Cameron Charles Earl (8 May 1923 – 18 June 1952) was a British automotive engineer.

Early life

Earl was born in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

in 1923.

German research

Earl was sent to Germany after the Second World War by the British Intelligence Objectives Sub-Committee to study the development of 1930s

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

racing cars, and wrote an influential report about them. This report aided British engine designers by presenting them with secrets of German design, based on Earl's interviews with designers at

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquarter ...

and

Auto Union Auto Union AG, was an amalgamation of four German automobile manufacturers, founded in 1932 and established in 1936 in Chemnitz, Saxony. It is the immediate predecessor of Audi as it is known today. As well as acting as an umbrella firm ...

in April and May 1947, and blueprints he obtained.Ludvigsen, Karl "BRM V16: How Britain's auto makers built a Grand Prix car to beat the world ," Veloce, 2007, pages 6,7, and 10. . Retrieved April 1, 2011.

Death

Earl was a technical consultant for the

English Racing Automobiles English Racing Automobiles (ERA) was a British racing car manufacturer active from 1933 to 1954. Prewar history ERA was founded by Humphrey Cook, Raymond Mays, and Peter Berthon in November 1933 and established in Bourne, Lincolnshire, next ...

team, when, on 18 June 1952 during a test drive of racing car R14B at the Motor Industry Research Association's (MIRA) test track in Nuneaton,

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

, his car overturned. Earl, aged 29, died in hospital from a fractured skull.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Earl, Cameron British automotive engineers 1923 births 1952 deaths People from Kingston upon Hull Engineers from Yorkshire