365:, who showed him an engine called the LB6 which he had been working on for the company. It was a modern twin-cam 6-cylinder engine of 2,580 cc. Brown saw the engine as ideal for his new generation of Aston Martin models. Aware that Armstrong Siddeley, Jaguar and Rootes were also interested in the company and the liquidator was seeking offers of ÂŁ250,000, Brown still decided to submit an offer, though he knew it would be the lowest. Because of the tight economic conditions and the rationing of steel, the other bidders dropped out. While the liquidator was able to sell the factory buildings to another company, to Brown's surprise he was able to obtain for ÂŁ52,500 the rest of the company as well as the rights to the new engine.
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235:, Brown decided to design and build his own car. Working in his bedroom each night until 2:00 am, he designed a 1.5-litre twin-cam, straight-eight engine. Then using the firm's foundry, he made patterns and cast the cylinder block, while using the machine shop to produce the other components. His father put a stop to the work when he caught his son working on the project in company time. Undaunted, Brown constructed a chassis, fitting it with a Sage 2-litre engine, coupled to a
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340:
While he felt it had good road handling he considered that its 2.0 litre four cylinder pushrod engine lacked power. However, seeing its potential, he entered into negotiations which ended in
February 1947 with his acquiring the company for ÂŁ20,500. Following the purchase, work began on converting the
265:
where unemployment was severe. The new foundry used a new technique of steel casting and was a rapid success. As well as meeting his group's own needs the foundry made precision castings for a wide range of industries and use in aircraft airframes, aero engines, electricity power stations, oilfields
208:
Brown's father offered to buy him a motorcycle to help him get to work on time, so relying on his father's ignorance of motor vehicles, instead of a small docile motorcycle, Brown after considering a Harley
Davidson obtained a powerful Reading Standard 1,000 cc V-twin. He subsequently improved its
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in a corner of Park Gear Works; however, they disagreed over design details, which led David Brown to design his own version, the David Brown VAK1, which was introduced to the market in 1939, with over 7,700 units eventually sold. Harry
Ferguson went to America and did a deal with
361:, that Lagonda was in financial trouble and was for sale. While he initially took no interest in the company, when a liquidator was later appointed to sell off the company's assets, Brown, sensing an opportunity, visited the company. There he met with the famed engine designer
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performance by modifying the engine and raced it in weekend hill climb competitions at Axe Edge Moor in
Derbyshire and at Sutton Bank in Yorkshire. After achieving the fastest time of the day at Axe Edge Moor he was invited to be a reserve rider for the official
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In 1926, against the wishes of Brown's parents, who refused to attend the wedding, Brown married Daisy Muriel Firth, who he had known since he was 14. They had two children, David and Angela, both of whom entered the family business. Angela married
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In 1929 he was made a director and after his uncle Percy's death in 1931 was appointed joint managing director in 1932. In 1933 he became managing director. Under Brown's leadership, the company significantly expanded its operations.
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saw a massive increase in the production of gears and gearboxes by David Brown Ltd for use in military equipment. The rising income from the company's traditional products and the manufacture of tractors made Brown a wealthy man.
522:, the racing driver. Following his divorce from Daisy, Brown married his secretary, Marjorie Deans, in 1955. This marriage also ended in divorce and he subsequently married his personal assistant, Paula Benton Stone, in 1980.
508:. Brown was a qualified pilot, had his personal De Havilland Dove, which was normally flown by his personal pilot, and he also established his own airfield at Crosland Moor, to the south-west of Huddersfield.
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Atom into a production car. While the prototype was a saloon, Brown preferred convertibles so the chassis was redesigned to accommodate an open top. Eventually it entered production as the
468:. The rest of the company remained publicly quoted as a subsidiary of the David Brown Corporation. Bitter about the nationalisation, Brown left Britain to live in retirement in
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In
January 1990, Brown sold his shares in the David Brown Corporation for ÂŁ46 million, but retained a link with the company in his role as its honorary president.
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By this time Brown was romantically involved with Daisy Muriel Firth, three years his senior. In an attempt to break up the relationship, his father sent Brown to the
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During his life he was a member of the board of governors of the
Huddersfield Royal Infirmary, the council of Huddersfield Chamber of Commerce and Lloyd's.
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Sent to the United States, Africa and Europe in 1928 to study business methods and factory conditions he returned and started a bronze and steel foundry in
170:, to Caroline and Frank Brown in 1904. Park Cottage was demolished in the Second World War to make way for a new factory, on their 17-acre Park Works site.
