Driving Legend and Oldest Ever Contestant Enters Economy Run

By Tom Mack

Norman Dewis, OBE, chief test driver and development engineer for Jaguar Cars from 1952 to 1985, becomes the oldest ever contestant tomorrow when he starts in this year’s MPG Marathon – at the tender age of 95!

Dewis, born in 1920, enters the contest, rated as the UK’s most prestigious lean-driving challenge, in a rear wheel drive, 2.0 litre 163 horsepower Jaguar XE alongside Jaguar Heritage communications officer, Tony O’Keeffe.

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Over the years, Dewis played a major role in the development of some of the luxury automaker’s most iconic models, including the E-Type, XJ6, XJ-S and many more. He was behind the wheel of a Jaguar XK120 in October 1953 when it reached 172.412 mph (278.273 km/h) at Jabbeke, Belgium, a record for production cars.

Awarded the OBE for services to the motor industry in Britain’s 2015 New Year’s Honours List, Dewis is still attending events related to Jaguar and giving talks about his work for the company.

Astonishingly, his entry follows hard on the heels of the event’s two youngest ever entrants, Eloise Peabody-Rolf and Rory Carmichael, both 17. They’re members of The Under 17 Car Club, a national road safety charity which teaches young people to drive to a high standard before they are allowed out on a public highway, and have been driving since the age of 11.

In this year’s Marathon, taking place tomorrow and Wednesday, over a 300-mile (484 km) route across the southern English countryside, they will compete against Dewis’s Jaguar in a 1.6-litre Honda Civic.

Event organizer Jerry Ramsdale, commented: “We are delighted Norman Dewis has entered this year’s MPG Marathon as our oldest ever entrant. It will be great to see how such a driving legend, famed for his high speed driving exploits, copes with the demands of driving as frugally and as economically as possible in one today’s most modern cars.

“And his entry, just days after our two youngest-ever entrants, shows the really broad appeal that the event has. It promises to be a fascinating challenge.”

Car makers entering this year’s 15th running of the Marathon include BMW, Caterham, Ford, Peugeot, Renault, Citroen, Honda, Mazda, Kia and Jaguar.

Electric and hybrid vehicle classes will again be included, joining the more familiar diesel and petrol-engined cars and vans that traditionally take part in the event.

There are eight main classes of passenger cars, restricted to a maximum carbon ceiling of 190g/km, including hybrid, range-extender and fully electric vehicles, plus five main classes of vans up to 3,500 kg gross vehicle weight.