FEATURE : HP TYRES
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For more than 30 years , HP Tyres has been at the centre of tyre supply for historic racing . John Pearson talked about how the company has grown , while staying faithful to its roots . By Paul Lawrence .
The foundations for HP Tyres lay with John Pearson senior , father to John and John ’ s elder brother Gary . It all started when he was struggling to get tyres for the classic racing Jaguars that were coming through his workshops near Silverstone . “ The HP in the name is from the past and represented John Harper and John Pearson . Dad and ‘ Harps ’ were always thick as thieves and they set it up together ,” said John . “ Dad did it specifically because he just could not get cars out of his workshop . If he finished a car , a D-type or a C-type for instance , the tyres were just not available to get the cars back to the customers . He went absolutely ballistic at Dunlop and in the end , to get rid of him , they just made him a dealer and he did it with ‘ Harps ’.”
Guards Trophy racers run on Dunlop tyres
Though Harper ’ s involvement in the business was short-lived the name was already established so it remains HP Tyres . Meanwhile , Gary followed the engineering side of the business and worked with teams like Richard Lloyd Racing before taking over Pearsons Engineering as his father moved towards retirement . The company remains a renowned Jaguar specialist as well as working with a wide range of other marques . Both Gary and John have racing E-types to use when time allows .
Meanwhile , back in the 1980s John was trying to build a career in the banking industry . “ From doing ‘ A ’ levels I went into banking and worked for Barclays Bank . I was trying to be one of those dreadful yuppies down in London and couldn ’ t afford to move . I was really fed up with it and dad said : “ Well , until you get a job back in Northampton with another local bank just come and help me with this .” So that was 30 years ago . Mum said it would do until I got a proper job !
John has been at HP Tyres for 32 years now and took over running the business when John senior stepped back ,
Goodyear branding is becoming more notable
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