Obituary: Noted archivist with ‘encyclopaedic’ knowledge, Anders Clausager  

Published: 28/07/2025

Anders Ditlev Clausager, who was the British Motor Museum Trust's (BMMT) first Archivist - arriving at what was then BL Heritage in 1979 - passed away peacefully yesterday (27 July), having been suffering from cancer for some time. He was 76.

His name reflects his heritage as a Danish national, born in Denmark in June 1949 (he took British citizenship in 2020), where he was brought up and educated. His first degree was at the School of Architecture and Design in Aarhus (1970-74). As a student in Denmark, he was a volunteer and co-founder of Danish Fire Service Museum.

The seeds of his anglophile tendencies may have been sown by the acquisition of a Wolseley 4/44 while still a student.

He came to London in 1974 to study automotive design at the Royal College of Art and left with a master's degree in automotive design in 1976.

From 1977 he was designer at Volkswagenwerke AG, Wolfsburg, Germany, where he contributed to the design of the VW Polo Mark II (launched in 1981). In 1978 he returned to England to become a designer at Austin-Morris BL cars, Longbridge, Birmingham. 

In 1979 he became archivist to BL Heritage, at Studley, Warwickshire, which later became the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust (BMIHT), at Gaydon, Warwickshire. During his career there, he collected virtually all of the surviving historic production records from within the Austin Rover Group companies, and used these to produce what became known as 'Heritage Certificates' for owners of classic cars, a service subsequently imitated by many other car manufacturers.

He left the BMIHT for the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust (JDHT) in 2000, at Coventry, which also later moved to the Gaydon site.  Here, he oversaw the publication of a number of books some of which he also wrote.  He ran the JDHT certificate service, and initiated a programme of transcribing the original production records for SS, Jaguar, and Daimler cars, into database format; when he retired in 2014, the JDHT had created databases for 250,000 cars.

In addition, from 1997 to 1999, Anders completed a master's degree in history at the University of Warwick by research in history, producing the dissertation  In Search of a British People’s Car.

In retirement, he continued his research and writing, and as a volunteer he completed a similar database for the pre-1918 Wolseley records in the BMIHT archive, and the Austin-Healey 100s.

Anders authored or co-authored 24 books (and was the book editor on a further 11 titles), mainly on British cars but including books on Porsche and Volvo, as well as many magazine articles. He twice received the Bradley Distinguished Service Award from the American Society of Automotive Historians and in 2017 his magnum opus, Wolseley - A Very British Car  won the Michael Sedgwick Award. 

Since 2010, Anders was a Trustee of the The Michael Sedgwick Memorial Trust (MSMT), which encourages the recording and publication of motoring history. He was its Vice- Chairman from 2022, until ill-health forced him to step down in June 2025

The not-for-profit organisation, established in 1983, provides help to authors, researchers and publishers seeking advice and support for book projects about mechanised road transport of any kind.

Deeply involved in so many aspects of motoring history, Anders was also active within The Society of Automotive Historians in Britain (SAHB), having joined its committee in 2001, becoming its Secretary in 2009, until his recent illness also saw him step down from this role.

He was also a member of the Advisory Council of the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu and later became a Specialist Advisor to the museum.

Anders was the co-founder and co-organiser with Thomas Ulrich (AHG, Germany) of the 'European Conference for Automotive History', which took place in Mulhouse 2017, Den Haag 2019, Torino 2022, and Wolfsburg 2024, and is now run jointly with the FIVA Culture Commission. 

Anders was also keen supporter of the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs (FBHVC), as an individual member, having been involved in its genesis. He was a co-founder of the Classic Vehicle Clubs Committee in 1980, which became the FBHVC in 1988.

For many years he was Historian and Registrar to the Wolseley Register and compiled their List of Recorded Vehicles in 1987.

Says Stephen Laing, BMMT Head of Collections & Engagement: “Anders built up the first makings of the BMMT’s archive collection and came up with the idea of the ‘Heritage Certificate’ for classic car owners - now so imitated by other museums and companies around the world.

“To say that Anders was a world-leading authority on the motor car and industry would be an understatement. Anders’ knowledge was encyclopaedic - far beyond motoring - he was intelligent, quick witted and with a very keen sense of humour. He will be missed.”

Anders was diagnosed with cancer in July 2023 and despite having a kidney removed, this spread by the way of secondary bone cancer. Despite this, he carried on working as well as he could and contributed to all of the automotive history organisations that he was involved with.

He was delighted to complete an article on the first known car produced in Denmark, the Hammel, which appeared in the June 2025 issue of The Automobile. In his final months he also completed Profile books for the Wolseley Register on the 4/44 and 15/50. A final book - BMC Farina Cars In Detail will be published this autumn by Herridge & Sons which will be supported by the MSMT.

“Anders contributions will be sorely missed in all the fields he participated in. His dry wit, personable manner and extensive knowledge made him a valuable member of any meeting or conversation,” says the MSMT

He is survived by his husband David Sandison, whom he married in a Civil Partnership in 2006, and they lived in Edgbaston, Birmingham, close to the main sites of the British motoring industry.

