Lofty England

Frank Raymond Wilton "Lofty" England(24 August 1911,Finchley,Middlesex– 30 May 1995,Austria) was an engineer and motor company manager from Britain. He rose to fame as the manager of theJaguar Carssports car racingteam in the 1950s, during which time Jaguar cars won the prestigious24 Hours of Le Mansrace on five occasions. After the company's withdrawal from racing England moved into the mainstream management of Jaguar Cars, later succeedingSir William Lyonsas its chairman and Chief Executive, before retiring in 1974.

Early life

Frank England was born inFinchley,Middlesex,and found an aptitude and interest in motor engineering during his schooling atChrist's College.At the age of 14 the England family moved toEdgware.Here the young Frank was able to watchBentleychassis, built in nearbyCricklewood,being tested along the long, straightA5 road,formerly part of theRoman RoadofWatling Street.

England was apprenticed as an engineer to theDaimler Companyin 1927where, owing to his 6' 5 "(196 cm) height, he quickly acquired the nickname," Lofty ", which would stick with him for the rest of his life. Daimler had not been England's first choice; his early experiences had led him originally to apply to Bentley, but without success. During his five-year apprenticeship Lofty England also made his first appearances in motorsport. In 1932, his final year as an apprentice, England finished second in the inauguralRAC Rally,driving one ofLaurence Pomeroy'sDaimler Double Sixcars.Being based inHendonalso meant that England could easily attend race meetings at theBrooklandscircuit inSurrey,and he became a familiar face at theTrack.

England the race engineer

On completing his apprenticeship Lofty England found that his technical skills, allied to his motorsport enthusiasm, meant that he was in great demand among the gentlemen racers of the early 1930s. His first employer was1931 Le Manswinner"Tim" Birkin.UnderCharles Newcombe,England developed Birkin'sBlower Bentleycars at hisWelwyn Garden Cityworkshop. Although Birkin took the lap record at Brooklands, at over 137 mph, the car was not a success, and following Birkin's death in 1933 the Blower Bentley project folded.

Both England and Newcombe transferred to AmericanWhitney Straight's new motor racing team in 1934, where results began to flow immediately. The team was extremely well financed – Straight was head ofStraight CorporationLtd., an early service provider in the booming aeronautical sector – and could afford for hisMaserati 8Cto be serviced at the Maserati factory in Italy, accompanied by England. Straight and his team not only raised the Brooklands lap record for 5-litre cars to over 138 mph, but Straight also won the inauguralSouth African Grand Prixin 1934. However, following Straight's marriage in 1935 the team was wound up and Lofty England found himself out of work once again.

A brief spell atERAwas punctuated with spells working forAlvis,beforeRaymond Maysfired him in 1936. His time at ERA was not happy, mainly due to the works' lax attitude toward their customers' cars,but he was employed byDick Seamanalmost immediately following his ignominious exit. Unfortunately for England, what may have proved to be a productive relationship with the up-and-coming Grand Prix star was curtailed in late 1936 when Seaman signed for the dominantMercedes-Benzracing team. When Seaman'sDelagewas sold to Siamese princes Chula andBira,England moved with it.

Prince Chula ran the cousins'White Mouse Stableracing team with efficiency and organisation, a pattern that England would come to model his own teams on. During nearly two years with the aristocratic pair, England's ERA experience meant that R2BRomulusand R5BRemuswere always immaculately prepared and, along with the team's more modern Maserati, providedB. Bira(Prince Bira's nom de course) with many race wins both in the UK and throughout Europe. Although the initial intention had been to rebuild Seaman's Delage, England was fully occupied with the operational race cars and the project was abandoned.

Throughout his time as arace engineerLofty England maintained his own active motorsport career. An early gift of aDouglasmotorcycle from his father had started him on a successful motorcycle racing path. His best result was second place in the 1936Manx Grand Prix.

In 1938 England moved out of racing for the first time, taking a job back with Alvis, but this time at the Coventry company's headquarters. He rapidly rose from service engineer to become superintendent of the service department by the outbreak of theSecond World War.This was Lofty England's first experience of management responsibility, and as a reserved occupation he remained with Alvis, now a military contractor, for the first two years of conflict. However, in 1941 England volunteered for pilot training and qualified as a bomber pilot, probably excluded from fighter pilot postings due to his height. He served as a training instructor to theUSAAFin Texas until 1943, when he returned to theRAFfor active service flyingAvro Lancasters.

