Today, HWM is known as the world’s oldest Aston Martin dealership based in Walton-on-Thames. The company roots go back to 1938 when Hersham and Walton Motors was run by partners John Heath and George Abecassis.
In this podcast, Garry Taylor together with Guy Jenner, the CEO, explore those early years and its successful progression in motor car racing whether in formula 1, formula 2 and sports cars. Despite being run on a shoestring HWM attracted such names as Stirling Moss, Peter Collins, Paul Frere, Lance Macklin and many others.
John Heath was also an accomplished racer but we hear how he sadly lost his life in the 1956 Mille Miglia road race around Italy. This was pretty much the end of HWM with racing cars, so we learn how George moved the company into manufacturing of road cars, which, sadly, wasn’t particularly successful.
We hear how HWM became involved with Aston Martin as dealership attracting a then young Mike Harting to ultimately lead the company. Guy recalls how Mike bought the last remaining Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato’s from Aston Martin as they were not selling! With Mikes gift for salesmanship and an Autocar advert they soon found new owners.
With HWM now being one of the leaders in special Aston Martin models including the core cars, these original Walton-on-Thames premises have a story to be told. Including how HWM was thought to be Harry Webb Motors… all explained in the podcast.
Host:
Garry Taylor
https://www.linkedin.com/in/garry-taylor/
Guest:
Guy Jenner
https://www.linkedin.com/in/guyjenner/
https://www.hwmastonmartin.co.uk/
The cars, the people and the stories. The best guests on the AMHT podcasts.