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In
February 1972, with the David Brown Corporation in financial difficulties, the other members of the board forced Brown to sell the tractor division to
432:
The new owner of Aston Martin
Lagonda dropped the DB model designation, which in 1993 was restored during Ford ownership with the introduction of the
440:, chairman of Aston Martin Lagonda, invited Brown to become the Honorary Life President of Aston Martin Lagonda, a position which Brown accepted.
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in the summer and during the winter he spent most weekends hunting; he was joint Master of the South Oxford hounds. He also bred hunters and
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offering for sale a "High Class Motor
Business". The asking price was ÂŁ30,000. On inquiring further Brown discovered that the company was
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gear box. He called the result the “Daybro”. David Brown & Sons' gear-grinding skills brought him early contacts with
Bertelli of
119:(10 May 1904 – 3 September 1993) was an English industrialist, managing director of his grandfather's gear and machine tool business
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333:. A few days later Brown visited the company's headquarters at Feltham and test drove their new prototype design, the
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As his grounding continued in various parts of their works he progressed to foreman and then assistant works manager.
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228:. When the director's drinking affected his ability to do the work, Brown took over responsibility for the project.
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in 1922 to assist a director of the company in overseeing the installation of the company's gears in gold mines near
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As Lagonda had to vacate its premises, Brown stored his new assets in some rented hangars at the London Air Park in
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After leaving school, Brown started work aged 17 in 1921 as if just another apprentice in his family's business,
452:, at which Sir David Brown became chairman. The company merged with John I. Thornycroft & Company to create
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for three consecutive years. It was said to be capable of more than 140 mph on the sand.
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In 1939, David Brown & Sons acquired the old United thread mills factory on a site at
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In 1963, the David Brown Corporation purchased a controlling interest in
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for his superchargers. With the consent of Villiers, Brown modified a
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791:(Hardback). Appleby-in-Westmorland: Trans-Pennine Publishing Ltd.
746:(Hardback). Mulgrave, Victoria, Australia: The Images Publishing.
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In 1947, Brown heard through Tony Scratchard, the distributor of
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The legendary 'DB' series of Aston Martin cars, including the
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in 1966. The warship building division of the company was
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Series I, as personal transport as it was cheaper to run.
529:. Eight years later, David Brown Limited was acquired by
650:"70 years of Aston Martin DBs: David Brown and his cars"
863:
1342:People educated at King James's School, Almondbury
514:He was knighted in 1968 for services to industry.
213:motorcycle team to complete at the upcoming next
205:car but he did not learn to drive until aged 11.
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994:
564:, Tuesday, 7 September 1993; pg. 19; Issue 64742
429:. and Aston Martin Lagonda to a separate buyer.
379:In late 1955, Brown acquired the coachbuilder
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215:International Isle of Man TT (Tourist Trophy)
19:For other businessmen named David Brown, see
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717:"UK: Double act does it for David Brown"
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199:David Brown & Sons (Huddersfield)
127:, and once the owner of shipbuilders
744:Aston Martin: Power, Beauty and Soul
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1392:20th-century English businesspeople
488:In his personal life, Brown played
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162:Brown was born in Park Cottage in
151:1914 DBS (David Brown & Sons)
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1347:People educated at Rossall School
765:(Hardback). London: Aurum Press.
295:to incorporate his system in the
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16:English entrepreneur, born 1904
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1377:Sports car racing team owners
1352:Businesspeople from Yorkshire
735:
142:
789:David Brown Tractors 1936–64
715:Levi, Jim (31 August 2010).
251:which then won its class at
21:David Brown (disambiguation)
7:
1367:Formula One team principals
851:Aston Martin in Formula One
343:Aston Martin 2-Litre Sports
273:
92:Industrialist, entrepreneur
10:
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693:Noakes, pages 159 and 164.
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319:In late 1946, Brown saw a
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1372:Automotive businesspeople
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763:Aston Martin DB: 70 Years
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37:
30:
1337:People from Huddersfield
636:Noakes, pages 22 and 25.
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500:on his 700-acre farm in
321:classified advertisement
1362:Formula One team owners
865:David Brown Corporation
787:Earnshaw, Alan (2012).
761:Noakes, Andrew (2017).
1382:British industrialists
996:Aston Martin F1 Team (
742:Dowsey, David (2010).
601:. Aston Martin Lagonda
284:Ferguson-Brown Company
193:David Brown & Sons
159:
131:and car manufacturers
977:David Brown Santasalo
597:Burgess-Wise, David.
