John Britten: man of vision
by Rod Dew, The Press September 6, 1995.
 PHOTO: JOHN COSGROVE
Only days ago, the
mastermind behind the
internationally successful Britten V-twin racing
motorcycles, property manager
and engineer extraordinary John
Britten, was working on the
design of a world-beating
superbike to herald the return of
the once famous Indian marque.
His approach was typical,
totally focused and positive,
pushing aside the illness which
was threatening his life. Although
his untimely death yesterday will
have a profound effect on the
ambitious $100 million Indian
project being backed by an
international consortium, the effects of his passing will be felt just
as sharply in many other quarters.
Mr Britten, who was 45,
suffered from cancer.
One of his greatest triumphs
was last month when New
Zealand rider Andrew Stroud won
the world individual BEARS
championship on one of the
technically advanced New
Zealand-made Britten racers. An
other New Zealander, Stephen
Briggs, claimed second place in the
world-wide series on an Italian-owned Britten to underline the
dominance of the modest Christchurch Britten Motorcycle Company, which easily won the world
manufacturers' championship.
The owner and director of a
Christchurch property and man
agement company, Brittco Management Ltd, Mr Britten was
widely regarded as a shrewd but
decent businessman with a rare
ability to transform dreams into
reality, a visionary with the
handyman touch. He was reserved, almost self-effacing. In
earlier times, he was known for
his work with glass, and he could
list hang gliding and historic
motorcycle racing among his
many interests.
Although he made his international mark as the designer of
motorcycles, flight fascinated
him. He studied the flying action
of birds with the plan of building
an ornithopter (a machine driven
by wing action). When he was in
his 20s, he built a 24ft glider that
could lift a man in a 10kmh wind.
Other ideas swirling around in
his ever-active mind included a
lightweight commuter car made of
wood and a carbon fibre pedal
bike. A single-cylinder four-stroke
utility engine is already at the
testing stage.
The wonder of it all was that he
accomplished so much despite
having to overcome a reading
disability, which held him back
while he was a student at St
Andrew's College. He gained a
New Zealand Certificate in Engineering at polytech and later
withdrew to a farmhouse at
Teddington, baking bread and
practising yoga.
In between designing motor
cycles, John Britten provided the
inspiration for the extension of
Christchurch's historic tramway
east of Cathedral Square and
through New Regent Street.
His far-sighted plan to run the
tramway through a proposed $4
million shopping precinct, "Cathedral Junction," from
Gloucester Street to Worcester
Street on the site of the old Calder
McKay building, which his company owned, caught the public
imagination. Mr Britten's company also bought the old Cinerama
Theatre in Worcester Street with
the object of restoring it and
incorporating it in the "Cathedral
Junction" project.
Earlier, he was responsible for
the development of the upmarket
Heatherlea apartment building
opposite Hagley Park.
On the sporting front, Mr
Britten will be remembered for his
incredible success with his motor
cycles, built on a shoestring
budget in his tiny factory in
Christchurch. He once said of his
racing: "This is my hobby; not my
living. I am totally under
capitalised."
In spite of this, the bikes he
designed and built in Christchurch
have won both the prestigious
"Battle of the Twins" race at
Daytona and the famous international race for twin-cylinder
machines at Assen in Holland.
Mr Britten's bikes have set four
world speed records in ordinary
race trim, and hold the outright
speed record for Daytona. The
world flying mile record
(302.82kmh), the world standing
quarter-mile (10.759sec,
134.617kmh), the world standing
kilometre (19.33sec, 186.245kmh),
and the world standing mile
(27.135sec, 213.512kmh), were all
set on the South Eyre Road.
Last summer, Mr Britten
achieved a long-standing ambition, winning the New Zealand
superbike road racing champion
ship series with a bike designed
and made in New Zealand.
Mr Britten achieved international praise for his non-traditional methods of construction, and use of carbon fibre. The
Britten bike has no frame. The
swinging arm, fork, shocks and
radiator-subframe all bolt directly
on to the engine. The wheels,
bodywork, swinging arm and fork
girders are all of carbon fibre.
Earlier this year, in recognition
of his contribution to engineering,
Mr Britten became only the eighth
person to be elected an honorary
fellow of the Institute of Professional Engineers of New Zealand.
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