Post-war Jaguar motorsport

After demobilisation in 1945 Lofty England briefly moved back to Alvis, but the company had been badly affected by wartime bombing raids and through close friendWalter Hassanhe secured a move to fellow Coventry firmJaguar Carsin early 1946.He initially joined Jaguar in the same role that he had filled at Alvis, that of service manager. The company did not have any motorsport plans at this stage, but in the hands of a few privateer owner-drivers Jaguar's newXK120,introduced in 1948, proved to be competitive with the more specialised offerings from continental manufacturers.

1949–1952: The XK120 era

See also:Jaguar XK120

William Heynes'straight-6XK engineproved eminently tunable and Heynes and England were quick to see the potential benefits of a works motorsport effort.Jaguar's newly formed Engineering Competition Department provided six top pre-war drivers (including England's old employer Prince Bira) with lightweight, pre-production, aluminium-bodied XK120s in 1949, and results were encouraging.Leslie Johnsonwon major sports car races in Britain and America that year and took fifth in the 1950Mille Miglia,the Jaguar beaten only by works Ferraris and Alfa Romeos. At the1950 24 Hours of Le MansJohnson and Bert Hadley ran as high as second before mechanical failure forced them out when lying third near the end, while other XK120s finished 12th and 15th.

Stirling Mossdrove another of the pre-production cars, entered byTommy Wisdom,to a dominant victory in the 1950DundrodTT,his speed in the rain also winning him a place in Jaguar's1951 Le Mans team.Works-prepared XK120s won numerous other events including theTulip Rallyin 1950 and theAlpine Rallyin 1950, 1951 and 1952.

In 1952 Lofty England and several factory mechanics supported a high-speed endurance run atLinas-Montlhéry,where Johnson, Moss, Hadley andJack Fairmandrove a works-modified XK120 coupé, the personal car of William Heynes, at an average of just over 100 mph for seven days and nights to break nine speed and endurance records.

1951–1953: The C-Type era

See also:Jaguar C-Type

While results continued to come with the production XK120 model, England and Heynes realised that it was too overweight and aerodynamically compromised to have a serious chance of winning the Le Mans race. Their solution was to take the drivetrain from the XK120 and to install it in a lightweight chassis. William Heynes developed a new design with a new frame chassis and new bodywork with air flow shape developed by aerodynamist Malcolm Sayer. The XK120C (forcompetition), later known as the C-Type, made its debut at the1951Le Mans race.

Lofty England's racing experience and sharp strategic thinking required that Moss and co-driverJack Fairmanact as a "hare", driving hard from the start to draw other cars into chasing it in the hope that their cars would fail. The strategy worked almost entirely as planned. Moss posted a new lap record of 105.232 mphbefore the lead Jaguar failed after 92 laps. However, the failure of the Ferrari and Talbot-Lago competition by this time allowedPeter WalkerandPeter Whitehead's car to inherit the lead, which by the end of the 24 hours they had extended to nine laps. Lofty England's debutant team had scored a striking victory over 19 cars with engines larger than the C-Type's, but more was to come.

The1952event was nowhere near as successful, as modifications made to the bodywork caused overheating and all three works cars failed before an hour had elapsed. However, for1953England's Jaguars were back atLa Sarthewith improved engines, the original bodywork, and innovative all-wheeldisc brakes.On this occasion the team scored another victory, improved reliability allowing the green cars to take second and fourth places as well.

Lofty England's contribution to the C-Type's success was crucial. Taking a lead fromAlfred Neubauer's running of the pre-war Mercedes team, he ran the Jaguar squad always with an eye for the greater good of Jaguar, rather than the individual demands of any one driver.The 1953 Le Mans event was a case in point, as the Jaguar cars were initially excluded for a technical infringement. The eventual winning driver pairing ofDuncan HamiltonandTony Roltrepaired to a bar, while Lofty England took matters in hand and managed to persuade theAutomobile Club de l'Ouestto reinstate the cars. Legend has it that, unfortunately for England, his drivers were, by this time, a little the worse for wear, and it took all of England's managerial and motivational talents to get them into the car for the start.England and Rolt both later denied that the drivers had been at all drunk at the time.

