Victor Gauntlett
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Malcolm Victor Gauntlett (20 May 1942 – 31 March 2003) was an English
petrochemical Petrochemicals (sometimes abbreviated as petchems) are the chemical products obtained from petroleum by refining. Some chemical compounds made from petroleum are also obtained from other fossil fuels, such as coal or natural gas, or renewable s ...
entrepreneur and car enthusiast, best known for forming the largest independent petrol retail business in the United Kingdom, and for reviving
Aston Martin Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC () is a British manufacturer of Luxury car, luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Headed from 1947 by David Brown (entrepreneur ...
.


Biography

Malcolm Victor Gauntlett was born in
Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...
. After attending
St Marylebone Grammar School St Marylebone Grammar School (SMGS) was a grammar school located in the London borough of the City of Westminster. It was open from 1792 to 1981. History Philological School Founded as the Philological Society by Thomas Collingwood, under the ...
and a short period in the Territorial Army, he took a short service commission as an
officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...
in the RAF, where he trained as a
pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...
. After leaving he was commissioned into the Kent and County of London Yeomanry. Among those who worked for him, Gauntlett was known as "MVG". An ebullient and well-dressed character who always wore a gold chained
pocket watch A pocket watch is a watch that is made to be carried in a pocket, as opposed to a wristwatch, which is strapped to the wrist. They were the most common type of watch from their development in the 16th century until wristwatches became popula ...
, he was regarded as an inspirational leader, who worked extremely hard yet also had a great capacity for enjoying life. A
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of the
City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...
, in 2002 he was appointed master of the Worshipful Company of Coachmakers and Coach Harness Makers. As a result of his death halfway through his year as Master of the Worshipful Company, they agreed to set up an annual scholarship in his name.


Petroleum

After leaving the air force, Gauntlett joined
British Petroleum BP p.l.c. (formerly The British Petroleum Company p.l.c. and BP Amoco p.l.c.; stylised in all lowercase) is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. It is one of the oil and gas " supermajors" and one of ...
in 1963, moving in 1967 to Compagnie Francaise des Petroles, the parent company of
Total S.A. TotalEnergies SE is a French multinational integrated energy and petroleum company founded in 1924 and is one of the seven supermajor oil companies. Its businesses cover the entire oil and gas chain, from crude oil and natural gas explorat ...
, in France and then London. In 1972, he founded independent oil company Hays Petroleum Services, which traded as Pace Petroleum. While the product came from the major producers, shrewd buying and efficient distribution made a healthy business. By 1980 Gauntlett had created one of Britain's biggest independent petrol suppliers, delivering to more than 450 garages. In 1983 he sold a share in Hays/Pace to the
Kuwait Investment Authority The Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) is the State owned sovereign wealth fund of the State of Kuwait, managing the state's reserve and the state's future generation fund, also known as "Ajyal Fund". Founded in 1953, the KIA is the world's old ...
, which bought the whole company from Gauntlett in 1986. After selling a 75% stake in Aston Martin to Ford in 1987 (but remaining as shareholder and chairman until 1992), Gauntlett founded Proteus Petroleum, which in 1995 was voted UK Oil Company of the Year. In 1998 he sold the business to
Texaco Texaco, Inc. ("The Texas Company") is an American Petroleum, oil brand owned and operated by Chevron Corporation. Its flagship product is its Gasoline, fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owned the Havoline motor oil brand. Texaco was an Independ ...
, but remained chairman until 2000.


