Ronald Godfrey (1887–1968), full name Henry Ronald Godfrey, was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

motor car design engineer of the first half of the 20th century possibly best known for his successful

Singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

-engined H R G thoroughbred sports cars built between 1935 and 1956.

Apprenticeship

Born near

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, Ron met Archie Nash at London's Finsbury Technical School and after obtaining his City & Guilds diploma in Mechanical Engineering he completed an apprenticeship at

Willans & Robinson Willans & Robinson Limited manufacturing engineers of Thames Ditton, Surrey. Later, from 1896, at Victoria Works, Rugby, Warwickshire, England. They were manufacturers of stationary reciprocating steam engines then steam turbines, Diesel motors an ...

Rugby, Warwickshire Rugby is a market town in eastern Warwickshire, England, close to the River Avon. In the 2021 census its population was 78,125, making it the second-largest town in Warwickshire. It is the main settlement within the larger Borough of Rugby w ...

where the slightly younger Archie soon followed him to do the same training.Denis Jenkinson, ''From Chain Drive to Turbocharger, The AFN Story'', Patrick Stephens, Wellingborough, 1984. 1922 GN Vitesse (20408348615)

G N

Godfrey and Nash then got together to produce the GN cycle car. A light-weight 90 degree Vee-twin-cylinder car first sold in 1911, it stayed in production through 1922. Ron Godfrey's major contribution was his design of the engine.

H R Godfrey Motors

When Archie Nash left the company in 1922 to form

Frazer-Nash Frazer Nash was a brand of British sports car manufactured from 1922 first by Frazer Nash Limited founded by engineer Archibald Frazer-Nash. On its financial collapse in 1927 a new company, AFN Limited, was incorporated. Control of AFN passed ...

Godfrey left to provide a repair business H R Godfrey Motors to supply GN spares. They also offered rebuilds. This enterprise formed the basis of his partnership with Stuart Proctor, with whom he formed

Godfrey-Proctor Godfrey-Proctor, (Godfrey and Proctor), was a British car manufacturer (circa late 1920s-1928) founded by Henry Ronald Godfrey (H.R. Godfrey) and Stuart Proctor at Richmond, Surrey in England. Godfrey left G.N. (Godfrey-Nash) to form H.R. Godfr ...

. Continuing the servicing of GN's, they produced their own car based on the Austin Seven, but the venture was unsuccessful, with only about 10 cars produced by the time the company ceased trading in 1928.

Nash & Thompson

In 1929 Ron joined a new partnership with Archie Nash in

Kingston-upon-Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable as ...

, Nash & Thompson. It was described as contractors and armament engineers for the

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and the

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. Archie designed the

hydraulic Hydraulics (from Greek: Υδραυλική) is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counte ...

gun turret A gun turret (or simply turret) is a mounting platform from which weapons can be fired that affords protection, visibility and ability to turn and aim. A modern gun turret is generally a rotatable weapon mount that houses the crew or mechanis ...

that was to be widely used in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. In 1935 Archie Nash took this business into Parnall Aircraft and Ron Godfrey moved to a new enterprise.

H R G Engineering

In 1935, having raced at

Brooklands Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England, United Kingdom. It opened in 1907 and was the world's first purpose-built 'banked' motor racing circuit as well as one of Britain's first airfields ...

, Ron Godfrey formed HRG Engineering (initial letters Halford Robins Godfrey) with

Major Major ( commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicato ...

E J "Ted" Halford and Guy Herbert Robins, who was previously with

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. H R G was based in

Norbiton Norbiton is an area within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, London. It lies approximately east of Kingston upon Thames town centre, and from Charing Cross. Its main landmarks include Kingston Hospital, Kingsmeadow football stadium ...

, with the first prototype shown at the end of 1935. Fully established in 1936, the company produced cars until 1956, and the reverted to development engineering work for others, before ceasing trading in 1966.David Culshaw and Peter Horrobin. ''The Complete Catalogue of British Cars 1895-1975'', Veloce, Dorechester UK, 1997, Their H R G car was a small true sports car in the vintage tradition sold at a realistic price. The prototype used a Meadows ED engine with a strengthened crankshaft. It could exceed 85 mph and handled excellently on the road. From 1939 the Meadows engine was replace with a 1½ litre overhead camshaft

engine. When Ronald retired he had a very advanced new car on the drawing board but it was never put into production.Mr H. R. Godfrey. ''The Times'', Monday, 28 Oct 1968; pg. 10; Issue 57393

British Automobile Racing Club

H R Godfrey was a founder member of the British Automobile Racing Club. Ron Godfrey retired in 1958 to a nearby water mill which he took great pleasure in rebuilding. He died in 1968.

References

* ''The Chain-Drive Frazer Nash'' by David A. Thirlby, MacDonald & Co. Ltd, 1965 * ''Frazer Nash'' by David A. Thirlby, The Haynes Publishing Group, 1977

External links

Official website of the Frazer Nash Car Club
{{DEFAULTSORT:Godfrey, Henry Ronald British automobile designers British founders of automobile manufacturers Brooklands people 1887 births 1968 deaths