Hersham and Walton Motors
HWM is a former English racing car brand that was operated by the automotive workshop Hersham and Walton Motors in Walton-on -Thames, Surrey. Between 1947 and 1954 HWM took with its own works team also repeatedly participate in the automobile world championships for Formula 2 and Formula 1 1954. The company is since 1951 an official representative of Aston Martin and exists today as HWM Group.
Post-war era
The racing driver George Abecassis and John Heath had entered the constructor and racing team under the complicated and never used in practice name Hersham and Walton Motors after the Second World War, which was in the early 1950s to the British top teams if they also most races in off-road and sports cars took.
The first time they made a Alta - powered sports car in 1948 attention. This was soon known as "HW Alta " and was succeeded yet in the following year by a second model that could be used both as a single-seater and two-seater sports car. This Heath won the Manx Cup in 1949 and reached an excellent second place in the Grand Prix du Comminges in the same year.
Emerging Formula 2 team
1950, Heath and made the chief mechanic Alf Francis in the construction of pure Formula 2 cars Abecassis and Heath with little luck at " Lavant Cup" at Goodwood during the Easter Monday race inserting. Three weeks later Abecassis, however, was accompanied by a promising young man who was both struck by its strong performance in the course of Formula 3 race of the same year: Stirling Moss, was what win in a support race for the Grand Prix of Montlhery. Throughout the spring, " hoofed it " the team now with different drivers from race to race across the European continent - Roubaix, Mons and Aix -les- Bains were just some prominent stations. The first victory achieved Johnny Claes in Chimay end of May. A few weeks later, Moss made a great impression when he could fight at Rome with his Formula 2 racing car in a discharged along by Formula 1 racing regulations to a tire defect for third place. In July he could make up for this placement at the Formula 1 Grand Prix of Bari and in Formula 2 he succeeded also in Reims. In particular, the podium finish in Bari Moss should have rejoiced, because he ended up with the underpowered, unsupercharged HWM after 320 km after Juan Manuel Fangio and his idol, Giuseppe Farina in front of a number of real Formula 1 car. In the advanced season, the team sat down next to Moss more and more Lance Macklin and the coming from motorcycle sport Fergus Anderson one. So Moss and Macklin scored the second and third rank in Mettet while Stirling still contributed a third place in Perigueux.
For the 1951 season were built completely new racing car. These were both from the balance as well as in weight significantly more competitive. The old cars sold HWM to " gentlemen drivers ", while Moss and Macklin could now be considered the regular driver of the factory teams, but these were supplemented by high-profile teammates such as Prince Bira and Louis Chiron. Despite fierce competition Moss was in Aix -les -Bains, second and third in a Formula 1 race in Zandvoort. Macklin, however, reached in Angouleme a second and a third place in Modena, while new to the team bumped Harry Schell directly behind the winner of the race of Posillipo crossed the finish line. At the end of the summer we stopped the team with Yves Giraud - Cabantous on to another Frenchman. At the end of the season HWM denied a race in Winfield against local competition, so that you can even celebrated a clear victory in the triple sequence Moss Albecassis - Duncan Hamilton.
Drivers' World Championship
Since the World Cup season in 1952 contested by Formula 2 regulations, the entry into the highest motorsport class was almost inevitably, and with Peter Collins received Moss, Macklin and Giraud - Cabantous another talented young drivers on the page provided. Abecassis and Heath drove only occasionally, so Hamilton, Tony Rolt and some other factory team supported in the long 1952 season. In the BRDC International Trophy at Silverstone Macklin won before Rolt, Stirling Moss at the Nürburgring could have a second place in Chimay at the " Grand Prix des Frontieres " Paul Frère was even allowed to celebrate a victory. Collins and Macklin occupied some more good places in lower classifiable race, but overall the season was - as measured by high personnel expenses - been disappointing, since you at the races, which were part of the championship, with a fifth place by Paul Frère just a little respect for success recorded. Equipped with even less capital for the World Cup season in 1953, the results were even more disillusioned.
Conclusion and withdrawal from racing
As the Formula 1 season should be played according to new rules in 1954 to HWM decided a feat of strength and tried a 2.5 - liter version of the Alta engine, but even this should not succeed in the male-dominated by the big factory teams class be. Thereupon HWM turned back to the sports car race where you had but to have only minor successes. When Heath died in a racing accident at the Mille Miglia, Abecassis be moved with HWM back quite as official factory team from racing to produce only for customer vehicles. After the end of the 1950s, the HWM had disappeared from the race tracks. In any case, it was to have promoted two of the best British Grand Prix drivers of all time in their early years, the merit of the team with Stirling Moss and Peter Collins.
In subsequent years, HWM built some extravagant street sports car with Jaguar engines.
The company has its headquarters today in Walton-on -Thames. Meanwhile, it is called HWM Group, Ltd.. and operates through its subsidiary HWM Aston Martin Surrey 's oldest existing representation of this brand as well as HWM Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo, a Surrey - representation, both also operate from Walton-on -Thames from.