Charles Spencer King
(Charles Spencer) Spen King (1925-2010) of Rover
1925 Born
Educated at public school
1942 Apprentice at Rolls-Royce where he worked on developing gas turbines
1945 Joined Rover, working for his uncles Maurice Wilks and Spencer Wilks
1950 Involved in the development of the Marauder sports car
1952 Helped to design the Jet One, gas turbine powered car, which broke the speed record for gas turbine cars.
1959 Became chief engineer for new vehicle projects at Rover
1963 Responsible for the development of the Rover 2000
1966 Began work on the Range Rover as a more comfortable Land Rover, which was launched in 1970 but King was subsequently disappointed by the widespread use of these vehicles in urban environments.
1967 Rover was incorporated into Leyland
Began work on engines for Triumph sports cars including the Stag, TR6, TR7 and TR8.
Appointed director of design and chairman of BL Technology. In charge of developing hatchbacks such as the Metro and Maestro.
1985 Left BL and founded his own design consultancy
See Also
Sources of Information
- The Times, July 08, 2010