Charles Spencer King 1925-2010:
A Legend Passes
PHOTO BY REX FEATURES & COURTESY OF THE TELEGRAPH
Spen King pictured here beside the original iconic 1970 Range Rover.
Edited by JOSEPH V. KUCA
The London Telegraph's Chris Knapman reported on the recent and very sad passing of a true Land Rover legend, Charles Spencer King, creator of the iconic Range Rover line.
According to Knapman and the Telegraph, "One of the British engineering industry's biggest characters and the "father" of the Range Rover, Charles Spencer "Spen" King, died June 26th from injuries sustained when his bicycle collided with a van a fortnight earlier.
King was head of new vehicle projects at Rover from 1959, a role in which he oversaw some of the most popular cars of the era including the Rover 2000 and SD1, as well as the Triumph Stag and TR7.
A hugely popular figure as well as a fierce engineering talent, King's career in automotive engineering began in 1942 when he became an apprentice at Rolls-Royce.
In 1945 King moved to Rover - which was being run by his uncles, Spencer and Maurice Wilks - where he helped design the gas turbine JET1 and T3 prototypes on his way to being made head of new vehicle projects in 1959.
It was his work on the original Range Rover, however, for which King will be best remembered. No other vehicle before had blended the Range Rover's all-round ability with such a sense of luxury, a combination that is as successful today as it was back in 1970.
Following British Leyland's takeover of Rover, King became chairman of BL Technology where he developed a new type of light and aerodynamic Energy Conservation Vehicle (ECV).
Although never intended to go into production, several features were taken from the ECV project, including construction and design techniques that appeared in Rover's popular K-Series engines."
SOURCE: The Telegraph
Bookmark
Printer Friendly Page
Send to a friend
Mobile Site
