Early life[edit]
Frank England was born in Finchley, Middlesex, and found an aptitude and interest in motor engineering during his schooling at Christ's College.[1] At the age of 14 the England family moved to Edgware. Here the young Frank was able to watch Bentley chassis, built in nearby Cricklewood, being tested along the long, straight A5 road, formerly part of the Roman Road of Watling Street.
England was apprenticed as an engineer to the Daimler Company in 1927[2] where, owing to his 6' 5" (196 cm) height, he quickly acquired the nickname, "Lofty", which would stick with him for the rest of his life. Daimler had not been England's first choice; his early experiences had led him originally to apply to Bentley, but without success. During his five-year apprenticeship Lofty England also made his first appearances in motorsport. In 1932, his final year as an apprentice, England finished second in the inaugural RAC Rally, driving one of Laurence Pomeroy's Daimler Double Six cars.[2] Being based in Hendon also meant that England could easily attend race meetings at the Brooklands circuit in Surrey, and he became a familiar face at the Track.
England the race engineer[edit]
On completing his apprenticeship Lofty England found that his technical skills, allied to his motorsport enthusiasm, meant that he was in great demand among the gentlemen racers of the early 1930s. His first employer was 1931 Le Mans winner "Tim" Birkin. Under Charles Newcombe, England developed Birkin's Blower Bentley cars at his Welwyn Garden City workshop. Although Birkin took the lap record at Brooklands, at over 137 mph, the car was not a success, and following Birkin's death in 1933 the Blower Bentley project folded.
Both England and Newcombe transferred to American Whitney Straight's new motor racing team in 1934, where results began to flow immediately. The team was extremely well financed – Straight was head of Straight Corporation Ltd., an early service provider in the booming aeronautical sector – and could afford for his Maserati 8C to be serviced at the Maserati factory in Italy, accompanied by England. Straight and his team not only raised the Brooklands lap record for 5-litre cars to over 138 mph, but Straight also won the inaugural South African Grand Prix in 1934. However, following Straight's marriage in 1935 the team was wound up and Lofty England found himself out of work once again.
A brief spell at ERA was punctuated with spells working for Alvis, before Raymond Mays fired him in 1936. His time at ERA was not happy, mainly due to the works' lax attitude toward their customers' cars,[2] but he was employed by Dick Seaman almost immediately following his ignominious exit. Unfortunately for England, what may have proved to be a productive relationship with the up-and-coming Grand Prix star was curtailed in late 1936 when Seaman signed for the dominant Mercedes-Benz racing team. When Seaman's Delage was sold to Siamese princes Chula and Bira, England moved with it.
Prince Chula ran the cousins' White Mouse Stable racing team with efficiency and organisation, a pattern that England would come to model his own teams on. During nearly two years with the aristocratic pair, England's ERA experience meant that R2B Romulus and R5B Remus were always immaculately prepared and, along with the team's more modern Maserati, provided B. Bira (Prince Bira's nom de course) with many race wins both in the UK and throughout Europe. Although the initial intention had been to rebuild Seaman's Delage, England was fully occupied with the operational race cars and the project was abandoned.
Throughout his time as a race engineer Lofty England maintained his own active motorsport career. An early gift of a Douglas motorcycle from his father had started him on a successful motorcycle racing path. His best result was second place in the 1936 Manx Grand Prix.[2]
In 1938 England moved out of racing for the first time, taking a job back with Alvis, but this time at the Coventry company's headquarters. He rapidly rose from service engineer to become superintendent of the service department by the outbreak of the Second World War.[1] This was Lofty England's first experience of management responsibility, and as a reserved occupation he remained with Alvis, now a military contractor, for the first two years of conflict. However, in 1941 England volunteered for pilot training and qualified as a bomber pilot, probably excluded from fighter pilot postings due to his height. He served as a training instructor to the USAAF in Texas until 1943, when he returned to the RAF for active service flying Avro Lancasters.[2]
Jaguar management career[edit]
Immediately following Jaguar's withdrawal from racing Lofty England returned to his role as director of the Jaguar service department. In 1958 Tony Vandervell offered to sell England the Vanwall Formula One team, after the death of Vandervell's protégé Stuart Lewis-Evans during the 1958 Moroccan Grand Prix.[2] England refused the offer and was never directly involved in motorsport again.
Instead, Lofty England began to climb the corporate ladder within Jaguar. England's alma mater, Daimler, merged with Jaguar in 1960, and in 1961 Lofty England joined the Jaguar board as assistant managing director.[1] During the following five years he was heavily involved in the negotiations which resulted in the merger of Jaguar with BMC to form British Motor Holdings in 1966. At the end of 1967, on the retirement from the managing directorship of Sir William Lyons, Lofty England[9] and William Heynes succeeded him as joint managing directors of the company. In turn, BMH merged with Leyland Motors in 1968 to form the British Leyland Motor Corporation.
In between the management upheaval, Lofty England invited back old friend Walter Hassan to develop Jaguar's XJ V12 engine. The engine made its debut in the Series III version of Jaguar's ageing E-Type in 1971, one year before Lofty England succeeded William Lyons as chairman and Chief Executive of Jaguar Cars. It was during his time as CEO that England had to negotiate with the unions to ensure that the car the V12 was built for, the V12 version of the Jaguar XJ saloon, was not delayed into production. Reflecting his own previous success and the Daimler company history, England decided that the Daimler version of the V12 should be called the Double Six. With increasing industrial tensions and centralised decision making within British Leyland, England felt that his position was untenable[2] and, aged 63, he retired to Austria in 1974.
Post-retirement[edit]
During his time at Jaguar, Frank "Lofty" England was probably second only to Sir William Lyons himself in determining the corporate direction and public image of Jaguar Cars. Following his retirement, although he had no direct involvement with the company, England always maintained an interest in Jaguar's fortunes.[2]
After moving to Austria during retirement, England became a consultant to Reliant Motor Company of Tamworth, Staffordshire, UK. The company wished to establish a European distribution network for its Scimitar GTE sports estate car following the development of its more refined SE6 version in 1986. England was successful in assisting Reliant to appoint importers and distributors in Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland.
England died on 30 May 1995 at the age of 83.[10]