Of those three 1950 works cars, one has remained in its Alta-engined form. Another was given a Jaguar XK120 engine by its new owner Oscar Moore, becoming the first in a long line of Jaguar-powered specialist sports-racers. And the third ended up in Hollywood, starring in a movie with Kirk Douglas, before gaining a Chevrolet V8 engine and going on to a second racing career on the USA’s West Coast as the Stovebolt Special. All three now live with enthusiastic owners in England.

For 1951, the works HWMs grew up into proper F2 single-seaters, and the team’s European exploits continued over the next three seasons. Other young drivers to cut their teeth in the green cars included Peter Collins, Harry Schell and Paul Frère. But the beautifully built HWMs tended to be heavier than their opposition, and the Alta engine, ever more highly tuned to try to stay competitive with newer machinery, was becoming less reliable.

So HWM then turned its thoughts to the sports-racing class, and in 1953 fitted a modified F2 chassis with a Jaguar engine and an all-enveloping two-seat body. Registered HWM 1 (later YPG 3), this first works HWM-Jaguar proved to be lighter and better handling than the C-type Jaguars. In the hands of Abecassis and others, it was very successful in British racing. Two more were built for customers, and all three are still active in historic racing today. A fourth was supplied as a kit of parts to receive a Cadillac engine, and is now in New Zealand. Meanwhile, hillclimber Phil Scragg was terrorising the hills, first in an HWM-built, Alta F1 chassised, cycle-winged sports car and then in a purpose-built HWM-Jaguar which has been happily raced and hillclimbed by a succession of owners ever since.

Abecassis himself sketched out the bodies of each HWM and, for the second generation HWM-Jaguars in 1955, he designed a neat functional new body. Two works cars were built: George’s was registered XPE2 and the second, for Heath, took over the HWM 1 number plate. It was in this car that John Heath decided to enter the 1956 Mille Miglia road race around Italy. In driving rain he lost control near Ravenna and the car hit a fence and turned over. A few days later Heath died from his injuries.