The 12/50 of CM Harvey that won the 1923 Junior Car Club’s 200 Mile race at Brooklands with an average speed of 93.29mph. It beat off the challenge of the Fiats that proved unreliable.


was educated at the Royal Naval College and the Royal College of Science. He was a Whitworth Exhibitor, Member of the Corps of Naval Constructors and acquired qualifications in motor and aviation engineering and cost accounting. John was appointed Assistant Constructor at the Devonport naval dockyard and was then placed in charge of Research and Development at Vickers, the world’s largest builder of naval vessels in 1907.


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Photos: Brooklands Museum Collection


TG John was the force behind Alvis and its cars that competed at Brooklands. Ken Day charts the company’s successes and otherwise at the track.


homas George John was born in 1880, the son of a shipwright in the naval dockyard at Pembroke, and


In 1910, following the growth of the German airship fleet, the government ordered Vickers to build one at its Cumbria base. John was appointed Shipyard Manager at Barrow in Furness and was the youngest man to hold this position. The airship Mayfly was completed in 1911 but damaged in a handling accident on only its second outing. Winston Churchill became First Lord of the Admiralty and, expecting a major battle in the North Sea, the 300ft long K-class submarines were introduced driven by steam-turbine engines on the surface and electric motors when submerged. Vickers


TG John worked for Vickers’ naval division on submarines before setting up his own car maker in 1919. The company changed its name to Alvis in 1921 and John remained in charge until 1944.


diesel engines charged batteries. Due to this submarine’s design and poor record for reliability, TG John was ordered to redesign four without steam engines as the M-class,


JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2020 | BROOKLANDS BULLETIN 27


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