Roy D. Haynes (born c. 1925) is a British automobile designer. Haynes worked for Ford as Model Line Director for Ford of Europe where he was responsible for the design of the 1966 Cortina MkII and worked on the design for the 1966 Ford Zodiac/Zephyr Mk4. In 1967, he was recruited to BMC by Joe Edwards, working from the Pressed Steel Fisher studios in Cowley. While at BMC, Haynes put forward a plan to build models on just five platforms and reduce the number of brands to make the company profitable. His first job was to work on the shortly to be released

Austin Maxi The Austin Maxi is a medium-sized, 5-door hatchback family car that was produced by Austin and later British Leyland between 1969 and 1981. It was the first British five-door hatchback. British Leyland built and sold the Maxi alongside the 1971 ...

, where he redesigned the front and rear ends. Further work was done on facelifting the successful AD016 Austin/Morris 1100 range, which failed to appear after the formation of the British Leyland (BL) in 1968 and was replaced by the

Austin Allegro The Austin Allegro is a small family car that was manufactured by the Austin-Morris division of British Leyland from 1973 until 1982. The same vehicle was built in Italy by Innocenti between 1974 and 1975 and sold as the Innocenti Regent. The Al ...

. Further projects included the 1969 Mini Clubman facelift for the

Mini The Mini is a small, two-door, four-seat car, developed as ADO15, and produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors, from 1959 through 2000. Minus a brief hiatus, original Minis were built for four decades and sold during ...

which had been planned as a hatchback in 1968 and designed the 1971

Morris Marina The Morris Marina is a front-engined, rear-wheel-drive small family car that was manufactured by the Austin-Morris division of British Leyland from 1971 until 1980. It served to replace the Morris Minor in the Morris product line, which ...

, which were accepted by the management team at BL with minimal modifications, unexpected as he was up against designs by Pininfarina and Michelotti. Further projects included Project Condor which was a sports car based on the Morris Marina. Haynes left BL in 1969, just 16 months after joining from Ford's, as the new management team closed the Pressed Steel design studio at Cowley, moving the department to

Longbridge Longbridge is an area of Northfield in the south-west of Birmingham, England, located near the border with Worcestershire. Public Transport Longbridge is described as a hub for public transport with a number of bus services run by Kev's Co ...

. It was reported that the journey from his home to Essex was a step too far. Haynes was replaced as chief stylist of, what was by then,

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 partly ...

in 1970 by

Harris Mann Harris Mann (born April 1938) is a British car designer. He took over from Roy Haynes (designer), Roy Haynes as chief stylist at British Leyland in 1970. Biography Mann was born in London in 1938, and attended engineering school in City of ...

, whom he had taken with him to BMC from Ford's. In 1976, Roy Haynes formed ElecTraction Ltd

Maldon, Essex Maldon (, locally ) is a town and civil parish on the Blackwater estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon District and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. It is known for Maldon Sea Salt which is produce ...

and designed several electric vehicles for the company through his other company Roy Haynes Automotive International, including the Rickshaw, Tropicana and the concept Precinct but the company closed in 1979. In 2012 in an interview with This is Total Essex, Roy Haynes was promoting his idea for a new London Airport design for Foulness Island, in Essex.

References

Ford designers British automobile designers Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth uncertain 1920s births Living people {{UK-engineer-stub