Words: Simon Taylor

Today, racing cars built in this country dominate almost every formula, but the first British team to find international success after WW2 is almost forgotten. It wasn’t BRM: the expensive and heavily hyped V16 was an abject failure. It wasn’t Connaught or Vanwall, though their day would come. And it wasn’t Cooper or Lotus, who would go on to win World Championships. In fact it was a shoestring effort from a little garage in Walton-on-Thames called Hersham and Walton Motors – HWM. Over HWM’s seven-year life as a racing car manufacturer less than two dozen were built, but some 70 per cent of the entire production survives today.

Hersham and Walton Motors was run by partners John Heath and George Abecassis. Abecassis, a brave and stylish driver, had raced Altas before and after the war, and went on to be a works driver for Aston Martin. Heath, a talented self-taught engineer, built up a streamlined Alta-based special for the 1948 season, and then followed it with an Alta-powered open-wheeler for 1949, winning the Manx Trophy on the Isle of Man. He called these two early cars HW-Altas.

Heath’s frequent overseas trips with the HW-Altas to races in France, Belgium and Sweden gave him the idea for a travelling team that could earn its keep from a busy programme of races on the Continent. For 1950 he laid down three Alta-powered cars that could be adapted to race in both Formula 2 and sports car events, living from race to race on the start money from the previous weekend, and making up in determination and spirit for what they lacked in equipment and funds. To raise extra cash, a fourth car was built for a private customer.