Norman Dewis (3 August 1920 – 8 June 2019) was a British car test driver, who was the test driver for

Jaguar Cars Jaguar (, ) is the luxury vehicle brand of Jaguar Land Rover, a British multinational car manufacturer with its headquarters in Whitley, Coventry, England. Jaguar Cars was the company that was responsible for the production of Jaguar car ...

from 1952 to 1985. His son Andrew Dewis is also a racing driver

Car development

Dewis participated in the development of the following cars: *

Jaguar XK140 The Jaguar XK140 is a sports car manufactured by Jaguar between 1954 and 1957 as the successor to the XK120. Upgrades included more interior space, improved brakes, rack and pinion steering, increased suspension travel, and telescopic shock a ...

* Jaguar XK150 *

Jaguar C-type The Jaguar C-Type (officially called the Jaguar XK120-C) is a racing sports car built by Jaguar and sold from 1951 to 1953. The "C" stands for "competition". The car combined the running gear of the contemporary, road-proven XK120, with a li ...

Jaguar D-type The Jaguar D-Type is a sports racing car that was produced by Jaguar Cars Ltd. between 1954 and 1957. Designed specifically to win the Le Mans 24-hour race, it shared the straight-6 XK engine and many mechanical components with its C-Type ...

Jaguar Mark VIII The Jaguar Mark VIII is a luxury four-door automobile introduced by the Jaguar Cars, Jaguar company of Coventry at the 1956 London Motor Show. Styling The car shared its wheelbase with its predecessor, the Jaguar Mark VII M, which outwardly it ...

Jaguar Mark IX The Jaguar Mark IX is a four-door luxury saloon car announced 8 October 1958Greater Power of the Jaguar IX. ''The Times'', Wednesday, October 8, 1958, Issue 54276, p.4 and produced by Jaguar Cars between 1958 and 1961. It was generally simil ...

* Jaguar Mark II *

Jaguar E-type The Jaguar E-Type, or the Jaguar XK-E for the North American market, is a British sports car that was manufactured by Jaguar Cars Ltd between 1961 and 1974. Its combination of beauty, high performance, and competitive pricing established the m ...

Jaguar XJ13 The Jaguar XJ13 was a prototype racing car developed by Jaguar Engineering Director William Heynes to compete at Le Mans in the mid 1960s. It never raced, and only one was produced. The car has not been officially valued, but a £7 million bid ...

* Jaguar Mark X *

Jaguar XJ6 The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the t ...

Jaguar XJ-S The Jaguar XJ-S (later called XJS) is a luxury grand tourer manufactured and marketed by British car manufacturer Jaguar Cars from 1975 to 1996, in coupé, fixed-profile and full convertible bodystyles. There were three distinct iterations, ...

Jaguar XJ40 The Jaguar XJ (XJ40) is a full-size luxury sedan manufactured by Jaguar Cars between 1986 and 1994. It was officially unveiled on 8 October 1986 as an all-new, second generation of the XJ to replace the Series III, although the two model range ...

Racing career

Dewis drove a

Jaguar D-Type The Jaguar D-Type is a sports racing car that was produced by Jaguar Cars Ltd. between 1954 and 1957. Designed specifically to win the Le Mans 24-hour race, it shared the straight-6 XK engine and many mechanical components with its C-Type ...

in the

1955 24 Hours of Le Mans The 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 23rd 24 Hours of Le Mans and took place on 11 and 12 June 1955 on Circuit de la Sarthe. It was also the fourth round of the F.I.A. World Sports Car Championship. During the race, Pierre Levegh crashed into a ...

, with

Don Beauman Donald "Don" Bentley Beauman (26 July 1928 – 9 July 1955) was a British Formula One driver who took part in one World Championship Grand Prix. Beauman was born in Farnborough, Hampshire, the only son of Brigadier General Archibald Bentley Be ...

. The car failed to finish the race, retiring 106 laps into the race.

Jabbeke XK120 record

Dewis was the test driver who, on 20 October 1953 at Jabbeke,

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

, drove a

Jaguar XK120 The Jaguar XK120 is a sports car manufactured by Jaguar between 1948 and 1954. It was Jaguar's first sports car since SS 100 production ended in 1939. The XK120 is a highly desirable model. In 2016, Bonhams sold a matching numbers left-hand- ...

to 172.412 mph, a record for production cars. The car had several aerodynamic modifications, including a distinctive bubble-shaped, air-tight canopy from a glider aircraft. After the record run the

was converted back to a road car and sold by the company.

XJ13 crash

On 21 January 1971 at the

MIRA Mira (), designation Omicron Ceti (ο Ceti, abbreviated Omicron Cet, ο Cet), is a red-giant star estimated to be 200–400 light-years from the Sun in the constellation Cetus. ο Ceti is a binary stellar system, consisting of a vari ...

high-speed circuit Dewis drove the only

for a film promoting the new V12 Jaguar E-type. Despite a damaged tyre, and against the instructions of Jaguar Director, Lofty England, the car was driven by Dewis at high speed. The tyre failed and the car crashed heavily, almost destroying it. Dewis was unharmed. The wreck of the car was put back into storage.

Work for Jaguar in retirement

In 2014 Dewis was still attending events related to Jaguar and giving talks about his work for the company. In June 2016 he appeared on the BBC's Top Gear TV show with the Jaguar F-type SVR. Norman was also a supporter of

Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...

owners and the social scene around owning a car. He was a regular attendee at many of the events held by the Jaguar Drivers' Club, the only Jaguar owners club to be officially recognised by Sir William Lyons and

as a company.

Honours

In the

2015 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2015 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

Dewis was invested as an

Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE) for services to the Motor Industry.https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/391413/New_Year_Honours_List_2015.pdf

References

External links

*
Norman Dewis page at the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dewis, Norman 1920 births 2019 deaths English racing drivers Jaguar Cars Jaguar Land Rover Officers of the Order of the British Empire