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William Towns
William Towns (1936–1993) also known as Bill Towns was a British car designer. Design career Towns began his training as a designer at Rootes in 1954, where he was mainly involved in the styling of seats and door handles. Later he was also involved with the styling of their Hillman Hunter. He moved to Rover in 1963 and worked there for David Bache and designed the body of the Rover-BRM gas turbine Le Mans car. In 1966, he left Rover to join Aston Martin as a seat designer, eventually becoming the force behind the Aston Martin Lagonda. He left Aston Martin in 1977 for more remunerative industrial design work, setting up his own design studio, Interstyl. As a freelance designer, he worked on the Jensen-Healey, the successful Hustler kit-car, the Reliant SS2 and the short-lived Railton F28/F29. Death Towns died at the age of 56 or 57 from cancer in June 1993 at his home in Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire. Car collection Up until July 2005, his own cars were on display at ...
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Engineer
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limitations imposed by practicality, regulation, safety and cost. "Science is knowledge based on our observed facts and tested truths arranged in an orderly system that can be validated and communicated to other people. Engineering is the creative application of scientific principles used to plan, build, direct, guide, manage, or work on systems to maintain and improve our daily lives." The word ''engineer'' (Latin ) is derived from the Latin words ("to contrive, devise") and ("cleverness"). The foundational qualifications of an engineer typically include a four-year bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline, or in some jurisdictions, a master's degree in an engineering discipline plus four to six years of peer-reviewed professiona ...
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Thames Television
Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a Broadcast license, franchise holder for a region of the British ITV (TV network), ITV television network serving Greater London, London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broadcast from 9:25 Monday morning to 5:15 Friday afternoon (7:00 Friday night until 1982) at which time it would hand over to London Weekend Television (LWT). Formed as a joint company, it merged the television interests of British Electric Traction (trading as Associated-Rediffusion) owning 49%, and Associated British Picture Corporation—soon taken over by EMI—owning 51%. Like all ITV franchisees, it was a broadcaster, a producer and a commissioner of television programmes, making shows both for the local region it covered and, as one of the History of ITV#The Big Four and Big Five, "Big Five" ITV companies, for networking nationally across the ITV regions. After its loss of franchise i ...
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British Automobile Designers
British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, the English language as spoken and written in the United Kingdom or, more broadly, throughout the British Isles * Celtic Britons, an ancient ethno-linguistic group * Brittonic languages, a branch of the Insular Celtic language family (formerly called British) ** Common Brittonic, an ancient language Other uses *''Brit(ish)'', a 2018 memoir by Afua Hirsch *People or things associated with: ** Great Britain, an island ** United Kingdom, a sovereign state ** Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1800) ** United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801–1922) See also * Terminology of the British Isles * Alternative names for the British * English (other) * Britannic (other) * British Isles * Brit (other) * Briton ...
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1993 Deaths
File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefully dissolved into the Czech Republic and Slovakia; In the United States, the ATF besieges a compound belonging to David Koresh and the Branch Davidians in a search for illegal weapons, which ends in the building being set alight and killing most inside; Eritrea gains independence; A major snow storm passes over the United States and Canada, leading to over 300 fatalities; Drug lord and narcoterrorist Pablo Escobar is killed by Colombian special forces; Ramzi Yousef and other Islamic terrorists detonate a truck bomb in the subterranean garage of the North Tower of the World Trade Center in the United States., 300x300px, thumb rect 0 0 200 200 Oslo I Accord rect 200 0 400 200 1993 Russian constitutional crisis rect 400 0 600 200 ...
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Reliant Scimitar SS1
The Reliant Scimitar SS1 is an automobile which was produced by British manufacturer Reliant from 1984. Aiming to fill a gap in the small sports car market, Scimitar SS1 was launched in 1984 at the British International Motor Show in Birmingham. It was Giovanni Michelotti's last design. The name was reported to stand for Small Sports 1. Despite plans for production of 2000 a year, only 1,507 models were produced in the ten years of overall production. In 1990, the SS1 was renamed as the Scimitar SST following a facelift and in 1992 was re-launched as the Scimitar Sabre. Sales of the Sabre ceased in 1995 with the collapse of Reliant. Scimitar SS1 (1984–1990) The chassis was inspired by that of the Lotus Elan. The 1.3 L (later replaced with a 1.4 L) and 1.6 L engines were Ford CVH units, front mounted driving the rear wheels through a four-speed gearbox on the 1300 and 1400, and a five-speed gearbox with the 1600. The suspension was independent all round using coil springs ...