Automotive interests

Gauntlett loved classic cars, especially
Bentley Bentley Motors Limited is a British designer, manufacturer and marketer of Luxury vehicle, luxury cars and Sport utility vehicle, SUVs. Headquartered in Crewe, England, the company was founded by W. O. Bentley (1888–1971) in 1919 in Crickle ...
s and Aston Martins. He enjoyed racing Bentleys in club events, and owned a 4.5-litre "blower" Bentley which before
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
Tim Birkin had lapped
Brooklands Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England, United Kingdom. It opened in 1907 and was the world's first purpose-built 'banked' motor racing circuit as well as one of Britain's first airfields, ...
at 104 mph (167 km/h). Through Pace Petroleum, Gauntlett sponsored motor racing events, initially local to Farnham but expanding to a Great Britain scale, including Formula Ford 2000, RAC Hill Climb and Rally Championships. In 1980 Morgan racer Norman Stechman introduced Gauntlett to Peter Morgan, resulting in "Pace Petroleum Team Morgan" featuring Stechman in Prodsports and Rob Wells in Modsports for the 1981 season. Pace was
Nigel Mansell Nigel Ernest James Mansell (; born 8 August 1953) is a British former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Mansell won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in with Williams, and won 31 Grands Prix across 15 seasons ...
's personal sponsor in his first two years of
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 ...
. After selling Aston Martin, Gauntlett returned to the classic scene and became a trustee of the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu. Through this association he saved the Napier Railton for the country, topping up the UK National Lottery funding with the British Racing Drivers' Club and comedian
Rowan Atkinson Rowan Sebastian Atkinson (born 6 January 1955) is an English actor, comedian and writer. He played the title roles in the sitcoms ''Blackadder'' (1983–1989) and '' Mr. Bean'' (1990–1995), and in the film series '' Johnny English'' (2003– ...
to keep the car at its home at
Brooklands Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England, United Kingdom. It opened in 1907 and was the world's first purpose-built 'banked' motor racing circuit as well as one of Britain's first airfields, ...
. In 1999, Gauntlett and
Prince Michael of Kent Prince Michael of Kent (Michael George Charles Franklin; born 4 July 1942) is a member of the British royal family who is 53rd in line to the British throne as of 2025. The younger son of Prince George, Duke of Kent, and Princess Marina of Gr ...
took a blower 4.5 Bentley from London to Moscow. He was an active supporter of the
Le Mans Le Mans (; ) is a Communes of France, city in Northwestern France on the Sarthe (river), Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the Provinces of France, province of Maine (province), Maine, it is now the capital of ...
classic parades in the eighties until they banned him for driving too fast. As a consultant to a series of London banks, in 2002 Gauntlett was appointed chairman of Automotive Technik, manufacturers of the Pinzgauer military all-terrain vehicle.


