1. Anthony Cyril Rudd was a British engineer involved in aero engine design and motor racing, with particular associations with BRM and Lotus.
17 Facts About Tony Rudd
1. 2.
Tony Rudd became involved with motor racing in the 1930s when he became an informal assistant to Prince Chula and Prince Bira's White Mouse Racing team.
3.
Tony Rudd became an expert in diagnosing failures in Merlin engines, but his main interest remained cars.
4.
Tony Rudd resumed his engineering apprenticeship after the War and built an Aston Martin-based 'special'.
5.
The much-delayed BRM V16 engine was fitted with Rolls-Royce superchargers and Tony Rudd was seconded to BRM in 1951 to assist with their development.
6.
Tony Rudd never returned to Rolls-Royce, becoming part of the BRM team for almost two decades.
7.
Tony Rudd was involved in the development of the V16 and four-cylinder P25 cars and started to assume more prominence after the Rubery-Owen takeover of the team.
8.
Peter Berthon and Raymond Mays were eventually sidelined after the drivers threatened to strike and Tony Rudd assumed full technical control of the team in 1960.
9.
Tony Rudd put in place proper engineering procedures within the team.
10.
Tony Rudd drove a monocoque Killeen car at Folkingham and increased his interest in vehicle rigidity.
11.
Tony Rudd's achievements included the development of Lotus' own four-cylinder engine as well as improving production quality of their cars.
12.
Tony Rudd developed Lotus as an engineering consultancy working on high-technology projects for the rest of the automotive industry, creating another profit centre within the business.
13.
Team Lotus were struggling in the mid-1970s and Tony Rudd led the research effort that produced ground effect Lotus 78, which brought the team back to the forefront of Grand Prix success.
14.
Tony Rudd went back to the road-car side of the company to research active suspension, turbocharging, and lead consultancy work for other manufacturers.
15.
Tony Rudd returned to racing for a year in 1989 until the team was sold on, then retired to become a freelance consulting engineer.
16.
In retirement, Tony Rudd remained active in the Society of Automotive Engineers, wrote a widely acclaimed autobiography It Was Fun: My Fifty Years of High Performance and collaborated with Doug Nye on a multi-volume history of BRM.
17.
Tony Rudd was married to Pamela and had three daughters.