THE late Isle of Wight visionary engineer and family man, John Ackroyd, will feature on BBC 1’s The One Show this evening (Thursday).

It’s the 50th anniversary of the pioneering Enfield 8000 – the UK’s first mass produced electric car – which Mr Ackroyd designed and built.

He was also involved in numerous other wheel-driven record breakers and waterspeed attempts.

At 7pm this evening, his granddaughter, Moza, will present a short film about electric cars on The One Show.  

Ryde-based production company, People Media, produced the short film for the BBC.

Isle of Wight County Press:

Mr Ackroyd, who was was born in Muttra, India, died back in 2021.

He followed his dream of becoming an engineer through a first class apprenticeship at Saunders-Roe in East Cowes.

His final training task was in the design department working on the SR53 prototype fighter aircraft which operated a cutting edge mixed jet and rocket propulsion system.

Mr Ackroyd was a cornerstone of world records and would bring impossible projects to life at every opportunity.

His amazing career saw him design and build vehicles that were way ahead of technology, achieving the impossible time after time.