THE DEWAR TROPHY. For outstanding British technical achievement in the automotive industry. History of the Dewar Trophy

Transcription

1 THE DEWAR TROPHY The Royal Automobile Club s Dewar Trophy is renowned as the most prestigious award in British engineering and is awarded only in years when the Club s expert Technical Committee believes that there are contenders of sufficient merit, with winners joining a remarkable line-up of automotive greats. The Dewar Trophy is awarded for: For outstanding British technical achievement in the automotive industry History of the Dewar Trophy The Dewar Trophy was presented to the Club by Sir Thomas Dewar MP (later Lord Dewar), a member of Parliament, in June Thomas Robert Tommy Dewar had many interests, including travelling, commercialising his father s whiskey company on a global scale and breeding race horses, he also has an active interesting the automotive industry and inaugurated the Dewar Trophy in The Dewar trophy was awarded from 1906 to 1929 for the most meritorious performance in the Certified Trials held by the Club. Individual trials were carried out under the observation of the Club. Trials took place annually, except in those years when it was considered that no performance had been recorded of sufficient merit to warrant the award. The first recipients of the award in 1906 were Dennis Brothers of Guildford in respect of 20 hp Dennis car, which achieved 4,000 miles. In 1931 the terms of the award were changed and then became for the most outstanding technical achievement accomplished during that year under the competition rules of the Club. No award was made under terms these, however, until 1950 when it went to the Rover Company for the production and performance of the Rover Gas Turbine Powered Car. Tony Vandervell & Tony Brooks. G A Vandervell, won the 1958 Dewar Trophy 1

2 The Dewar Trophy was not awarded again until 1957 at which time the terms were again changed to those which prevail to this day, namely, for outstanding British technical achievement in the automotive field during the preceding year. Motor Industry Research Association (MIRA) won the Dewar Trophy in 1997 MIRA, winners of the 1997 Dewar Trophy In 1997 was MIRA, the Motor Industry Research Association won the Dewar Trophy for the development of M-SIS, Side Impact Simulation System, to rapidly and economically assist the development of vehicles to meet legislation and thus saving lives in a crash situation. The Royal Automobile Club Motoring Committee have decided to re-establish the awarding of the Dewar Cup and a Technical Sub-Committee was set up in 2002 to study automotive engineering excellence. Cadillac: Standard of the World The term Standards of the World was used for the first time by Cadillac in 1908 when the Anglo- American Motor Company won the Dewar Trophy for the interchange ability of the Cadillac in standardisation test of the of three 10 hp Cadillac cars. Three Cadillac cars were selected at random, driven to the Brooklands track (about 23 miles away) and driven ten laps around the track (around 30 miles). The cars were then disassembled under the supervision of the RAC Technical Committee. The 2,100 components were thoroughly mixed up along with an extra 89 parts from a local dealer s stock. The cars were then reassembled using the mixed parts and driven around the Brooklands track for 500 miles at top speed. The test successfully demonstrated that the parts of the Cadillac were truly interchangeable. Upon winning the Dewar Trophy the Cadillac had earned the term, Standard of the World. When receiving the award, Henry Leland credited his 1,000 employees and shook the hand of each and everyone one of them. Cadillac would win the Dewar Trophy for the second time in

3 About the trophy Height: 57cm Weight: g Material: Silver Inscription: Elkington & Co 1900 The Dewar Trophy is a large Victorian cup with a mid 18th-century design made of silver. It has tapering sides with an applied girdle and two scroll handles. It is raised on a domed spreading base which comes complete with a domed cover. The cover has a compressed circular finial, embossed all over with birds, animals, ''C'' scrolls flowers and leaves. The front and back have shaped scroll cartouches, which are all upon a large ebony plinth. On the plinth are shields where the names of recipients of the trophy are inscribed. 3

4 Previous winners Winners of the prestigious Dewar Trophy have included Rolls-Royce (1907), The Daimler Company (1909), and Jaguar Cars (1951 and 2003). British Leyland Motor Corporation, winners of the 1971 and 1972 Dewar Trophy Coventry Climax, winners of the 1963 Dewar Trophy Jaguar Cars, winners of the 2003 Dewar Trophy Rover Group, winners of the 1995 Dewar Trophy 4

5 Mercedes AMG High Performance Power Trains, winners of the 2014 Dewar Trophy Commander Andy Green from the JCB Dieselmax team, winners of the 2006 Dewar Trophy GKN Hybrid Power, winners of the 2015 Dewar Trophy Gordon Murray Design, winners of the 2016 Dewar Trophy Year Company Merit 1906 Dennis Bros 20 hp Dennis Car, 4, 000 miles 1907 Rolls-Royce hp Rolls-Royce, 15,000 miles 1908 The Anglo-American Motor Company Standardisation test of three 10hp Cadillac cars 1909 The Daimler Company Two sleeve-valve engines of 22.8hp and 34.4hp respectively. 132 hours bench test and 2,000 miles on Brooklands track 1910 S. F. Edge 59.9hp Napier. London to Edinburgh and back top-gear trial 1911 The Thomas Transmission 2,000 miles trial of a lorry and London-Edinburgh and back trial of 13.96hp car. Both fitted with Thomas Transmission 1913 F.S. Bennett 1914 model 32.2hp Cadillac car 1914 The National Steam Company National coke fuel motor lorry consumption tests 1920 The National Benzole Company 10,000 miles trial 1921 John I Thornycroft and Company BT type lorry 1922 Armstrong-Siddeley Motors 10,000 miles trial 1923 Rapson Tyre and Jack Company Rapson cord tyres 40,000 miles trial 5

