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.

England was apprenticed as an engineer to the Daimler Company in 1927 where, 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 inaugural RAC Rally, driving one of Laurence Pomeroy's Daimler Double Six cars. Being based in Hendon also meant that England could easily attend race meetings at the Brooklands circuit in Surrey, and he became a familiar face at the Track.

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 was 1931 Le Mans winner "Tim" Birkin.

Under Charles Newcombe, England developed Birkin's Blower Bentley cars at his Welwyn Garden City workshop.

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 American Whitney Straight's new motor racing team in 1934, where results began to flow immediately.

The team was extremely well financed – Straight was head of Straight Corporation Ltd., an early service provider in the booming aeronautical sector – and could afford for his Maserati 8C to 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 inaugural South African Grand Prix in 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 at ERA was punctuated with spells working for Alvis, before Raymond Mays fired 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 by Dick Seaman almost 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 dominant Mercedes-Benz racing team.

When Seaman's Delage was sold to Siamese princes Chula and Bira, England moved with it.

Prince Chula ran the cousins' White Mouse Stable racing 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 R2B Romulus and R5B Remus were always immaculately prepared and, along with the team's more modern Maserati, provided B. 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 a race engineer Lofty England maintained his own active motorsport career.

An early gift of a Douglas motorcycle from his father had started him on a successful motorcycle racing path.

His best result was second place in the 1936 Manx 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 the Second 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 the USAAF in Texas until 1943, when he returned to the RAF for active service flying Avro Lancasters.

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 friend Walter Hassan he secured a move to fellow Coventry firm Jaguar Cars in 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 new XK120, introduced in 1948, proved to be competitive with the more specialised offerings from continental manufacturers.

William Heynes' straight-6 XK engine proved 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.

He rose to fame as the manager of the Jaguar Cars sports car racing team in the 1950s, during which time Jaguar cars won the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans race on five occasions.

Leslie Johnson won major sports car races in Britain and America that year and took fifth in the 1950 Mille Miglia, the Jaguar beaten only by works Ferraris and Alfa Romeos.

At the 1950 24 Hours of Le Mans Johnson 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 Moss drove another of the pre-production cars, entered by Tommy Wisdom, to a dominant victory in the 1950 Dundrod TT, his speed in the rain also winning him a place in Jaguar's 1951 Le Mans team.

Works-prepared XK120s won numerous other events including the Tulip Rally in 1950 and the Alpine Rally in 1950, 1951 and 1952.

In 1952 Lofty England and several factory mechanics supported a high-speed endurance run at Linas-Montlhéry, where Johnson, Moss, Hadley and Jack Fairman drove 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.

After the company's withdrawal from racing England moved into the mainstream management of Jaguar Cars, later succeeding Sir William Lyons as its chairman and Chief Executive, before retiring in 1974.

Frank England was born in Finchley, Middlesex, and found an aptitude and interest in motor engineering during his schooling at Christ's College.

At the age of 14 the England family moved to Edgware.

Here the young Frank was able to watch Bentley chassis, built in nearby Cricklewood, being tested along the long, straight A5 road, formerly part of the Roman Road of Watling Street.