58 replies to this topic

[Eli]

Doug Nye let us know this morning.





http://www.atlasf1.com/news/report.php/id/11452/.html

[Doug Nye]

I regret to report that Tony Rudd of BRM and Lotus fame passed away early this morning.

There, friends, was a 20th century engineer...

Doug Nye

[VAR1016]

Yes, a great character and a wonderful source of information from the good old days...

How I wish I could have talked with him.

R.I.P.

PdeRL

[Joe Fan]

I am extremely shocked and saddened by this news. RIP Tony.

[Dennis Hockenbury]

I am saddened beyond words at this news as Tony Rudd was one (of a very select and small group) of my true heroes.

He was perhaps the last engineer to have designed a complete Formula 1 car, engine and chassis.

To me, he will always embody the definition of "Engineer". I believe that he would have been very surprised that his achievements were much admired in places such as Texas.

My sincere condolences to his family and friends. RIP

[Frank de Jong]

What a coincidence - I've just finished reading his book "It was fun". Sad news.

[Gary Davies]

"BRM affairs at one stage were so chaotic that an ultimatum was issued. Do better or else! Change of directive had to come. I would have liked to see Earnest (Owen) take the reins, but ever-conscious of the family pecking order, he declined. Instead I was invited to become Chairman and joint Managing Director with Jean. It worked. Some decisions were unpopular, but one proposed by Jean was significant. She was adamant that Tony Rudd should become Chief Engineer. He was outstanding." - Louis Stanley, in Strictly off the record.

[Macca]

I too am deeply shocked and saddened at this news. His partnership with NGH at BRM in the 60's was the foundation of my lifelong interest, and I count myself very lucky to have a signed copy of the superb 'It Was Fun'. It might not be too strong to say that his personal and engineering integrity and good-humour kept BRM alive for many years.

His name and fame will live on with the cars he was involved with, both at BRM and Lotus. It would be appropriate, I think, to commemorate him in some way at the Revival next month where many of them will be racing.

Paul Mackness

[David Beard]

Thanks for letting us know, Doug.

It is very sad to hear that such a significant person in British motor racing history is no longer with us.

[Vitesse2]

Sad news ...

Thanks for letting us know Doug.

[ensign14]

This was a bit of a shock. Godspeed.

[petefenelon]

Terribly sad news.

pete

[Ruairidh]

This is sad news

[dmj]

R.I.P.

[nigel red5]

Oh no! That is sad news...

I don`t know of him so much from the BRM days, but i certainly know of and have on tape a lot of stories & interviews from him during his Lotus era.

In 1989 he said on rejoining Lotus..... "well, maybe they saw the sign on my office wall that says old age and treachery will always overcome youth and enthusiasm"

RIP

[fines]

RIP

[Arturo Pereira]

Sad news

and thanks for letting us know Doug.

Arturo

[Don Capps]

The sad loss of another real Character and one outstanding Engineer. 'Bye Tony, you will be missed.

[Dave Wright]

My only real link with Tony is through reading his excellent book "It was fun" (several times) and seeing him on a number of Duke videos about the 60's, but I do feel very saddened by this news. As an mechanical engineer and like Dennis, Tony was something of a hero to me.

R.I.P.

[Gary C]

This is sad news indeed. I hadn't even heard that he was ill. Godspeed, Tony Rudd.

[Roger Clark]

I hope that knowing how much he was admired and liked by so many who never met him will be of some condolence to his family.

RIP

[Richard Jenkins]

Sorry to see him go RIP

[Hack]

Terribly sad. ‘It was fun!’ was a great inspiration to me.

[Barry Boor]

Like so many others, I have recently read 'It Was Fun', I feel this sad loss as I would the passing of a friend.....

[David T.]

Sad to hear about Tony Rudd's death. I read his book just a few months ago. RIP

[Alan Lewis]

A very great shame, but a life full of achievement.
I shall raise a glass tonight.

APL

[bournenville]

OH NO!!

I am currently reading "It was Fun!"

I cant believe it...Sad news indeed...

Ignacio

[Paul Taylor]

That's a sad loss. RIP

[Pedro 917]

Teaming up again......



Godspeed Tony

[Barry Lake]

Can anyone inform us, for the record, a date and place of birth for Tony?

