Hewland gearbox (Mk / FT200 / FG400)

By the RCN editorial team · Updated July 2026

Hewland is the gearbox that built customer racing: Maidenhead's dog-engagement transaxles — Mk-series, FT200, DG300, FG400 — geared half a century of single-seaters and sports racers, and remain historic racing's beating heart.

Hewland1950SHistoric single-seater / sports racing

History

Mike Hewland's Maidenhead gear-cutting business answered 1950s racers' problem — no affordable racing transaxle existed — with a legendary pragmatism: VW-cased Mk-series boxes for Formula Junior, then purpose-built lines as the customer-racing boom exploded. By the mid-60s a Hewland was simply what a racing car had: Mk8/Mk9 for F3 and Formula Ford lineages, FT200 for F2/Atlantic, DG300 for F1 and sports cars, FG400 carrying the DFV era's championships.

The design philosophy made the empire: straight-cut dog engagement, interchangeable ratio sets swappable at the circuit in minutes, and rebuildability by any competent mechanic — racing's first truly serviceable transmission ecosystem. World titles across F1, F2, F3, sports cars and Indycar accumulated for two decades essentially by default.

Today Hewland remains a living manufacturer (modern sequentials for junior formulas and sports racers) while the classic catalogue underpins historic racing wholesale: every HSCC, Masters and FIA historic grid runs on Mk/FT/DG/FG internals, parts supply flows from Hewland and specialists alike, and 'spare ratios included' is among the most value-relevant lines a race-car listing can carry.

Palmarès

World Championships across Formula 1 (DG300/FG400 in the DFV era), Formula 2, F3, Formula Ford, Can-Am, sports cars and Indycar through the 60s–80s — the transmission of the customer-racing century; today the default gearbox of historic single-seater and sports-racer grids worldwide.

What to check before you buy

Identify the exact unit first — Mk8/9, FT200, DG300, FG400 — because values, applications and parts paths differ completely; casing numbers and internals must match the claimed type (bitsa boxes are common and fine if declared). Condition audit: crownwheel-and-pinion wear, dog rings and selector forks (the consumables), case-line cracks and stud pull. Ratio-set inventory is real money — a good FT200 spares package can be worth more than a tired gearbox. Rebuilds by named specialists with invoices beat 'freshly rebuilt' claims; buy the paper trail. Standalone units trade steadily for spares and restorations — provenance to a period chassis adds collector premium.

Did you know

Early Hewland boxes were built around Volkswagen Beetle casings — half of 1960s grid technology sat on repurposed economy-car aluminium.
Ratio changes at the circuit in under half an hour were the Hewland revolution — rivals' fixed gearboxes suddenly looked medieval.
Mike Hewland reportedly disliked motor racing itself — the man who geared a thousand championships rarely watched one.