Norman Dewis - Jaguar stalwart reruns 1952 Mille Miglia
Discussion
I am not sure if this is the correct section on PH, but thought some might be interested in an article from my local newspaper:
For a while it looked as though Stirling Moss and his co-driver Norman Dewis, from Church Stretton, were on course to ‘accidentally’ win the famous Italian Mille Miglia 1,000-mile road race of 1952.
Sixty years on, 91-year-old Norman is preparing to board the same model car, a Jaguar C-Type, with his old pal Stirling in a celebratory reconstruction of the original race.
He will even be wearing the same overalls, helmet and goggles as he did in 1952.
Make no mistake, the C-Type had two of Britain’s best drivers in it – Norman was the chief tester for Jaguar who brought the world the E-Type Jag.
But the intention was never to win the Mille Miglia.
“The reason we did the Mille in the C-Type was having developed disc brakes with Dunlop we thought we needed to put a car into a race to see how the brakes performed under race conditions,” Norman said.
“The Mille Miglia is a 1,000 miles, starting from Brescia and on through streets and mountains – the type of terrain that is very hard on brakes and ideal for testing.
“At the time, nobody had brought out a disc brake for a car, it was all drum brakes.
“We kept it secret. We got to the scrutineering before the race where the cars are checked, and the scrutineer could see through the wheel and said ‘Where are the brakes?’ They had never seen disc brakes.”
Indeed such was the surprise that the German team manager for Mercedes Benz tried to get Norman and Stirling thrown out of the race.
“He said ‘this car should be disqualified’ because it’s a new thing; it was not qualified or certified.”
But Norman Dewis’s worldwide reputation preceded him. The protest was over-ruled by a top bod who said: “It’s a new innovation, but if Dewis has tested it, then Jaguar have tested it and it’s qualified.”
Vehicles set off at two-minute intervals in the timed race and the fast cars went last. Stirling and Norman’s car was number 619 to signify that they started at 6.19am. The car that completed in the shortest time – around 11 hours later – would be the winner.
The Mille Miglia is classified as a endurance race, but the test began before the event started.
“I drove the car from Jaguar at Coventry down to Italy, in April across the Alps in the ice and the snow – that was a good test for the brakes before the race even started, I can tell you!” remembers Norman.
Good practice for the race proper, though. The road from Brescia stretched out before him: a perilous route through mountains, towns and cities.
Only around half the starters would finish.
“Up in the mountains there were no fences or barriers at the side of the road – it was just steep drops,” recalls Norman.
“We came round one corner and overshot a bit and the two outside wheels were over the edge. We were going round the corner at about 45-degree tilt, with Sterling, who was driving, now up above me.
“We eventually got four wheels back on the road and he pulled up and said ‘you drive!’
Norman Dewis at his home in Church Stretton with his original Jaguar memorabilia from the race
“He was really shaking. He had one of my cigarettes and put it in his mouth but his hands were shaking so much he must have used a box of matches to light it. Yes, that was hairy.”
After pausing for breath and composing themselves, the racers then did what they did best – got back in the car and floored it, regularly topping 160mph along any available straight, and, bearing in mind the windy nature of the route, finished with an incredible average speed of 84mph.
In his Ferrari 250 S Berlinetta Vignale, race winner Giovanni Bracco averaged 87mph.
“We were doing pretty well – we were flying past the field because with the new disc brakes we were able to go faster into the bends and brake much later.
“We had no ideas or intentions of winning, but it so happened that when we got to Rome we were in fourth position. We set off from Rome with a new set of wheels and having refuelled and set off through Florence, but with 123 miles to go and we crashed out.
“We rounded a corner and there was water across the road and the car skidded and crashed into the side of a mountain.
“We were OK but we were out of the race.” A bracket which held the steering column had sheered.
“I took the car to a garage, clamped the steering column and rewelded it. Then we drove the car home. We did it all in those days.”
When Norman raced in the famous Le Mans races, it was the same story.
“We drove the cars there, through London, did the competition and drove them back. Great days.”
Years later Norman discovered he and Stirling were doing better than they thought when they crashed.
Norman explains: “I thought we were third at that stage but years later, after my Jaguar book was published five years or so ago, I had a phone call from Italy from the chief marshal who said ‘I’ve read your book but there is a mistake in it’.
“I thought, here we go, I’m probably going to be told we were in fifth or sixth when we crashed, but he said no, we were in second.
“So the mistake was the right kind of mistake!”
Sixty years on, and as he and Stirling prepare to get behind the wheel of their Jaguar C-Type bearing the same 619 number, Norman is optimistic there will at least be no recreation of their crash in the 2012 Mille Miglia.
