Monday 28th June 2010

Obituary: Spen King, 1925-2010

'Father of the Range Rover' dies following bicycling accident

---

Range Rover project was led by King

Spen King, one of the most illustrious British automotive engineers of the 20th century, has died at the age of 85 from injuries sustained in a bicycling accident.

As head of new vehicle projects at Rover from 1959, Charles Spencer King was responsible for cars like the Rover 2000 and SD1, as well as the Stag and TR7 models from Triumph, not to mention Triumph's ground-breaking 16 valve cylinder head for the Dolomite Sprint which paved the way for a generation of 16V-badged hot hatches.

However he is best known as the man behind the original Range Rover - a car which changed the world's view of the potential of off-road vehicles as a class and is now celebrating its 40th anniversary. There's a tribute to Spen King by Autocar's Steve Cropley here, which sheds some interesting light on the genesis of that first Rangie and on the character of the man himself.

Our respectful condolences go to Spen King's family and friends.

He also had a big hand in the SD1...

...and the innovative 16V Dolly Sprint

[HowardB]

Iconic!


rip

[Laurel Green]

Very sorry to hear this. RIP Spen.

[Marquis_Rex]

RIP

[Twincam16]

Very sad news. A design great, often unfairly overlooked in favour of the Italians. RIP.

[andyps]

Sad news, but great to hear he was cycling at the age of 85. A designer who seems to be under-rated to me, two iconic designs in the Range Rover and SD1, both of which have stood the test of time.

[v8will]

Genuinely saddened by this. Just last night I was reading one of his interviews in one of the recent monthly landrover mags too.

[newdogg06]

Sad news indeed. I had a Dolly Sprint. Great car. One engineer Britain can be proud to have had pushing the boundaries.

[Oddball RS]

Very sad news, have to say its a legacy you could be rightly proud off.

[Markh]

sad news indeed, lets not forget he also was the guy behind JET 1 as well

http://home.ican.net/~magnet/p4/jet1a.jpg

[angry jock]

Very sad news. RIP CSK.

[oilit]

RIP - a true visionary designer.

[soad]

RIP - dangerous that cycling at times.

[Gallen]

Very sad news indeed.

A true legend - inspiring.

[pagani1]

In bringing forth the Range Rover with David Bache and enlivening the staid Triumph range with the Dolomite Sprint when all at British Leyland was chaos in action, makes Spen a giant amongst men and a great Engineer. Shame we don't adopt the german practice of Prof as a title for engineers, who deserve the respect. I hope you meet up with Isambard Kingdom Brunel in your new home, and have many happy discussions together.

[Graham]

Sad news, The Original Rqnge rover was an epic piece of design, hard to belive its 40 years old

[Rockatansky]

I saw a RR CSK edition just last week, first one I've seen in years. A classic car.

I believe the RR is (or was at one time) the only car to have been on display in the Louvre as a work of art.

[Freypal]

Terrible news, I'm really saddened by this. We have lost an automotive great.

RIP.

[Shaw Tarse]

A sad day RIP Spen!

[NailedOn]

Icon. Seconded. Thanks for the style and for the motors Spen.

[miniman]

RIP Spen

Still going strong after 36 years: