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Range Rover pioneer Charles Spencer King dies at 85
Wednesday 30th June 2010, 1:47PM BST.
Charles Spencer 'Spen' King with the Range Rover he helped to create
The man who pioneered the Range Rover has died – less than two weeks after it celebrated its 40th anniversary.
Charles Spencer ‘Spen’ King, one of the British motor industry’s most famous engineers, died due to injuries suffered as his bicycle was in collision with a van near his home in the Midlands.
He was aged 85.
He joined Rolls-Royce as an apprentice in 1942 and at the end of the war moved Rover, the firm run by his uncles, Spencer and Maurice Wilks, to work on turbine-powered prototypes.
He was promoted to head of new vehicle projects in 1959, leading the teams that created cars like the Rover 2000 and SD1.
When Rover acquired Triumph, he took the lead in creating cars such as the Triumph Stag, Triumph TR6 and Triumph TR7 but his crowning glory was the 1970 Range Rover – among the first cars to blend luxury with off-road capability.
The car was an instant hit with well-heeled buyers and its still going strong in its third generation today. Mr King was proud of the car but never intended it to become a status symbol.
He told Land Rover Owner International in the last interview before his death: “It’s very nice to look back on something that you did a long time ago and know that it’s been successful.”
Mr King was appointed chairman of BL technology in 1979 and produced environmentally-friendly prototypes far ahead of their time. In 1990 he was honoured by Land Rover with a special edition two door Range Rover named the CSK, after his initials.
He died at the weekend, two weeks after the accident near his home in Warwickshire.
Land Rover spokeswoman Laura Juniper said: “Charles Spencer King – known to us as ‘Spen’ has been an instrumental part of our company’s history.
“As Rover’s engineering chief for new vehicle projects, Spen came up with the original Range Rover concept.
He was the nephew of Land Rover founders Spencer and Maurice Wilks and will be known as one of Britain’s great all-time engineers.”
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