Bob Berry (1929 - 2021)

ANOTHER UNSUNG JAGUAR LEADER IN THE 1950S HAS PASSED. WE PAY TRIBUTE TO HIM

Robert Emanuel Berry is almost totally unknown in Jaguar history even though he was often part of it in his numerous roles. He was a Board Director under Sir John Egan in 1980 having joined the marque in 1951. He died on January 1, 2021. We introduce a modest achiever and give him the recognition he deserves.

JAGUAR HAD ITS GREATEST SUCCESS IN THE 1950s, primarily on the talent and dedication of its staff starting at the top. It achieved sales and racing success way beyond the size of the business, and like Sir William Lyons, almost every single one was so unassuming they still go unknown except to the most dedicated followers of Jaguar history. Bob Berry was one of those. He died on January 1, 2021 aged 91.

Bob was Jaguar's second Public Affairs Manager, and later a Jaguar Director under Sir John Egan, but that doesn't get near to unravelling his full life story.

Bob’s route into Jaguar began in France in 1951 at the Le Mans 24 Hour race, where as an enthusiastic spectator he got chatting to Jaguar’s racing manager Lofty England. He offered to help in the pits, but instead Lofty gave him a job as the Jaguar team’s timekeeper and interpreter for the race, which it won for the first time.

That led to an offer of a post in Jaguar’s publicity department. He took up racing as a sideline, moving from an XK120 to an ex-works D-Type.

The son of a retail chemist and a French headmistress, Bob was born in Prescot near Liverpool. After National Service in the Royal Horse Artillery, he went to Emmanuel College, Cambridge to read Modern Languages.