“Hopefully that won’t happen this time!” he says.
For a while it looked as though Stirling Moss and his co-driver Norman Dewis, from Church Stretton, were on course to ‘accidentally’ win the famous Italian Mille Miglia 1,000-mile road race of 1952.
Sixty years on, 91-year-old Norman is preparing to board the same model car, a Jaguar C-Type, with his old pal Stirling in a celebratory reconstruction of the original race.
He will even be wearing the same overalls, helmet and goggles as he did in 1952.
Make no mistake, the C-Type had two of Britain’s best drivers in it – Norman was the chief tester for Jaguar who brought the world the E-Type Jag.
But the intention was never to win the Mille Miglia.
“The reason we did the Mille in the C-Type was having developed disc brakes with Dunlop we thought we needed to put a car into a race to see how the brakes performed under race conditions,” Norman said.
“The Mille Miglia is a 1,000 miles, starting from Brescia and on through streets and mountains – the type of terrain that is very hard on brakes and ideal for testing.
“At the time, nobody had brought out a disc brake for a car, it was all drum brakes.
“We kept it secret. We got to the scrutineering before the race where the cars are checked, and the scrutineer could see through the wheel and said ‘Where are the brakes?’ They had never seen disc brakes.”
Indeed such was the surprise that the German team manager for Mercedes Benz tried to get Norman and Stirling thrown out of the race.
“He said ‘this car should be disqualified’ because it’s a new thing; it was not qualified or certified.”
But Norman Dewis’s worldwide reputation preceded him. The protest was over-ruled by a top bod who said: “It’s a new innovation, but if Dewis has tested it, then Jaguar have tested it and it’s qualified.”
Vehicles set off at two-minute intervals in the timed race and the fast cars went last. Stirling and Norman’s car was number 619 to signify that they started at 6.19am. The car that completed in the shortest time – around 11 hours later – would be the winner.
The Mille Miglia is classified as a endurance race, but the test began before the event started.
“I drove the car from Jaguar at Coventry down to Italy, in April across the Alps in the ice and the snow – that was a good test for the brakes before the race even started, I can tell you!” remembers Norman.
Good practice for the race proper, though. The road from Brescia stretched out before him: a perilous route through mountains, towns and cities.
Only around half the starters would finish.
“Up in the mountains there were no fences or barriers at the side of the road – it was just steep drops,” recalls Norman.
“We came round one corner and overshot a bit and the two outside wheels were over the edge. We were going round the corner at about 45-degree tilt, with Sterling, who was driving, now up above me.
“We eventually got four wheels back on the road and he pulled up and said ‘you drive!’
Norman Dewis at his home in Church Stretton with his original Jaguar memorabilia from the race
“He was really shaking. He had one of my cigarettes and put it in his mouth but his hands were shaking so much he must have used a box of matches to light it. Yes, that was hairy.”
After pausing for breath and composing themselves, the racers then did what they did best – got back in the car and floored it, regularly topping 160mph along any available straight, and, bearing in mind the windy nature of the route, finished with an incredible average speed of 84mph.
In his Ferrari 250 S Berlinetta Vignale, race winner Giovanni Bracco averaged 87mph.
“We were doing pretty well – we were flying past the field because with the new disc brakes we were able to go faster into the bends and brake much later.
“We had no ideas or intentions of winning, but it so happened that when we got to Rome we were in fourth position. We set off from Rome with a new set of wheels and having refuelled and set off through Florence, but with 123 miles to go and we crashed out.
“We rounded a corner and there was water across the road and the car skidded and crashed into the side of a mountain.
“We were OK but we were out of the race.” A bracket which held the steering column had sheered.
“I took the car to a garage, clamped the steering column and rewelded it. Then we drove the car home. We did it all in those days.”
When Norman raced in the famous Le Mans races, it was the same story.
“We drove the cars there, through London, did the competition and drove them back. Great days.”
Years later Norman discovered he and Stirling were doing better than they thought when they crashed.
Norman explains: “I thought we were third at that stage but years later, after my Jaguar book was published five years or so ago, I had a phone call from Italy from the chief marshal who said ‘I’ve read your book but there is a mistake in it’.
“I thought, here we go, I’m probably going to be told we were in fifth or sixth when we crashed, but he said no, we were in second.
“So the mistake was the right kind of mistake!”
Sixty years on, and as he and Stirling prepare to get behind the wheel of their Jaguar C-Type bearing the same 619 number, Norman is optimistic there will at least be no recreation of their crash in the 2012 Mille Miglia.
“Hopefully that won’t happen this time!” he says.
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