Anders Ditlev Clausager: Bibliography

Books:

In preparation The BMC Farina Cars, expected publication date 2025.
The Compete Register of Jaguar C-types, D-types & Lightweight E-types, co-author and editor, 2022, revised version of the 2014 book see below.
Factory-Original MG T-Series, 2019.
Wolseley A Very British Car, 2016. The first complete history of the Wolseley cars and company, the result of extensive research carried out over a period of more than thirty years. Winner of SAH (USA) Cugnot award, winner of SAHB Sedgwick award, and winner of the Guild of Motoring Writers’ Mercedes-Benz Montagu award.
Jaguar C-type, D-type, and Lightweight E-type Register, co-author and editor, 2014
Factory-Original Jaguar E-type, 2011. Also published in German by Heel Verlag.
Sunbeam-Talbot & Alpine In Detail, 2009.
Jaguar XK 140/150 In Detail, 2008.
Jaguar XK 120 In Detail, 2006.
MG Saloon Cars, 1998.
Essential Mini-Cooper, 1997. Also published in German by Heel Verlag.
Essential Volvo 120 Series and P1800, 1996. Also published in German by Heel Verlag, and in Dutch.
Britain’s Motor Industry The First 100 Years, 1995. (One of four co-authors of this book which won the Guild of Motoring Writers’ Montagu award).
Essential MG T-series and Pre-War Midgets, 1995.
Original MGB, 1994. Still in print. Also published in German by Heel Verlag.
Original MGA, 1993. Still in print. Also published in German by Heel Verlag.
Complete Catalogue of Austin Cars since 1945, 1992.
Sprites and Midgets The Complete Story, 1991 Also published in German by Motorbuch Verlag.
Jaguar A Living Legend, 1990.
Original Austin-Healey, 1990. Also published in German by Heel Verlag, and in French.
Original MG T-series, 1989.
Porsche, 1983.
Le Mans, 1982.
The MG Story (in the USA: MG The Book of the Car), 1982.

Museum catalogues for the Heritage Motor Museum, Syon Park, 1981, and Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon, 1993; various other publications associated with these museums.

Unpublished dissertation for Master’s Degree: University of Warwick 1997-99 In Search of a British People’s Car.

Major articles, essays, papers, and contributions:

“The history of the historic vehicle movement in Britain since 1909”, presentation at the European Conference for Automotive History, Wolfsburg, 5 October 2024.
“Fantastic numbers and where to find them”, in Aspects of Motoring History 20 (SAHB 2024)
“The future of classic cars – some scattered thoughts”, in Aspects of Motoring History 19 (SAHB 2023)
“The German car invasion of 1937”, in Aspects of Motoring History 17 (SAHB 2021)
“An aerodynamic centenary”, in Aspects of Motoring History 15 (SAHB 2019)
“Real, replica, or fake”, presentation at the World Forum for Motor Museums, 2018
“Birth pangs of a breed: early estate cars in Britain”, and “A unique record: Philip Dawson and the 1905 Herkomer Fahrt”, both in Aspects of Motoring History 13 (SAHB 2017)
“Taxation and Tribulations: The Origins and Consequences of the British Horsepower Tax”, in Automotive History Review 56 (SAH, USA, 2015)
“The Wolseley racing programme, 1902 to 1907”, in Aspects of Motoring History 11 (SAHB 2015)
“The Rivals: A Comparison of the British and German Motor Industries 1945-1960”, in Automobilindustrie 1945-2000: Eine Schlüsselindustrie zwischen Boom und Krise, Tilley/Tribel (Hrsg.), BMW 2013
“British Coachbuilders” and “Pontonform in England“, in Auto und Karosserie, Eckermann (Hrsg.), 2013, 2015
“Malcolm Sayer”, in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2012
“The Development of the Piston Engine for Motor Cars”, in The Piston Engine Revolution, Newcomen Society 2012
“Motorisierung: The German Motorisation Program 1933-1939”, in Automotive History Review 52 (SAH, USA, 2010)
“Practical Uses of Archive Records”, presentation at the World Forum for Motor Museums, 2007
“A Case Study: Motor Racing and Jaguar – the Classic Years“, in Die Geschichte des Rennsport, Niemann/Feldenkirchen/Hermann (Hrsg.), Daimler-Chrysler 2002
“Nutzfahrzeugindustrie in Großbritannien 1896 bis 1996”, in 100 Jahre LKW Geschichte und Zukunft des Nutzfahrzeuges, Niemann/Hermann (Hrsg.), Daimler-Benz 1997
“Traditionspflege beim British Motor Industry Heritage Trust”, in Traditionspflege in der Automobilindustrie, Pohl/Niemann/Hermann (Hrsg.), Mercedes-Benz 1991

Various contributions to The Guardian, including obituaries of Walter Hayes (2001), Ivan Hirst (2000), Spen King (2010), Robert Opron (2021), Gerald Palmer (1999), and Sergio Pininfarina (2012).

Various articles mostly in Classic & Sports Car in the 1980s and 1990s, but also in other magazines, including more recently Veteran Tidende the monthly journal of the Danish Veteran Car Club.

Editor of:

Austin “Heavy” Twelve (Stringer, 2021)
The MGC GTS Lightweights (Morys, 2019)
SS & Jaguar Cars 1936-1951 (Crouch, 2013)
Monte Carlo Rally The Golden Years (Robson, 2007)
A-Z British Sports and Thoroughbred Motor Cars 1919-1939 (Walker, 2007)
S.S.I & S.S.II Cars (Crouch, 2006)
Lancia Aurelia in Detail (Jonassen, 2006)
Ferguson TE20 in Detail (Thorne, 2006)
TWR Jaguar Prototype Racers (Thurston, 2003)
Sir William Lyons: The Official Biography (Porter & Skilleter, 2001)
Essential BMW Coupes and Cabriolets (Kittler, 1996) (translation from German to English)