OK, so James Corden got one too. But the OBE awarded to 94-year-old Jaguar stalwart Norman Dewis is much more deserving in our eyes. Sit-com stardom and a queasy on-screen bromance with Gary Barlow versus co-driving Stirling Moss in the 1952 Mille Miglia in a C-Type, setting land-speed records in the XK120 on a Belgian motorway, signing off the E-Type chassis and walking away from an absolute monster crash in the infamous V12-powered XJ13? Sorry Corden...
Youthful Moss and Dewis at the Mille in '52
Dewis is also a bit of a legend in person too, a regular fixture at motor shows and events like Goodwood, twinkly eyed, mischievous and typically sporting some manner of country and western themed clothing. Black-tie for Dewis means bootlace and embroidered lapels, not dicky-bow and dinner jacket. Arguably he deserves a gong for that alone.
But his achievements as a driver are, by any stretch, 'proper' and Jaguar's press release celebrating Dewis's OBE makes for impressive reading.
"Norman Dewis OBE developed no less than 25 significant Jaguar cars and is widely regarded as Britain's greatest test driver," it reads. "His automotive CV is remarkable: he developed the multiple Le Mans-winning C-Type and D-Type racing cars, the pioneering XK140 and 150 sports cars, the classic 2.4/3.4 and MkII saloons, plus the MkVII and MkVIIM models, the legendary E-Type (including the Lightweight E-Type), the XJ13 mid-engined prototype, the world-class XJ saloons, the XJ-S and the 'XJ40' models."
With the XJ13 that nearly killed him
Then there's the motorsport.
"Dewis was also co-driver to the British racing hero Sir Stirling Moss in a C-Type in the 1952 Mille Miglia and, in 1953, set a 172.412 mph production car speed record in a modified Jaguar XK120 on a closed section of the Jabbeke highway, Belgium. He also drove a 190mph works D-Type in the dramatic 1955 Le Mans 24hr race and competed in the famous Goodwood Nine Hours in the 1950s."
Jaguar reckons Dewis completed over a million test miles (at an average speed of over 100mph!) in his 33-year career and makes particular note of his work developing Dunlop disc brakes for use on Jaguars, a feature that contributed to success on road and track. And he's still contributing today, helping with Jaguar Special Operations, the newly opened Brown's Lane heritage workshop and driving experiences and projects like the 'new' E-Type Lightweight.
A worthy honour then and one we suggest you raise a glass to at some point tonight as you toast the new year.
Additional photos: LAT Photo