Robert Herd | |
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.JPG) Herd in 1971 | |
| Born | Robert John Herd (1939-03-23)23 March 1939 Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside, England, United Kingdom |
| Died | June 4, 2019(2019-06-04) (aged 80) Abingdon-on-Thames, Oxfordshire |
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Robert John"Robin" HerdCBE (23 March 1939 – 4 June 2019[1]) was an English engineer, designer and businessman.[2]
Herd studied atSt Peter's College, Oxford, having turned down an offer to play cricket forWorcestershire at the age of 18. He initially entered Oxford with a scholarship to study mathematics, however he switched subjects and graduated with adouble first inphysics andengineering,[3][4] before joining theRoyal Aircraft Establishment in 1961 as a design engineer on theConcorde supersonic aircraft project, focussing oncomputational fluid dynamics.[4] He worked on the Concorde project for four years and was eventually promoted to senior scientific officer at the age of 24.[3]
He was recruited byMcLaren in 1965, having been alerted to an engineering vacancy with the constructor by former school friend and racing driverAlan Rees,[4] and worked on cars, such as theMallite-bodiedM2A test car for the Firestone tire company. The M2A subsequently evolved into theFormula OneM2B car. Herd stayed with McLaren until 1968 — during which time he designed theirM4B,M5A andM7 Formula One cars, as well as the successfulM6ACan-Am car[4] — before moving toCosworth to design a four-wheel drive F1 car. He also carried out work forFrank Williams in late 1969, modifying Williams'Brabham BT26 to take aFord Cosworth DFV to enterPiers Courage in Formula One.[4] He co-foundedMarch Engineering withMax Mosley,Alan Rees andGraham Coaker in 1969.[5] The team completed 207Formula OneGrand Prix races between 1970 and 1992,[6] winning three with four pole positions. In addition they enjoyed a great deal of success inFormula Two, and in the 1980s they made a successful foray intoIndy car racing, with March cars winning theIndianapolis 500 for five successive years from 1983 to 1987.[4]
From 1995 to 1998, he served as Chairman ofOxford United F.C., with the team winning promotion toFootball League Division One during his first season at the helm.[7][8]
Herd was appointed aCommander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the1986 New Year Honours, as managing director of March.[9] He died from cancer in 2019, aged 80.[7][8]
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