Henry Ronald Godfrey

Ronald Godfrey (1887–1968), full name Henry Ronald Godfrey, was an English motor car design engineer of the first half of the 20th century possibly best known for his successful Singer-engined H R G thoroughbred sports cars built between 1935 and 1956.

Apprenticeship Born near London, Ron met Archie Nash at London's Finsbury Technical School and after obtaining his City & Guilds diploma in Mechanical Engineering he completed an apprenticeship at Willans & Robinson in Rugby, Warwickshire where the slightly younger Archie soon followed him to do the same training.

G N Godfrey and Nash then got together to produce the GN cycle car. A light-weight 90 degree Vee-twin-cylinder car first sold in 1911, it stayed in production through 1922. Ron Godfrey's major contribution was his design of the engine and chain transmission.

Their H R G car was a small true sports car in the vintage tradition sold at a realistic price. The prototype used a Meadows ED engine with a strengthened crankshaft. It could exceed 85 mph and handled excellently on the road. From 1939 the Meadows engine was replaced with a 1½ litre overhead camshaft Singer engine. When Ronald retired he had a very advanced new car on the drawing board but it was never put into production.

British Automobile Racing Club H R Godfrey was a founder member of the British Automobile Racing Club.

Ron Godfrey retired in 1958 to a nearby water mill which he took great pleasure in rebuilding. He died in 1968.