For Jaguar car lovers that did not have a chance to go to the 2001 JCNA Annual General Meeting and Jaguar Championship Challenge in Franklin, Tennessee, it was truly a once in a lifetime opportunity. In addition to an historic gathering of D and C types, as well as a quorum of XK-SS, many high profile Jaguar people were also in attendance. One of them was Norman Dewis, Jaguar's test driver for thirty two years from 1952-1984.

Mr. Dewis' official title and capacity while at Jaguar was "Manager, Vehicle Proving." He came to Jaguar Cars from Lea Francis in 1952, where his first job was to ride with Sterling Moss in the 1,000 mile Italian classic of the past, the Mille Miglia (what a way to start a new job!) To say that he contributed greatly to the success of the XK 120 and its C and D-type derivatives -- as well as every model thereafter -- is an understatement. Norman's skill, as both a race car driver and, especially a test driver and analyst, was just what William Lyons needed to bring Jaguar Cars into the rarefied air of other world class automobiles. Norman Dewis tested all of Coventry's prototypes and production cars during his tenure, and was THE guiding light to development of all Jaguars during this period of time, including the legendary E-type.

Although he did race in the 1955 Le Mans race, and finished 5th in the Goodwood 9 Hours race in the same year driving D type OKV 2, racing is not where Sir William wanted -- or needed him. In retrospect, Sir William Lyons perhaps could always find a good race car driver to hold the banner high for Jaguar and Britain. However, he could not afford to lose Norman because of the vital feedback as a test driver that he provided Lyons and his engineers.

No one article could adequately describe his accomplishments. While in no means an exhaustive list, Mr. Dewis' career highlights include:

i) The famous high speed 172.412 MPH run on October 21, 1953 on the Jabbeke/Ostend Route, Belgium, in an aircraft canopied XK-120.

ii) The first drive of the E-type research car -- E1A -- on June 13th, 1957

iii) the first run of the 'Competition E-type', referenced internally at Jaguar as 'E2A' on Monday February, 29th 1960.

iv) Driving the now famous '9600 HP' coupe, under severe time restraints and weather conditions from Coventry to Switzerland for the world launch of the E-type at the 1960 Geneva Auto Show .

v) The last person to drive the original one-off prototype XJ13 mid-engined 4,991 cc four cam V12 racing car in 1971.

It is this last feat that has always been of interest to this writer. The XJ13 was perhaps one of the most striking cars built at Jaguar up until the advent of XJ220. The cars origins began June 3, 1965, when head engineer Bob Knight, after many internal talks, drafted "Project Specification Number ZX 558/04/01" for a 5.0 liter twin overhead cam V12 of 60 degree design. The open, mid engine, Monoque body designed by Malcolm Sayer was perhaps his ultimate engineering and creative zenith.

However, once built, Sir William did not want the car driven! Nevertheless, after conversation with Lofty England and Dewis, against direct orders of Sir William Lyons, the car was taken secretly to the MIRA (Motor Industry Research Association) test track. The maximum speed achieved that morning by the XJ13 was 175 miles an hour on the straight with the car lapping at 161.6 miles an hour - an unofficial lap record.

Dewis was summoned to Sir William's office some days later. Lyons was highly displeased with Lewis. "When I give an order, I expect it to be obeyed. Don't ever disobey me again". "Yessir," answered Norman respectfully. After a pregnant pause, Lyons asked him curiously, "Well, man .... how did it go?"

He could see that Dewis was enthusiastic about the car and demanded to know what the result of the test had been. Two weeks later, XJ13 returned to MIRA for another test session, this time with Sir William watching. Dewis' notes confirmed that although the engine's performance was strong, the handling needed much more development. Sir William gave the engineers permission to continue testing, but only on their own time on weekends. For the next twelve months, the team spent Sundays at MIRA, working on the handling of the car. This same esprit d'corps by Jaguar employees was to repeat itself again over twenty years later in development of XJ220, the direct ancestor of the XJ13.

While at the host Marriott Hotel bar at the end of another exciting day at the 2001 AGM in Franklin, who do I see standing there, surrounded by a small crowd of enthusiastic Jaguar owners, but Norman Dewis himself! After twenty or more minutes of chit chat and interesting tid bits with the crowd, the group dispersed leaving me one on one with the legend himself. I asked him if I could interview him. His comments were enthralling, informative, and enlightening. Certain facts came out that I did not know from my reading of the crash of XJ13, despite exhaustive self study of Jaguar history! Our conversation follows.

WE: "Mr. Dewis. It certainly is a honor to meet you and speak with you. Thank you for your time. As an ardent student of both you and Jaguar Cars, I've learned quite a bit about the breed, and I am sure you have many stories to tell of your career at Jaguar. I have a thousand questions to ask, but of particular interest to me was what happened in 1971 at the MIRA test track when you crashed in the XJ13. Can you tell me about it?"