Aston Martin

As worldwide sales of
Aston Martin Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC () is a British manufacturer of Luxury car, luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Headed from 1947 by David Brown (entrepreneur ...
reduced to 150 per year, chairman Alan Curtis together with fellow shareholders American Peter Sprague and Canadian George Minden, had almost chosen to shut down the production side of the business and concentrate on service and restoration. Curtis attended the 1980 Pace sponsored
Stirling Moss Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss (17 September 1929 – 12 April 2020) was a British racing driver and sports broadcasting, broadcaster, who competed in Formula One from to . Widely regarded as one of the greatest drivers to never win the Formula On ...
benefit day at
Brands Hatch Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently hosts ...
, and met fellow
Farnham Farnham is a market town and civil parish in Surrey, England, around southwest of London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, close to the county border with Hampshire. The town is on the north branch of the River Wey, a tributary of the ...
resident Gauntlett. Gauntlett bought a 10% stake in
Aston Martin Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC () is a British manufacturer of Luxury car, luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Headed from 1947 by David Brown (entrepreneur ...
for £500,000 via Pace Petroleum in 1980, with Tim Hearley of CH Industrials taking a similar share. Pace and CHI took over as joint 50/50 owners at the beginning of 1981, with Gauntlett as executive chairman. Gauntlett also led the sales team, and after some development and a lot of publicity when it became the world's fastest 4-seater production car, was able to sell the
Aston Martin Lagonda The Aston Martin Lagonda is a full-size luxury four-door Sedan (automobile), saloon manufactured by British manufacturer Aston Martin between 1974 and 1990. A total of 645 were produced. The name was derived from the Lagonda marque that Aston ...
in
Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...
states, particularly
Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...
,
Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...
and
Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...
. Understanding it would take some time to develop new Aston Martin products, they bought Tickford to develop automotive products for other companies. Products included a Tickford Austin Metro, a Tickford Ford Capri and even Tickford train interiors, particularly on the
Jaguar XJS The Jaguar XJ-S (later called XJS) is a luxury car, luxury grand tourer manufactured and marketed by British car manufacturer Jaguar Cars from 1975 to 1996, in coupé, convertible#variations, fixed-profile and full convertible bodystyles. Ther ...
. Pace continued sponsoring racing events, and now sponsored all Aston Martin Owners Club events, taking a Tickford engined Nimrod Group C car owned by AMOC President Viscount Downe, which came third in the Manufacturers Championship in both 1982 and 1983. It also finished seventh in the 1982 24 Hours of Le Mans race. However, sales of production cars were now at an all-time low of 30 cars produced in 1982. As trading became tighter in the petroleum market, and Aston requiring more time and money, Gauntlett agreed to sell Hays/Pace to Kuwait Investment Office in September 1983. As Aston Martin required greater investment, he also agreed to sell his share holding to American importer and
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shipping tycoon Peter Livanos, who invested via his joint venture company with
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and John Papanicolaou, ALL Inc. Gauntlett remained chairman of the AML company 55% owned by ALL, with Tickford a 50/50 venture between ALL and CHI. The uneasy relationship was ended when ALL exercised options to buy a larger share in AML; CHI's residual shares were exchanged for CHI's complete ownership of Tickford, which retained development of existing Aston Martin projects. In 1984, Titan the main shipping company of the Papanicolaou's was in trouble, so Livanos's father George bought out the Papanicolaou's shares in ALL, while Gauntlett again became a shareholder with a 25% holding in AML. The deal valued Aston Martin/AML at £2 million, the year it built its 10,000th car. Although as a result Aston Martin had to make 60 members of the workforce redundant, Gauntlett bought a stake in Italian styling house
Zagato Zagato is a Coachbuilder, coachbuilding company founded by Ugo Zagato in 1919. The design center of the company is located in Terrazzano, a village near Rho, Lombardy, Italy. History The 1910s: Aeronautics Ugo Zagato was an Italians, Italian ...
, and resurrected its collaboration with Aston Martin. A revived economy and successful sales of limited edition Vantage, and 52 Volante Zagato coupes at £86,000 each, brought in enough funds to complete the
Aston Martin Virage The Aston Martin Virage is an automobile produced by British luxury automobile manufacturer Aston Martin as a replacement for its V8 models. Introduced at the Birmingham Motor Show in 1988, it was joined by the high-performance Vantage in 199 ...
, the first new Aston launched in 20 years in 1988. In 1986, Gauntlett negotiated the return of fictional British secret agent
James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...
to Aston Martin. Cubby Broccoli had chosen to recast the character using actor
Timothy Dalton Timothy Leonard Dalton Leggett (; born 21 March 1946) is a British actor. He gained international prominence as the fourth actor to portray fictional secret agent James Bond in the Eon Productions film series, starring in '' The Living Dayli ...
, in an attempt to re-root the Bond-brand back to a more
Sean Connery Sir Thomas Sean Connery (25 August 1930 – 31 October 2020) was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to Portrayal of James Bond in film, portray the fictional British secret agent James Bond (literary character), James Bond in motion pic ...
-like feel. Gauntlett supplied his personal pre-production Vantage for use in the filming of " The Living Daylights," and sold a Volante to Broccoli for use at his home in America. Gauntlett turned down the role of a
KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...
colonel in the film: "I would have loved to have done it but really could not afford the time." Although the company was doing well, Gauntlett knew it needed extra funds to survive long term. In May 1987, Gauntlett and
Prince Michael of Kent Prince Michael of Kent (Michael George Charles Franklin; born 4 July 1942) is a member of the British royal family who is 53rd in line to the British throne as of 2025. The younger son of Prince George, Duke of Kent, and Princess Marina of Gr ...
were staying at the home of Contessa Maggi, the wife of the founder of the original
Mille Miglia The Mille Miglia (, ''Thousand Miles'') was an open-road, motorsport Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race established in 1927 by the young Counts :it:Franco Mazzotti, Francesco Mazzotti and Aymo Maggi. It took place in Italy 24 times f ...
, while watching the revival event. Another house guest was
Walter Hayes Walter Leopold Arthur Hayes (12 April 1924 – 26 December 2000) was an English journalist, and later public relations executive for Ford Motor Company, Ford. Hayes was key in developing Ford's Formula One program, by signing Jackie Stewart a ...
, vice-president of
Ford of Europe Ford of Europe GmbH is a subsidiary company of Ford Motor Company founded in 1967 in Cork (city), Cork, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, with headquarters in Cologne, Germany. History Ford of Europe was founded in 1967 by the merger of Ford of Bri ...
. Despite problems over the previous acquisition of
AC Cars AC Cars, originally incorporated as Auto Carriers Ltd., is a British specialist automobile manufacturer and one of the oldest independent car makers founded in Britain. As a result of bad financial conditions over the years, the company was re ...
, Hayes saw the potential of the brand and the discussion resulted in Ford taking a share holding in September 1987. Although Gauntlett was contractually to stay as chairman for two years, his racing interests took Aston back into sports car racing in 1989 with limited European success. However, with engine rule changes for the 1990 season and the launch of the new Aston Martin Volante model, Ford provided the limited supply of
Cosworth Cosworth is a British automotive engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in high-performance internal combustion engines, powertrain, and electronics for auto racing, automobile racing (motorsport) and mainstream Automotiv ...
engines to the
Jaguar Cars Jaguar (, ) is the sports car and luxury vehicle brand of Jaguar Land Rover, a British multinational corporation, multinational automaker, car manufacturer with its headquarters in Whitley, Coventry, England. Jaguar Cars was the company that ...
racing team. As the "small Aston"/DB7 would require a large engineering input, Ford agreed to take full control of Aston Martin, and Gauntlett handed the company chairmanship to Hayes in 1991.


