Tony Rudd
Tony Rudd | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | 22 August 2003 | (aged 80)
Children | 3 |
Engineering career | |
Employer(s) | BRM (1951-1969) Lotus (1969-1989) |
Anthony Cyril Rudd (8 March 1923 – 22 August 2003) was a British engineer involved in
.Early life and war service
Rudd became involved with motor racing in the 1930s when he became an informal assistant to
Rudd's engineering studies were interrupted by the
Career
Arrival at BRM
The much-delayed
Successes at BRM
Rudd put in place proper engineering procedures within the team. Rudd drove a
The move to Lotus
During a poor 1969 season and after management changes at BRM, Rudd left for Lotus Cars, gradually working up to the position of Engineering Director on the road-car side of the company - he was not directly involved in racing, which Colin Chapman looked after. Rudd's achievements included the development of Lotus' own four-cylinder engine as well as improving production quality of their cars. Rudd also developed Lotus as an engineering consultancy working on high-technology projects for the rest of the automotive industry, creating another profit centre within the business.
Ground effect and consultancy
Team Lotus were struggling in the mid-1970s and Rudd led the research effort that produced
Final return to racing
After the conviction of Fred Bushell for financial irregularities related to DeLorean, the Chapman family (who retained ownership of Team Lotus) asked Rudd to step in to head the racing team. He returned to racing for a year in 1989 until the team was sold on, then retired to become a freelance consulting engineer.
Retirement and writing
In retirement, Rudd remained active in the
Bibliography
- BRM, Raymond Mays and Peter Roberts
- BRM: The Saga of British Racing Motors, Doug Nye with Tony Rudd, MRP - Volumes 1, 2 and 3 have appeared, covering the front-engined cars, spaceframe rear engined cars and monocoque V8 cars respectively; Volume 4 will cover the H16, V12s and Can-Ams.
- It Was Fun: My Fifty Years of High Performance, Tony Rudd, MRP.
- BRM V16, How Britain's auto makers built a Grand Prix car to beat the world, By Karl Ludvigsen, Published by Veloce
References
- ^ "Tony Rudd | Times Online Obituary". Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 27 February 2011.
- ^ "The Killeen Cars". tardis.dl.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 8 May 2019.
I spent the afternoon testing it and was totally entranced .. The car had a profound effect on me and launched me on my stiffness crusade
- ^ "Tony Rudd". Motor Sport magazine archive. October 2003. p. 17. Retrieved 24 December 2015.