Harry Mundy (1915–1988) was a British

car engine An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal co ...

designer and

motoring Motoring may refer to: * ''Motoring'' (film), a 1927 British comedy film * Motoring (TV series), a Canadian automotive television program (1988 to present) * 310 Motoring, an automotive customization garage based in Los Angeles, California * Mot ...

magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

Education and career

He was educated at King Henry VIII School in

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

and went on to serve his apprenticeship with

Alvis Alvis is a given name and a surname (close to the uncommon Scottish surname Alves). Alvis may also refer to: *Alvi, a Muslim community in South Asia, who claims descent from the fourth Rashidun caliph, Ali ibn Abi Talib *Alvis Car and Engineering ...

. He left them in 1936 to join

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 t ...

(ERA) in

Bourne, Lincolnshire Bourne is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the South Kesteven Non-metropolitan district, district of Lincolnshire, England. It lies on the eastern slopes of the limestone Kesteven Uplands and the western edge of the ...

as a draughtsman. Also at ERA was

Walter Hassan Walter Thomas Frederick Hassan OBE, Chartered Engineer (UK), C.Eng., Institution of Mechanical Engineers, M.I. Mech.E. (25 April 1905 – 12 July 1996) was a distinguished UK automotive engineer who took part in the design and development of three ...

who became a lifelong friend; the two would work together later at

Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large felidae, cat species and the only extant taxon, living member of the genus ''Panthera'' that is native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the biggest cat spe ...

on engine development. He left ERA in 1939 and returned to Coventry to work at the Morris Engines factory. After World War II he moved to

British Racing Motors British Racing Motors (BRM) was a British Formula One motor racing team. Founded in 1945 and based in the market town of Bourne, Lincolnshire, Bourne in Lincolnshire, it participated from 1951 to 1977, competing in 197 Grand Prix motor raci ...

(BRM) in 1946 as head of the design office, being involved in the design of the BRM V16

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

engine, before moving on again in 1950 to

Coventry Climax Coventry Climax was a British manufacturer of forklift trucks, fire pumps, racing engines, and other speciality engines. History Pre WWI The company was started in 1903 as Lee Stroyer, a joint venture by Jens Stroyer and Pelham Lee. In 1 ...

engines as chief designer working on the FWA engine. His career then took a change in direction and he moved into journalism becoming Technical Editor of '' The Autocar'' magazine in 1955 but while there he also worked on the design of the Ford based twin-cam engine for Lotus. However, following Jaguar's purchase of Coventry Climax in 1963, Hassan persuaded Mundy to return to engineering where, with

William Heynes William 'Bill' Munger Heynes CBE (31 December 1903 – July 1989), born in Leamington Spa, was an English people, English automotive engineer. Heynes was educated at Warwick School from 1914 to 1921 before joining the Humber Limited, Humber Car ...

, they developed the

Jaguar V12 engine An evolution of the 1964 DOHC prototype “XJ13” engine, the Jaguar V12 engine is a family of SOHC internal combustion engine, internal combustion V12 engines with a common Engine block, block design, that were mass-produced by Jaguar Cars for ...

. Harry Mundy stayed with Jaguar until his retirement in 1980, after which he still did some consultancy work.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mundy, Harry 1915 births 1988 deaths British automotive engineers People educated at King Henry VIII School, Coventry Formula One engine engineers