Founed by Mike Hewland in 1957, Hewland is a British engineering company specialising in racing car gearboxes. Hewland were the first company to manufacture a bespoke racing car gearbox. The first product they made, the Hewland Mk1, was a minor modification of a Volkswagen box for Lola for their Formula Junior cars. Within a few years they moved to manufacturing sideplates and gear clusters, only using the VW main case. These gearboxes became widely used in Formula Junior and Formula Three. The first gearbox designed by Hewland was the HD4 in 1963, where the HD stood for Hewland Design.