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George Abecassis was one of the more important figures in early post-War British racing. He first raced at Brooklands and Donington in 1935 in an Austin 7. By 1938 he had acquired an Alta Voiturette which he raced with some success at Brooklands and Crystal Palace and in hillclimbs at Prescott.
After war sevice in the RAF, Abecassis and John Heath founded HW Motors of Walton-on-Thames. They were car dealers and later also built sports and racing cars - first came the HW-Alta, then the HWM F2 cars, in which Stirling Moss scored some early international successes. Abecassis undertook a busy schedule in 1946-7, racing the Alta, a Bugatti T59 and an ERA. In 1947 he came second to Piero Taruffi in the Circuit of the Baths of Caracalla, driving a Cisitalia.
Abecassis drove occasionally for the HWM F2 team, confining his racing mainly to sports cars. He was a works Ason Martin driver, winning the 3-litre class at Le Mans in 1950 with Lance Macklin and coming second overall at Sebring in 1953 with Reg Parnell. He raced twice in the WDC, both times in Switzerland, and retiring each time.
Between 1954 and 1956 he drove the HWM-Jaguar in national events (I'm sure Aysedasi can help here!), scoring wins at Castle Combe, Snetterton, Oulton Park etc. He was 11th in the 1955 Mille Miglia in a near-standard Austin Healey 100S.
Abecassis' interest in racing was diminished after his partner Heath was killed in the HWM-Jaguar in 1956. That year he also married Angela, the daughter of Sir David Brown (owner of Aston Martin) and retired to run HW Motors full-time.
He died in Ibstone, near High Wycombe - presumably the location of the grave?
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