Overview

A remarkable eighty-year adventure spanning the golden age of twentieth-century mechanical and motor-vehicle engineering. Born into an ecclesiastical family, Harry Varley had a burning ambition to be the best engineer he could. He was one of the three-man team that designed the iconic 3-litre Bentley and fifty-seven years later he created a new engine for the same car. A skilled draughtsman and designer, he worked at multiple companies on cars, aircraft, and agricultural machinery. He designed the badge which appears on every Vauxhall, a revolutionary internal-combustion-engine piston and was employed on projects at Cubitt, Crossley and Streamline Cars. On secondment in the Second World War, he helped develop the largest diesel engine made by Perkins Engines, balloon winches and gun mountings, finishing at Rolls-Royce where he retired as chief planning engineer. The design and manufacture of his Varley engine took nine years of grit and determination. Having received reports that it had achieved its design objectives, he died aged ninety-three, his life's work complete.

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9781781559048

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Ian Coomber joined the motor industry in 1963. He gained a first in mechanical engineering and enjoyed a thirty-eight-year career at Vauxhall Motors, retiring as executive director, sales and marketing. He has been a non-executive director of several motor-industry and motor-sport companies. A confirmed 'petrol head' and owner of several classic cars, he has contributed many articles on motoring history and is a member of the Society of Automotive Historians in Britain. Fonthill published his book 'Vauxhall: Britain's Oldest Car Maker' in 2017.

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