Charles Spencer "Spen" King (26 March 1925 – 26 June 2010) was a significant figure in the

Rover Company The Rover Company Limited was a British car manufacturing company that operated from its base in Solihull in Warwickshire. Its lasting reputation for quality and performance was such that its first postwar model reviewed by '' Road & Track'' i ...

and, after their takeover, in the

British Leyland Motor Corporation British Leyland was an automotive engineering and manufacturing conglomerate formed in the United Kingdom in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC), following the merger of Leyland Motors and British Motor Holdings. It was partl ...

After leaving school in 1942, he was first apprenticed to

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

. He joined Rover, run by his uncles

Maurice Maurice may refer to: People * Saint Maurice (died 287), Roman legionary and Christian martyr * Maurice (emperor) or Flavius Mauricius Tiberius Augustus (539–602), Byzantine emperor *Maurice (bishop of London) (died 1107), Lord Chancellor and ...

and

Spencer Wilks Spencer Bernau Wilks (26 May 189110 March 1971) was a British manager and administrator in the motor manufacturing industry. He served variously in positions including Managing Director, Chairman, and President of the Rover Company from 1929 unt ...

, in 1945 and worked initially on the gas-turbine powered JET1 and T3 experimental prototypes. In 1959, he became chief engineer of new vehicle projects and is best known for his leadership of the teams that developed the advanced Rover P6 series, introduced as the 2000 in 1963, and the hugely successful

Range Rover Range may refer to: Geography * Range (geographic), a chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear, complex mountainous or hilly area (cordillera, sierra) ** Mountain range, a group of mountains bordered by lowlands * Range, a term used to i ...

(of which a "CSK" special edition later celebrated his involvement) launched in June 1970. As well, he was responsible for the Rover-based

Marauder Marauder, marauders, The Marauder, or The Marauders may refer to: * A person engaged in banditry or related activity ** Piracy ** Looting ** Outlaw ** Partisan (military) ** Robbery ** Theft Entertainment * ''Marauder'', the second novel in the ' ...

sports car in 1950 and many Rover experimental and prototype vehicles. As Rover was taken over by the

Leyland Motor Corporation Leyland Motors Limited (later known as the Leyland Motor Corporation) was a British vehicle manufacturer of lorries, buses and trolleybuses. The company diversified into car manufacturing with its acquisitions of Triumph and Rover in 1960 and 1 ...

which subsequently became

British Leyland British Leyland was an automotive engineering and manufacturing conglomerate formed in the United Kingdom in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC), following the merger of Leyland Motors and British Motor Holdings. It was partl ...

(BL), he also led teams responsible for the

Triumph TR6 The Triumph TR6 is a sports car that was built by the Triumph Motor Company of England. While production began several months earlier, the TR6 was officially introduced in January as a 1969 model year vehicle. The last TR6 was produced on the 2 ...

Triumph Stag The Triumph Stag is a 2+2 sports tourer which was sold between 1970 and 1978 by the Triumph Motor Company, styled by Italian designer Giovanni Michelotti. Design and styling Envisioned as a luxury sports car, the Stag was designed to compete ...

and

Triumph TR7 The Triumph TR7 is a sports car manufactured in the United Kingdom from September 1974 to October 1981 by British Leyland Motor Corporation (BLMC), which changed its name to British Leyland (BL) in 1975. The car was launched in the United Stat ...

models as well as the innovative design of the 16-valve cylinder head used on the

Triumph Dolomite Sprint The Triumph Dolomite small saloon car was produced by the Triumph Motor Company division of the British Leyland Corporation in Canley, Coventry between October 1972 and August 1980. Background The Dolomite was the final addition to Triumph's ...

. Several other BL Group models were developed under his leadership but during a chaotic time for the British motor industry, King was frequently frustrated by the design compromises imposed by lack of adequate funding, and the poor quality of vehicles produced by an uncooperative workforce in the diverse and mainly outdated plants owned by the company. While chairman of BL Technology from 1979 he was responsible for developing a series of light, aerodynamic and technically advanced ECV (Energy Conservation Vehicle) experimental models (including the ECV3), features of which were incorporated into later BL Group products such as the

Rover K-series engine The Rover K-series engine is a series of internal combustion engines built by Powertrain Ltd, a sister company of MG Rover. The engine was a straight-four cylinder built in two forms, SOHC and DOHC, ranging from . Design history The K ser ...

, or adopted by other manufacturers. Spen King retired from the company in 1985. In 1992, Charles was appointed as a director of Coventry-based Land Rover specialist JE Engineering Ltd, where he continued until 2005. In 2004, he criticised SUV owners who drive their vehicles in urban areas, saying that vehicles like the

he created were "never intended as a status symbol but later incarnations of my design seem to be intended for that purpose". Spen King and his former Rover colleague Arthur Goddard extensively shared many of their views on the motor industry in 2010. The transcript of their discussion was published in the book ''They Found Our Engineer'' in 2011. It was announced on 28 June 2010 that King had died on 26 June after suffering complications following a cycling accident.

References

External links

The Unofficial Austin Rover Resource - Spen King Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:King, Spen 1925 births British automobile designers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire 2010 deaths Road incident deaths in England Cycling road incident deaths

References

Further reading

External links