Author(s): Ian Coomber
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 three-litre Bentley and fifty-seven years later, he created a new engine for the same car.
A skilled draughtsman and designer, Varley worked at multiple companies on cars, aircraft and agricultural machinery. He designed the badge that 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.
BOOK ISBN | 9781781559048 |
FORMAT | 234 x 156 mm |
BINDING | Hardback |
PAGES | 192 pages |
PUBLICATION DATE | 17 August 2023 |
TERRITORY | World |
ILLUSTRATIONS | 21 diagrams and 81 photographs |
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 three-litre Bentley and fifty-seven years later, he created a new engine for the same car.
A skilled draughtsman and designer, Varley worked at multiple companies on cars, aircraft and agricultural machinery. He designed the badge that 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.
BOOK ISBN | 9781781559048 |
FORMAT | 234 x 156 mm |
BINDING | Hardback |
PAGES | 192 pages |
PUBLICATION DATE | 17 August 2023 |
TERRITORY | World |
ILLUSTRATIONS | 21 diagrams and 81 photographs |
[custom_html]A remarkable eighty-year adventure spanning the golden age of twentieth-century mechanical and motor-vehicle engineering.[/custom_html]
[smallDescription]A remarkable eighty-year adventure spanning the golden age of twentieth-century mechanical and motor-vehicle engineering.[/smallDescription]
[tabs] [tab title="AUTHOR(S)"]Ian Coomber joined Vauxhall in 1963. Sponsored at university, he gained a first in mechanical engineering and was seconded to General Motors in Detroit. His first Vauxhall assignment was handling customer complaints, followed by working with dealers as ‘the man from the factory’. He returned to Luton head office in 1987 as Fleet Sales Director and retired in 2001 as Executive Director Sales, Marketing and Customer Care. Confirmed ‘petrol head’ and owner of classic Vauxhalls, he is well-known in the Vauxhall car club scene.
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