Obituary

Ian Appleyard

Ian Appleyard BSc, arguably Britain’s most successful international rally driver of the early post-war years, died in early June. An Olympic skier, he had an uncanny affinity for the Alps and scored his most famous successes in the Alpine Rally, driving initially SS Jaguar 100s and later his famous semi-works XK120 registered NUB 120. In 1949 he put up best performance in the Alpine, and from 1950 to 1952 Appleyard and his wife Pat (daughter of Sir William Lyons) won successive Coupes des Alpes, thereby becoming the first crew ever to win an Alpine Gold Cup for three Coupes in a row. He built up the Appleyard garage group and in retirement wrote a nature book called Ring Ouzels of the Yorkshire Dales. Philip Porter