Tom Walkinshaw
A formidable Scottish engineer and team boss who conquered the world's toughest racetracks and reshaped touring car and sports car racing.
1946–2010 (age 64)·British racing driver·Birthday: August 14·Baby Boomers
Biography
Tom Walkinshaw was a force of nature in motorsport, first as a driver but more indelibly as a mastermind builder of racing cars. After a modest driving career, he founded Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR) in the mid-1970s. His genius lay in engineering and ambition, taking the Jaguar XJS and transforming it into a dominant force in European Touring Car Championship, famously known as the 'Jaguar Bastos' cars. This led to a partnership with Jaguar for the legendary XJR sports prototypes, which conquered the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1988 and 1990. Walkinshaw's reach extended into Formula One, where he engineered championship-winning cars for Benetton and later owned the Arrows and Ligier teams. His competitive spirit wasn't confined to the track; he also became a major figure in English rugby union, owning Gloucester Rugby and helping shape the professional era of the Premiership.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Tom was born in 1946, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Tom Was Born
The biggest hits of 1946
#1 Movie
The Best Years of Our Lives
Best Picture
The Best Years of Our Lives
Tom's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1946Born
United Nations holds its first General Assembly
Gas: $0.21/galHome: $5,150Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Prisoner of Love" — Perry ComoBest Picture: The Best Years of Our Lives
1951Started school
First color TV broadcast in the US
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $7,925Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Too Young" — Nat King ColeBest Picture: An American in Paris
1959Became a teenager
Fidel Castro takes power in Cuba
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $12,400Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"The Battle of New Orleans" — Johnny HortonBest Picture: Ben-Hur
1962Could drive
Cuban Missile Crisis brings the world to the brink
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $12,800Min wage: $1.15/hrPresident: John F. Kennedy"Stranger on the Shore" — Acker BilkBest Picture: Lawrence of Arabia
1964Could vote
Civil Rights Act signed; Beatles arrive in America
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $13,450Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"I Want to Hold Your Hand" — The BeatlesBest Picture: My Fair Lady
1967Turned 21
Summer of Love in San Francisco; first Super Bowl
Gas: $0.33/galHome: $14,250Min wage: $1.40/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"To Sir, with Love" — LuluBest Picture: In the Heat of the Night
1976Turned 30
Apple Computer founded; US bicentennial
Gas: $0.59/galHome: $29,300Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"Silly Love Songs" — WingsBest Picture: Rocky
1986Turned 40
Challenger disaster; Chernobyl nuclear meltdown
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $66,600Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"That's What Friends Are For" — Dionne & FriendsBest Picture: Platoon
1996Turned 50
Dolly the sheep cloned
Gas: $1.23/galHome: $99,700Min wage: $4.75/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Macarena" — Los del RioBest Picture: The English Patient
2006Turned 60
Twitter launches; Pluto reclassified as dwarf planet
Gas: $2.59/galHome: $174,700Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Bad Day" — Daniel PowterBest Picture: The Departed
2010Died at 64
Deepwater Horizon oil spill; iPad launched
Gas: $2.79/galHome: $147,800Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Tik Tok" — KeshaBest Picture: The King's Speech
Key Achievements
- Founded Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR), which engineered Jaguar's victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1988 and 1990.
- Led the Volvo 850 estate car to remarkable success in the British Touring Car Championship, a marketing and racing coup.
- As Engineering Director for Benetton Formula, oversaw the technical development of the cars that won the 1994 and 1995 F1 Drivers' Championships.
- Acquired and served as chairman of the Gloucester Rugby club, steering it in the early professional era of the sport.
Did You Know?
He once entered a standard-looking Ford Falcon in a touring car race, which was so heavily modified it was effectively a spaceship in a sedan body.
He briefly owned the Arrows Formula One team in the early 2000s.
His company, TWR, was also involved in road car projects, including the development of the Aston Martin DB7 and Jaguar XJR-15.
“If you aren't winning, you aren't trying hard enough—it's that simple.”