Also correct date and place of death? The first message above suggests 22 August, but sometimes these web dates can be misleading.

[Michael Oliver]

That's very sad.

I interviewed him for my Lotus 72 book and he went out of his way to help me, giving up the best part of an afternoon to sit and talk. He truly was one of the 'old school' and had a wealth of usually hilarious (and some unprintable!) stories to tell.

His death means not just the loss of another piece of BRM history but also Lotus history. He was, of course, part of the design team that came up with the ground effect Lotus 78, as well as working for Lotus Cars during the 1970s as a top executive.

Michael Oliver

[Doug Nye]

Originally posted by Barry Lake
Can anyone inform us, for the record, a date and place of birth for Tony?

Also correct date and place of death? The first message above suggests 22 August, but sometimes these web dates can be misleading.

Barry - Tony Rudd - born March 8th 1923. in Stony Stratford, Buckinghamshire, England - I will verify time and place of death when more appropriate, but when daughter Lesley called me she said "this morning - which would be August 22 - at Hockering, Norfolk.

DCN

[Eric McLoughlin]

Another one of that generation who did so much to put Britain at the top of the motor sport pile is gone.

RIP

[WGD706]

http://www.speedtv.c...ge/11804_tr.jpg
Tony Rudd died, aged 81, after suffering a major heart attack and stroke.
Rudd's first involvement with motorsports came with Princes Chula and Bira and their ERAs during his school holidays. He will be best remembered for his years with British race car manufacturer BRM, where he was the chief engineer and team manager, and turned around the marque's fortunes before masterminding Graham Hill's 1962 Formula 1 World Championship success.
Rudd also gave Jackie Stewart his first three seasons in F1, before the Scot went on to become a triple World Champion. He then moved to Lotus in 1969, where he worked with Colin Chapman, and was directly involved in the development of ground effects that led to the World Championship-winning Lotus 79 chassis of 1978. The classic Esprit road car design was also one of his great successes.
Rudd retired from racing in 1991, but continued to build up business contacts for Lotus Engineering thereafter.

What a combination....Tony Rudd and Colin Chapman. Anyone know how they managed to get along? I can imagine that 2 engineering minds like those must have had some monumental sessions.

[The Runner]

... I always loved the story he told on a video interview about the 1965 Italian GP when he told of how Hill and Stewart raced each other when they had the race in the bag, and how he nearly died when Stewart came across the line before team leader Graham Hill... and afterwards he wasn't talking to either of them for stupidly racing each other, Graham wasn't talking to him because he thought Tony should have told Stewart to stay behind him, and Stewart was sat in the corner wondering what all the fuss was about!!

...he leaves a void filled with wonderful memories for us to reflect upon, God bless Tony...

[bira]

Tony Rudd's family requested to convey this message to you:

Many thanks for the kind comments. We have cried our way through them. Dad died suddenly at the Norfolk and Norwich A & E Department early on Friday morning of a stroke.

Please raise a glass to his memory.

[Doug Nye]

Heroes all...

DCN

[bournenville]

Youre Right Doug...REAL HEROES!!

[Geza Sury]

Originally posted by Dennis Hockenbury
He was perhaps the last engineer to have designed a complete Formula 1 car, engine and chassis.

Mauro Forghieri tried this feat in 1991, but his Modena-Lamborghini was a complete failure.

RIP Mr Rudd, I will start reading "It was fun" soon.

[Barry Lake]

Thanks Doug for the dates and places.

From the detail in "It Was Fun" and the BRM book, Rudd must have kept copious notes on anything and everything. If only there were more like him, so much more history would be saved - and recorded accurately.

And his book demonstrated, too, that facts do not spoil a good story.

[Doug Nye]

Most of the records were preserved in Sir Alfred owen's private archive - Tony's most amazing attribute was his FANTASTIC memory....easily verified, hardly ever found to be at fault. His was indeed a most remarkable mind.

DCN

[NOGIER alain]

:( :cry: Beaucoup de tristesse pour le départ de Tony qui restera dans mes souvenirs un des plus grands et des plus célébres ingénieurs automobiles .
C'était un GRAND MONSIEUR et un homme d'une amitié fidelle
Toutes mes condoléances
Alain

[Ray Bell]

As for many others, my interest in F1 was cultivated and harvested in the emergence of BRM as a real contender in 1962...

