George Abecassis

Born: 21st March 1913, Walton-on-Thames, England.

After setting up a garage business in his home town of Walton-on-Thames in the early 1930s, Portuguese-descended George Abecassis began racing in 1935 with an Austin Seven. Three years later he graduated to an Alta single seater, but a crash at Albi followed by the outbreak of war curtailed his racing activities.

In 1946 Abecassis was soon back on the circuits with his repaired Alta, and he later joined forces both in business and racing with John Heath, founding the HW Motors garage business and racing team. Abecassis competed variously in the Alta, a Bugatti Type 59 and an ERA, but he also finished second to Piero Taruffi in the Rome Grand Prix in a rear-engined Cisitalia.

In 1948 he finished second in the Jersey Road Race in a Maserati and crashed his Alta out of the Swiss Grand Prix, a race marred by three fatalities, while the following year he took seventh at Silverstone in the British Grand Prix in the Alta and retired the same car from the French Grand Prix.

Alta engines were used when Heath and Abecassis produced their own HWM chassis, the team racing both at home and on the continent on a small budget. The cars often performed miracles against the quicker French and Italian cars, with such luminaries as Lance Macklin and even Stirling Moss handling the HWMs. During this time Abecassis concentrated mainly on sports cars, finishing fifth with Macklin at Le Mans in 1950. His only World Championship appearances came at the Swiss Grands Prix of 1951 and 1952, George’s HWM retiring from both.

Abecassis then joined the Aston Martin sports car team, taking a best result of second with Reg Parnell at the 1953 Sebring 12 Hours. After that, the HWM team concentrated on their own sports cars, now with Jaguar engines, but after Heath’s death in the 1956 Mille Miglia Abecassis wound down his driving activities and concentrated on his garage business, which he still runs today.