his influence on British motorsport was considerable.
After leaving school at 14, he learned the ropes in the engineering world and at 35 set up his own business in a shed in Maidenhead. The original business was cutting gears but he soon moved into the gearbox manufacturing business after being asked to modify gearboxes for Bob Gibson-Jarvie of the United Dominions Trust, who was the owner of the UDT-Laystall-sponsored British Racing Partnership team, which was running a pair of Formula 2 Coopers for Stuart Lewis-Evans and Tommy Bridger. This resulted in Hewland building his first run of gearboxes for the team in 1959, which in turn to led to interest from the Cooper factory team and then from Lola. In the early 1960s Hewland expanded into other other formulae, notably Formula 1, Formula Junior, and later Formula 3 and Formula 5000. The business grew rapidly and moved to new premises and by the 1970s was employing more than 100 people. In the era when British teams came to dominate F1 most of them used the same Cosworth-Hewland drivetrain, with the only real opposition coming from Ferrari, BRM and then Matra.
Hewland handed over the running of the business to his son William when he retired at the age of 69, back in 1991.
One thing I always thought was a shame was that Gilles never got to race at Spa. I bet him buzzing through Eau Rouge and Radillion would have been a sight to see…
Sorry, I totally commented on the wrong story. I meant to comment on the Spa article.
It’s always sad when the great and influential in motor racing pass away.
But I now mention someone who was great in F1 but who is still with us and bringing his engineering “outside the box” genius to another project. Gordon Murray, who a few months back featured in a BBC documentary for the new eco vehicle he is making. Tackling not only the well known engineering problems but also the production methods which currently preclude small production runs.
Joe a simple thanks for this, it’s why we regulars log in.
Quits school at 14, ends up running a successful company, has a positive impact on others and his chosen field. What a life you had, Mr Hewland! Congratulations and RIP.
My story of reverence: When I was a young Hoosier Formula Ford racer in the ’70s, an asian IU student wandered into my garage. Seems he was a race fan and was in rapture to see my car. When I told him it had a Hewland transmission, he laid hands on that and, with shining eyes, said it was the first time he’d touched one. I gently told him that the part he was touching, the diff housing, was actually made by Volkswagen and that the rear end-cover was the only outer part made by Hewland. He quickly shifted his touch and continued his ecstasy!
Hewland, Milliken, Neil Armstrong. This summer, the giants are leaving us. Never forgotten, I hope.
Well, at 89 Mike cannot complain if he hadn’t got his box-sorted ready for Judgment.
On a far less important level, it’s interesting to note how far F1 gearboxes have come since Mike Hewland got involved.
Watch amazed as, for example, Jim Clark in a UTube clip, dances on the pedals, double-de-clutching effortlessly around Oulton Park.
Synchro-mesh is for pansies.
Then note the skill level today’s drivers need to change gear smoothly: Simply finger-click a paddle and the electrics work the Jim-magic for them.
*Sigh*
Who manufactures the gears and boxes these days Joe? Have the teams gone in-house or are they still largely sub-contractor jobs?
I remember from a placement job when I were a wee laaaad (I’m still a pretty wee lad) that gear hobbing was a total “backside” to do and that it tended to be a specialist exercise. That company did it all in-house but only because they needed so many in so many weird shapes and metals.
Xtac does a lot. Some teams do it in-house
Wasn’t it Xtrac that had lot of high profile problems with hydraulics a few years ago?
With all due respect they were not Xtrac’s fault. Xtrac made gearbox and gear sets and they worked fine. Teams are supposed to source their own hydraulic systems and these ran the whole hydraulic needs of the car, not just gearboxes. The new F1 teams were pressed to find their own solutions in time and Xtrac were asked to help pretty late in the process. Naturally there were teething problems. Xtrac did what they could to help some teams further develop their hydraulics but unfortunately it was Xtrac that got the blame in the press.
The impact of Hewland was similar to that of Holbay or Cosworth et al in the engine world. They produced engines and drive trains in volume and were able to supply anyone who had money in the bank. That led to full grids in the three litre F1 era, full grids for F2 and F5000 and an opportunity for small teams to compete in prototype sports cars.
Engine suppliers such as Coventry Climax or Alta were unable to supply in volume, and BRM in typical BRM fashion, never created a dependable business. Colotti and ZF supplied transmissions but only to those with influence or serious money. Mike Hewland helped make incredible things possible and the UK motor sports industry owes him a lot.
Ah, Hewland….
One of the reasons I always kind of wanted an AC 3000 (and yes, there are others, and yes, I’m well aware of what that says about my taste or lack of it) was that it was the only road car I knew of which had a Hewland gearbox, and I thought that was just incredibly cool in an über-geek kind of way. RIP.
Thanks Joe – have been looking for an obituary for Mike. Reminds me of a Motor Sport headline 6 wheels (Tyrell) or 6 gears? (Mclaren)