1954–1957: The D-Type era

See also:Jaguar D-Type

For 1954 Lofty England decided that Jaguar had taken the C-Type as far is they could, and a new car was designed around the successful XK engine. Appropriately, the iconic D-Type made its debut at the1954 24 Hours of Le Mansrace, where Hamilton and Rolt were beaten into second place by only one lap, by theFerrari 375ofFormula OnestarsJosé Froilán GonzálezandMaurice Trintignant.The1955event was poised to be a direct contest between England's Jaguars, and the Mercedes team of Alfred Neubauer. Tragically,an accidenttriggered by the D-Type ofMike Hawthorncaused the deaths of Mercedes driverPierre Leveghand 83 spectators, plus injuring 120 others. Neubauer's team were withdrawn from the race some hours later and invited Jaguar to share the gesture, but England decided to keep the Jaguars running.

Lofty England attracted some criticism for his decision after the race but, as he maintained for the rest of his life, England did not regard Hawthorn as being at all responsible for the tragedy and therefore the team had no reason to withdraw.The decision was typical of the unsentimental, hard nosed manner in which Lofty England ran the team, demanding complete loyalty and adherence to the team principal from his drivers. When, at Reims in early 1956, Le Mans hero Duncan Hamilton ignored England's pit signals, the team manager fired him on the spot.

The1956 24 Hours of Le Manswas to be the last outing for the works Jaguar team. However, there was to be no swansong for Lofty England's squad. The new longnose D-Type variant could only manage sixth place. Fortunately for Jaguar, Lofty England had always encouraged privateer teams and ensured that serious contenders received as much help as the works could offer, and it was one of these teams,Ecurie Ecossewhich scored the D-Type's victory that year. The Scottish team would also go on to win the race with an England-supplied, ex-works longnose car thefollowing year.England also ensured that Jaguar's name remained prominent in motorsport by providing support for both privateer entrants of Jaguar cars, and for Jaguar-engined specials built by the likes ofListerandJohn Tojeiro.

England's hope of helping Jaguar return to Le Mans in 1966 with theJaguar XJ13unfortunately came to nought and the one-and-only Le Mans Prototype was destined to never race.

Jaguar management career

Immediately following Jaguar's withdrawal from racing Lofty England returned to his role as director of the Jaguar service department. In 1958Tony Vandervelloffered to sell England theVanwallFormula One team, after the death of Vandervell's protégéStuart Lewis-Evansduring the1958 Moroccan Grand Prix.England refused the offer and was never directly involved in motorsport again.

Instead, Lofty England began to climb the corporate ladder within Jaguar. England's alma mater, Daimler, merged with Jaguar in 1960, and in 1961 Lofty England joined the Jaguar board as assistant managing director.During the following five years he was heavily involved in the negotiations which resulted in the merger of Jaguar withBMCto formBritish Motor Holdingsin 1966. At the end of 1967, on the retirement from the managing directorship of Sir William Lyons, Lofty EnglandandWilliam Heynessucceeded him as joint managing directors of the company. In turn, BMH merged withLeyland Motorsin 1968 to form theBritish Leyland Motor Corporation.

In between the management upheaval, Lofty England invited back old friend Walter Hassan to develop Jaguar'sXJ V12 engine.The engine made its debut in the Series III version of Jaguar's ageingE-Typein 1971, one year before Lofty England succeeded William Lyons as chairman and Chief Executive of Jaguar Cars. It was during his time as CEO that England had to negotiate with the unions to ensure that the car the V12 was built for, the V12 version of theJaguar XJsaloon, was not delayed into production. Reflecting his own previous success and the Daimler company history, England decided that the Daimler version of the V12 should be called theDouble Six.With increasing industrial tensions and centralised decision making within British Leyland, England felt that his position was untenableand, aged 63, he retired to Austria in 1974.

Post-retirement

During his time at Jaguar, Frank "Lofty" England was probably second only to Sir William Lyons himself in determining the corporate direction and public image of Jaguar Cars. Following his retirement, although he had no direct involvement with the company, England always maintained an interest in Jaguar's fortunes.

After moving toAustriaduring retirement, England became a consultant to Reliant Motor Company ofTamworth, Staffordshire,UK. The company wished to establish a European distribution network for its Scimitar GTE sports estate car following the development of its more refined SE6 version in 1986. England was successful in assisting Reliant to appoint importers and distributors inAustria,Belgium,theNetherlandsandSwitzerland.

England died on 30 May 1995 at the age of 83.

External links

• Lofty England page at the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust