Norman Dewis interview - Norman on Malcolm Sayer, Jaguar design engineer C, D, E type, XJ13 and XJS

Показать описание

I'm David Stewart and a huge Jaguar enthusiast. As a boy who grew up in the 1970's my heros were not Kevin Keegan and George Best (Although they did both own Jaguar XJ-S's), they were people like Sir William Lyons, Bob Knight, Malcolm Sayer, Walter Hassan, Harry Mundy, Claude Bailey and Norman Dewis.

Norman was Jaguars chief Test Driver and Development Engineer from 1952-1985. I remember back in 1976 (aged 8) reading in the magazine Autocar about his brilliant work with XJ6/12 and XJ-S - He was then instantly added to my list of Jaguar Hero's.
Almost 40 years later and I finally get to meet him, when he presents me with a trophy for Best XJ-S at the JDC XJ-S's 40th anniversary weekend. After this, we became good friends and he even stayed at my home a couple of times - and if I was ever bored at work I would call Norman to see if he fancied a visit - The 5 hour round trip was worth it just to hear his stories.....as you will see.

We recorded these videos in April 2017 (aged almost 97) in the rear of my 1976 Daimler Double Six - I still cant believe how Norman recalls all his memories without hesitation and with such sharpness. Sorry for looking like a 16 year old girl who's just met David Essex but it was always extremely exciting being in Normans company.

R.I.P Norman - you were a gentleman and a true genius, I love you and will miss you very much xx