Description
By: Walter Hassan, Graham Robson . - Authorised Mercian Reprint of the classic original !
Climax in Coventry - My Life of Fine Engines and Fast Cars - this book is an autobiography written by Walter Hassan in collaboration with Graham Robson.
Few people can have had such a fascinating and varied career in the British motor industry, or contributed so much to the design and development of so many fine engines and high-performance cars, as WALTER HASSAN, OBE.
His involvement in automobile design began in 1920 when as an engineering apprentice he became the 14th person to be employed by the legendary W.O. Bently. More than half a century later, having already deferred his retirement at the request of Sir William Lyons, who wanted him to see the new Jaguar V-12 engine through to production and to continue his co-ordination of British Leyland's engineering activities, his plans for a quiet life were thwarted by those who sought his counsel as a consultant engineer, and by others who persuaded him to write this autobiography.
In the latter task he has been aided considerably by GRAHAM ROBSON, whose own background of automobile engineering, motoring journalism and authorship has proved invaluable in encouraging a brilliant but inherently modest man to recall his many contributions and achievements in the worlds of motoring and motor racing. At the end of each chapter Robson himself adds a technical description of the cars and engines which have benefited from the Hassan touch.
The great days of Bentley at Le Mans; the narrow escape from death during a world record attempt; the creation of the Barnato-Hassan and Pacey-Hassan Specials and of the Bugatti-engined BHW for the Wilkins brothers; suspension work with ERAs; the construction of John Cobb's Napier-Railton world land speed record car; at war with the Bristol Aeroplane Company; the conception of the Jaguar XK engine; the brilliant motor racing history of Coventry Climax Engines; these are just the highlights of a career which was honoured at Buckingham Palace in 1971 when Walter Hassan received his OBE for his great services to industry. In CLIMAX IN
COVENTRY he retraces his steps through some of the most memorable chapters of British automobile achievement.
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