Aviation

A qualified pilot from his time in the RAF, Gauntlett owned a number of aircraft through his life, including
De Havilland The de Havilland Aircraft Company Limited (pronounced , ) was a British aviation manufacturer established in late 1920 by Geoffrey de Havilland at Stag Lane Aerodrome Edgware on the outskirts of North London. Operations were later moved to ...
aircraft a Dragon Rapide, Tiger Moth, Leopard Moth, Fox Moth, a
Dove Columbidae is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with small heads, relatively short necks and slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. ...
, Chipmunk; a North American Harvard, a Douglas Dakota C-47; and a Mk1a Spitfire; he had also sponsored aerobatic teams through his Petroleum Companies. He was known to attend historic aircraft auctions and indeed purchased a
General Aircraft Cygnet The General Aircraft GAL.42 Cygnet II was a 1930s British single-engined training or touring aircraft built by General Aircraft Ltd, General Aircraft Limited at London Air Park, London Air Park, Hanworth. History The Cygnet was designed at Slou ...
from the former Strathallan Collection and donated it to the National Museum of Flight at
East Fortune East Fortune is a village in East Lothian, Scotland, located 2 miles (3 km) north west of East Linton. The area is known for its airfield which was constructed in 1915 to help protect Britain from attack by German Zeppelin airships during t ...
when the Museum dropped out of the bidding due to budget constraints. Gauntlett was a long-standing council member of The Air League, which promotes all aspects of British aviation, and had been due to assume the league's chairmanship in June 2003. He was a trustee of the
RAF Museum The Royal Air Force Museum is a museum dedicated to the Royal Air Force in the United Kingdom. The museum is a non-departmental public body and is a registered charity. It has two public sites, Royal Air Force Museum London and Royal Air Fo ...
and the Maritime Air Trust and a retired trustee of the Museum of Army Flying at Middle Wallop. He was appointed Honorary Air Commodore of No 4624 Squadron of the
Royal Auxiliary Air Force The Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF), formerly the Auxiliary Air Force (AAF), together with the Air Force Reserve, is a component of His Majesty's Reserve Air Forces ( Reserve Forces Act 1996, Part 1, Para 1,(2),(c)). It provides a primary re ...
, based at RAF Brize Norton.


Personal life

Gauntlett married his wife Jean in 1966, and the couple had a daughter and three sons.


Death

Victor Gauntlett died on 31 March 2003 and is buried in the churchyard at St Michael's Church, Yanworth, Gloucestershire, UK.


Quotations

*"I'm half overgrown schoolboy, half hard-nosed businessman" – Gauntlett on himself *"I wouldn't be going into it unless I thought there was money to be made. I am quite convinced there is a niche for a high-quality product. There will always be the people who want the super-duper" – on taking over Aston Martin *"I feel I am more akin to the high-class jewellery business or a famous art gallery than anything else" – commenting on his role in making cars *Asked: "How can you make a small fortune out of Aston Martin?" Gauntlett replied "Start with a big one." *On the importance of being decisive, his self-deprecating motto was " Often wrong, never in doubt!"


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gauntlett, Victor 1942 births 2003 deaths Aston Martin people British Yeomanry officers Chief executives in the automobile industry Honorary air commodores People educated at St Marylebone Grammar School Businesspeople from Surrey Royal Air Force officers 20th-century English businesspeople