427:Tenneco International
297:Ford N-Series tractor
231:Upon his return from
222:Union of South Africa
150:
1387:English shipbuilders
466:British Shipbuilders
450:Vosper & Company
392:DB1 (2 Litre Sports)
299:, before setting up
266:and oil refineries.
125:David Brown Tractors
1172:2024 Reserve driver
1143:2023 Reserve driver
945:Maurice Trintignant
652:. Classic Car Trust
599:"Driven to Succeed"
506:Cheltenham Gold Cup
175:King James's School
129:Vosper Thorneycroft
121:David Brown Limited
109:Vosper Thorneycroft
1189:Driver Ambassadors
1101:Bernadette Collins
719:. Management Today
454:Vosper Thornycroft
444:Vosper Thornycroft
160:
123:and more recently
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1313:
1310:
1309:
1166:Stoffel Vandoorne
985:
984:
890:Notable personnel
806:Driven to Succeed
798:978-1-90301-602-2
772:978-1-78131-713-6
753:978-1-86470-424-2
560:Sir David Brown.
476:Sells the company
301:Ferguson Tractors
114:
113:
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1267:Formula One cars
1260:Sebastian Vettel
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1231:Felipe Drugovich
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1200:Pedro de la Rosa
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1154:Felipe Drugovich
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1097:Former personnel
1021:Martin Whitmarsh
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952:Formula One cars
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578:Noakes, page 16.
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520:George Abecassis
374:Aston Martin DB2
308:Second World War
245:Amherst Villiers
101:David Brown Ltd.
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66:3 September 1993
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1248:Nico HĂĽlkenberg
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1212:Jessica Hawkins
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1124:Fernando Alonso
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1106:Otmar Szafnauer
1016:Lawrence Stroll
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910:Notable drivers
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781:Further reading
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173:Brown attended
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117:Sir David Brown
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183:Rossall School
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1357:Aston Martin
1297:Aston Martin
1137:Lance Stroll
1112:Race drivers
1076:Andrew Green
1056:Eric Blandin
972:Aston Martin
893:
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721:. Retrieved
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654:. Retrieved
603:. Retrieved
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458:nationalised
447:
438:Walter Hayes
431:
424:
389:
378:
367:
352:
339:
331:Aston Martin
324:
318:
315:Aston Martin
305:
277:
268:
260:
257:
241:Aston Martin
233:South Africa
230:
226:Johannesburg
219:
207:
196:
172:
164:Huddersfield
161:
133:Aston Martin
116:
115:
105:Aston Martin
68:(1993-09-03)
52:Huddersfield
25:
1332:1993 deaths
1327:1904 births
1066:Dan Fallows
1051:Matt Bishop
904:Reg Parnell
899:Ted Cutting
894:David Brown
527:Monte Carlo
470:Monte Carlo
81:Nationality
74:Monte Carlo
48:10 May 1904
1321:Categories
1031:Mike Krack
736:References
498:racehorses
414:, and the
293:Henry Ford
187:Lancashire
179:Almondbury
143:Early life
44:1904-05-10
1081:Akio Haga
1037:Personnel
562:The Times
420:Jaguar XJ
326:The Times
263:Penistone
203:Valveless
168:Yorkshire
153:Valveless
56:Yorkshire
1046:Bob Bell
1012:Chairman
723:30 April
656:24 April
605:30 April
381:Tickford
370:Hanworth
359:Bradford
357:cars in
274:Tractors
249:Vauxhall
1293:Related
968:Related
531:Textron
460:by the
355:Lagonda
349:Lagonda
280:Meltham
237:Meadows
211:Douglas
137:Lagonda
84:British
1302:AMR GP
795:
769:
750:
462:Labour
410:, the
406:, the
402:, the
398:, the
394:, the
1287:AMR24
1282:AMR23
1277:AMR22
1272:AMR21
537:Notes
1128:18.
1115:14.
999:2021
962:DBR5
957:DBR4
877:1960
871:1959
793:ISBN
767:ISBN
748:ISBN
725:2018
658:2018
607:2018
490:polo
335:Atom
306:The
181:and
135:and
63:Died
38:Born
492:at
434:DB7
416:DBS
412:DB6
408:DB5
404:DB4
400:DB3
396:DB2
323:in
185:in
177:in
155:at
1323::
1002:–)
707:^
666:^
641:^
627:^
615:^
583:^
569:^
545:^
533:.
472:.
436:.
387:.
376:.
337:.
303:.
189:.
166:,
139:.
54:,
880:)
874:–
868:(
835:e
828:t
821:v
808:.
801:.
775:.
756:.
727:.
660:.
609:.
46:)
42:(
23:.
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