DEWIS: "Well, we were getting close to launching the V12 Series 3 E-type, and Sir William wanted some promotional footage shot for the event. XJ13 had been under wraps for several years, so we decided to do a film job of the car as it had a V12 engine similar to the new E-type. A film team from London came up for the job and they set up their cameras up at one corner of the track."

WE: "Well, we know something went wrong, but what happened then?"

DEWIS: "It was about 3 P.M. and we decided that we had to conclude it. (It had been raining that day). I did three fast laps (past the camera) and on the last lap, I was going about 140-150 miles per hour. At this point, on the far side of the track, the upside rear wheel came apart."

WE: "To us Yanks, what does it mean the 'upside rear wheel'?"

DEWIS: "That is the outside right rear wheel."

WE: "What happened?"

DEWIS: "The wheel collapsed and came off the car."

WE: "Did Jaguar make the wheel?"

DEWIS: "No. It was made by an outside concern out of magnesium. It was a brand new wheel. Apparently it had a crack in it that we could not see (before the run). When we looked at it afterwards, the inside part of the wheel had crystallized like black dust. Magnesium was new at that time, so we did not know a lot about it."

WE: "So what happened when you crashed?"

DEWIS: "Well again, the wheel came off the car, and that sent me into the safety fence and caused me to careen into the infield. I came off the bottom of the bank into the infield at about a 45 degree angle. I hit the big sand filled drums at about 125 MPH and and the screen pillar went into the side of my helmet. I could not control it at all. The car rolled two nose over tail and four barrel rolls, but landed back upright. I then turned the ignition off. When I got out of the car, it looked like it had been in a crusher.

WE: "Were you hurt?"

DEWIS: "I was banged up a bit. I walked from the car onto the track. After a (long) while, the film crew showed up."

WE: "Why did they not come when they heard the crash?"

DEWIS: "I asked them about that, but they never actually heard the crash. All they heard at that distance (about the opposite side of the circuit and out of eye shot) was that the engine stopped. They thought the engine had gone off, and they came out to fetch me in a Jaguar salon."

WE: "So how do you remember all these details? You've had so many experiences in different cars over the years, yes?"

DEWIS: "I have seventy-six files of original notes... of every day at Jaguar Cars. Each (file) is numbered."

WE: "Another odd question, but why was it called XJ13 instead of XK13? After all, it was a sports model."

DEWIS: "We named all the experimental cars, rather, X something... thus the XJ designation for 'experimental Jaguar'. It was called 13. That's just what we called it -- XJ13."

WE: "Well, that is an exciting tale, isn't it? Although I promised to stick just to the XJ13 story, would you mind if I asked you a couple of more questions?" (He waved his hand at me like the Pope giving me dispensation with a slight smile.)

WE: "Besides all those fabulous C and D-types, the XK-SS and E-types and so forth, what was your favorite non-sports Jaguar?"

DEWIS: "The MK VII was my favorite. At the time it came out, it was as exciting as the 120 (in its day). It was a lovely driving car."

WE: "And your favorite sports car?" (I watched him purse his lips momentarily, looking up towards at the ceiling, narrowing down his choices mentally.)

DEWIS: "The XK 150S was a marvelous car. Very smooth, lots of power, and a refined ride. I really enjoyed that car."

WE: "And any cars that did you did not like or were not fond of?"

DEWIS: "The first Series 1 XJ6. The design was a bit off. It had a crab track (i.e., in width of front rear/axle track). "It handled reasonably well, but could have been better."

WE: "OK, I absolutely promise, but just one more question? What was the scariest experience you ever had driving? Obviously the XJ13 crash was pretty horrific, but was there any other incident or 'close calls' that gave you a fright?"

DEWIS: "In testing XK120, I rolled the car at 130 MPH. It was an open model, "but being underneath it was not a nice feeling. I was concerned because (the car) was hot, running for over an hour at high speed, when the axle locked up."

And thus my brief half hour with Norman Dewis seemed like it was over even before it started. I offered to buy him a drink at the bar, but it was getting late, and I could see that for even this energetic octogenarian, that other arrangements were more preferable.

Sitting at the bar and enjoying a Monte Cristo Cigar and a crisp Vodka Martini, I stared in disbelief at the small notebook filled with my frantic notes, and paused to contemplate my little one on one with a legend of Jaguar history.

In retrospect, we should all thank Sir William for keeping Norman Dewis around. Racing drivers may come and go -- as they say. But there is only one Norman Dewis.

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About the author - Wayne Estrada is President of the Virginia Jaguar Club and President and founder of HostYou.com, a national Internet web site company. Wayne is a former AT&T software engineer and also teaches UNIX, Java, HTML, and CGI scripting to major U.S. corporations.

Posted: 10/2001