6 1925 Rover Company 13,96h.p. car. Fifty ascents and descents of Bwlchy-Groes- Merionethshire 1926 Violette Cordery Invicta Car 5,000 miles 1928 C B Wardman Mercedes Benz heavy oil lorry. Consumption and reliability 1929 Miss V Cordery Invicta chassis 30,000 miles 1950 The Rover Company Production and performance of the gas turbine powered car 1951 Jaguar Cars Performance in four major international events 1952 Sunbeam-Talbot Performance in 1952 International Alpine Rally 1957 The Dunlop Rubber Company Work on disc brakes and research and development of tyres for the M G car, which secured various international speed records 1958 G A Vandervell Design, development, production and performance of the Vanwall car 1959 British Motor Corporation and Alec Issigonis Advanced development in automobile design, as exemplified by the Morris Mini-Minor and Austin Seven 1963 Coventry Climax Engines Design, development and production of engines which have brought British cars to the forefront of Grand Prix racing 1959 British Motor Corporation and Alec Issigonis Advanced development in automobile design, as exemplified by the Morris Mini-Minor and Austin Seven 1963 Coventry Climax Engines For design, development and production of engines which have brought British cars to the forefront of Grand Prix racing 1967 The British Leyland Motor Corporation, coupled with the name of Mr P M Wilkes Advanced development in Automobile design as exemplified by the Range Rover 1969 Mr Keith Duckworth, BSc, ACGI, Design of the Ford Formula 1 engine which has retained the supremacy of British engineering in Grand Prix racing 1971 The British Leyland Motor Corporation, coupled with the name of Mr P M Wilkes 1972 The British Leyland Motor Corporation (Truck and Bus Division) Advanced development in Automobile design as exemplified by the Range Rover Design, development and construction of the Leyland National Bus which represents a radical new approach to the development of a public service vehicle incorporating maximum pay-load and security at minimal cost and maintenance 1973 The Dunlop Company Development of DENOVO fail-safe tyre and wheel system, as an outstanding contribution to road safety 1977 The Triplex Safety Glass Company Development, manufacture and application to production automobiles of the Ten Twenty safety glass as an outstanding contribution to the safety of automobile occupants 1981 BL Cars Efficiency in automobile design in respect of the utilisation of interior space and predicted low cost of ownership of the Austin Metro Car 1984 BL Technology, and the Design Team led by C S King, CBE A convincing demonstration of automobile design possibilities providing opportunities for significant energy savings as embodied in the experimental vehicle ECV3 6

7 1985 Lucas Girling Development of anti-lock braking systems for cars, trucks and motorcycles leading to production of the low cost Stop Control System (SCS) for front wheel drive cars 1995 Rover Group Development of the Holovision system to measure and understand the vibration behaviour and their component parts in order to improve vehicle refinement 1997 MIRA, the Motor Industry Research Development of the M-SIS, Side Impact Association Simulation System 2002 Ricardo plc Development of its I-MoGen (Intelligent Motor Generator) mild hybrid vehicle 2003 Jaguar Cars Development of the all-aluminium body structure for the new XJ Series 2004 Delphi Corporation Development of their twin-floating disc Maximum Torque Brake system 2005 Ricardo plc Work on the development of the Dual Clutch Transmission technology as exemplified by the DCT and Active 4WD for the Bugatti Veyron 2006 The JCB Dieselmax team Development of the world diesel land speed record-breaking JCB DIESELMAX streamliner 2008 Group Lotus plc Development of its Versatile Vehicle Architecture (VVA) Chassis technology as exemplified in the Lotus Evora sportscar 2009 Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines Formula One Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems (KERS) 2012 Ford Motor Company Development of the 1.0-litre Eco-Boost engine 2013 McLaren Automotive Development and launch of its advanced sell-out McLaren P1 supercar 2014 Mercedes AMG High Performance Power Trains Development of its Formula One world championship- winning Mercedes-Benz PU106A Hybrid power unit 2015 GKN Hybrid Power Development and application to buses of Gyrodrive technology 2016 Gordon Murray Design Development and application of the innovative istream chassis concept, including its use in the Global Vehicle Trust OX all-terrain vehicle 2017 Jaguar Development of its all-electric, zero emission, high performance I-PACE Concept 2018 Integral Powertrain Development of the integrated electric motors and inverters which powered the 2018 Pikes Peak winning car Terms of the Award 1. The Dewar Challenge Trophy may be awarded in any calendar year by the Committee of the Royal Automobile Club on the recommendation of the Technical Committee for an outstanding British technical achievement during the preceding year on one that is known to have reached a significant stage of development, application or utilisation during that year. 2. Properly authenticated British achievement in research, development, design, manufacture, utilisation or performance, or in any combination of these, or of any other character deemed appropriate by the Technical Committee, are eligible for consideration (railborne vehicles excluded). 3. The Trophy will be held for one year. 7

8 Formula One Mercedes-Benz PU106A Hybrid power unit that won the 2014 Dewar Trophy Library Royal Automobile Club 8