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Aston Martin Bulldog
The Aston Martin Bulldog, styled by William Towns, is a British, one-off concept vehicle produced by Aston Martin in 1979. The code name for the project was DP K901. Initially, a production run of 15–25 cars was planned, but the project was deemed too costly and only one was built. History The Bulldog - named after a Scottish Aviation Bulldog aeroplane flown by Aston Martin's then managing director, Alan Curtis, but nicknamed "K9", after the robotic dog from the ''Doctor Who'' TV series - was designed to show off the capabilities of Aston Martin's new engineering facility in Newport Pagnell, as well as to chase after the title of fastest production car in the world. The car was officially launched on 27 March 1980 at the Bell Hotel at Aston Clinton. Although the car was built in the UK, it is left-hand-drive. The Bulldog's sharp wedge shape was designed by William Towns. The car has five centre-mounted, hidden headlamps and gull-wing doors. The interior is upholstered in l ...
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Guyson E12
The Guyson E12 was a run of two cars commissioned by hill-climb champion Jim Thomson and built by William Towns. It was a rebodied series III Jaguar E-Type, the first of which came about as a result of Thomson crashing his Jaguar in 1972. The first model was completed for Thomson in 1974, with Towns subsequently converting his own E-Type. Towns reportedly had planned to offer the conversion commercially for around £2000 on top of the E-type’s £3300 list price but decided against it, as the E-Type was nearing the end of its production run. Specifications The E12 features a fiberglass body that attaches mostly to the existing superstructure of the E-Type, secured with screws and resin. This method leaves a lot of the original panel work intact and allows for the car to be returned mostly to standard form if desired by removing the panels and refitting the original bonnet and boot lid. The first E12 built, owned by Jim Thomson, features an upgraded version of the standard Jagua ...
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Microdot (car)
The Microdot is a concept design by William Towns for a small, economical town car. The car was first shown at the 1976 London Motor Show and was an evolution of his 1972 Minissima car. The Microdot was a petrol/electric hybrid vehicle with a small 400cc petrol engine powering a 3.5kW generator and, designed to carry three people side-by-side on short city journeys, with the driver sitting in the central position. Mallalieu Engineering In 1979 William Towns collaborated with prototype vehicle builders at Mallalieu Engineering, Wootton, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, with a view to limited production. The Microdot prototype, built by William Towns on a cut-down Austin Mini chassis, was given opening doors and a longer nose, to accommodate the aluminium Reliant car engine, one of the smallest and lightest UK car engines then available, instead of the original hybrid proposal. Mallalieu Engineering was best known for making Bentley Specials, the Barchetta and Oxford, based on the Mark ...
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Minissima
The Minissima is a small concept city car that was designed by William Towns (as the Townscar) as his idea for a replacement for the Mini in 1972. It was displayed by BLMC on their stand at the 1973 London Motor Show after they bought the prototype from Towns. In common with the Mini it was designed around 10" wheels and the BMC A-Series engine. It is 30" (75 cm) shorter than the Mini and designed to park end-on to the curb (like the Smart Fortwo), having only one door - at the rear. It has four seats, two at the front, front facing, and two facing inwards at the rear. The Minissina design re-emerged a few years later as a prototype car for the disabled, adapted by engineering firm GKN Sankey by ex Ford engineer Fred Hart. During the engineering process, the layout changed to feature a central driving position in which a wheelchair user would enter through the back door using a fold-down rear ramp, and drive off. The styling was simplified by William Towns to suit mass ...
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Aston Martin DBS
The Aston Martin DBS is a grand tourer produced by the British manufacturer Aston Martin Lagonda Limited from 1967 to 1972. From 2007 to 2012 the DBS name was resurrected for a new model, the Aston Martin DBS V12. DBS (1967–1972) The DBS was intended as the successor to the Aston Martin DB6, although the two ran concurrently for three years. Powered by a straight-six engine, it was produced from 1967 until 1972, eventually being phased out in favour of the Aston Martin V8. It was a larger coupé than the DB6, with four full sized seats, but was powered by the same 4.0 L engine as the previous car. Claimed engine output was , but a ''Vantage'' engine option used Italian made Weber carburettors, increasing output to an advertised . In 1966, Touring of Milan was commissioned to design the DB6 replacement and produced two prototypes before the design house went out of business. The DB6 was incapable of accommodating the planned V8-engine and had to be replaced. William T ...
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Gaydon
Gaydon is a civil parish and village in Warwickshire, England, situated between Leamington Spa and Banbury. In the 2001 census, the parish had a population of 376, increasing to 446 at the 2011 Census. The village is at the junction of the B4100 (former A41) and B4451 roads, a mile from Junction 12 of the M40 motorway, and is two miles north-east of Kineton. Gaydon village Gaydon is crossed by only two roads of any importance — the Kineton to Southam road, which runs in a north-easterly direction, and the Warwick and Banbury road which crosses it at right angles. Gaydon has one pub called the Malt Shovel. The Gaydon Inn, which is no longer a pub is due to be redeveloped for housing, stands close to the point of intersection of the two roads. The village centre is situated along a short loop south of the junction. The Gaydon Inn was famous in the 18th century for its association with violent highwaymen. The Malt Shovel pub, together with the adjacent community shop, is l ...
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