It's only with growing knowledge and experience that we come to know that it's really people like Tony Rudd who actually make that happen.

Chapman-like genius brings the odd spectacular success, luck overcomes the best laid plans, but only application to the job at hand and serious development brings the consistency that BRM achieved under Tony Rudd.

Even Tim Parnell couldn't undo all that good running their Tasman teams...

[petefenelon]

Originally posted by Doug Nye
Most of the records were preserved in Sir Alfred owen's private archive - Tony's most amazing attribute was his FANTASTIC memory....easily verified, hardly ever found to be at fault. His was indeed a most remarkable mind.

DCN

I did like Tony's little correction about twisting a stiletto in Vol. 2 ;).... sharp right to the end!

pete

[Doug Nye]

PREcisely! And thank you Alain Nogier - welcome to TNF.

[peebo]

Ive just read through the posts about the sad loss of Tony Rudd. The eyes were misting when I read the post from his family. Then I thought, what a wonderful thing you guys did. It must have meant so much to his family to read the genuine warmth, and sadness at his loss in all your posts. I am really pleased to be a small, very new part of such a grand crowd. My regards to all.

[Dennis Hockenbury]

Originally posted by Dennis Hockenbury
He was perhaps the last engineer to have designed a complete Formula 1 car, engine and chassis.

In the aftermath of Tony Rudd's death last week, I am rereading his excellent book, 'It was fun!' for the third very enjoyable time.

Alas, my previous statement is incorrect in Rudd's own view. On page 238, he states that "I realized that I had missed the chance of ever achieving one of my boyhood ambitions. I would never ever design a World Championship racing car from stem to stern. The 1.5 litre had been my last chance, the new 3 liter cars were going to be so much more complicated it would take three or four designers."

I trust that my fellow TNF'ers will accept my apologies for the error.

IMO, it is relevant to argue that although the concept and initial design of the 1.5 V-8 was the work of Peter Berthon, Rudd contributed the much needed development and redesign of this engine by its final form to have warranted design status at least co-equal to PB. The classic 261 series will always seem to me to be 90% Rudd and 10% Berthon, with an immeasurable contribution from the skilled artisans and craftsmen of BRM.

In this reread of 'It was fun!', I am once again reminded of the true measure of the talent and the person that was Tony Rudd.

I would have sincerely enjoyed knowing him personally. As would we all.

[hhh]

What a pity, I hope he will be remembered as one of F1's truly great engineers and a real gentleman.

[Mike Argetsinger]

There is no doubt in my mind that his place in history is secure. Along with the many others on this forum I mourn his passing and extend my condolences to his family.

All of the tributes to his engineering genius expressed above are appropriate in my view. But he also had a very practical hands on approach to things.

In 1970 I had a Lotus Europa I had purchased new. It was a great car when it ran - but it just had one niggling problem after another. I was living in Germany at the time and finally decided to make a trip to England for the express purpose of leaving it with a reputable shop near London with instructions for them to put everything right. Three weeks later I picked it up and headed for the ferry at Harwich. I hadn't gotten many miles when I realized that most of the annoying problems remained. I soldiered on until Colchester when the gear lever broke off in my hand!

Sitting by the side of the road in a somewhat dispirited state I remembered that Tony had given me his home phone number a few years back. It was Sunday evening and he answered the phone - after apologizing for going to the top with my personal problems I laid out my litany of woes. He was wonderful! Assuring me I had done the right thing in phoning (what a kind man) he instructed me to first find a secure spot to leave the car - find my way to the ferry and get back to my home in Germany - and to leave a detailed list in the car of everything I could think of that needed looking at - he would have it picked up the next morning.

One week later he phoned to say the car was ready for pick up. It was perfect! - and there was no charge of any sort. From that day forward it was a joy to own and drive. He was kind of enough to forestall my many thanks by saying that this was simply the standard he expected Lotus to live up to.

He was already a hero to me - but I will never forget that very personal intervention. Can you imagine anyone else at his level being willing to do something like that?

[fines]

Originally posted by Mike Argetsinger
He was already a hero to me - but I will never forget that very personal intervention. Can you imagine anyone else at his level being willing to do something like that?

Certainly not! Mike, that was one moving story, and a wonderful tribute to the man - thank you!


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