William Towns
Encyclopedia
William Towns (1936–1993) was a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
car designer.
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
Hillman Hunter
Rootes Arrow was the manufacturer's name for a range of cars produced under several badge-engineered marques by the Rootes Group from 1966 to 1979. It is amongst the last Rootes designs, developed with no influence from future owner Chrysler...
. He moved to Rover
Rover (car)
The Rover Company is a former British car manufacturing company founded as Starley & Sutton Co. of Coventry in 1878. After developing the template for the modern bicycle with its Rover Safety Bicycle of 1885, the company moved into the automotive industry...
in 1963 and worked there for David Bache
David Bache
David Ernest Bache was a British car designer. For much of his career he worked with Rover.-Early life:Bache was born in Worcestershire, the son of Aston Villa and England footballer Joe Bache...
and designed the body of the Rover-BRM
Rover-BRM
The Rover-BRM was a prototype gas turbine-powered racing car, jointly developed in the early 1960s by the British companies Rover and British Racing Motors .Rover had already been working with gas turbines for road vehicles since World War II...
gas turbine Le Mans car. In 1966 he left Rover to join Aston Martin
Aston Martin
Aston Martin Lagonda Limited is a British manufacturer of luxury sports cars, based in Gaydon, Warwickshire. The company name is derived from the name of one of the company's founders, Lionel Martin, and from the Aston Hill speed hillclimb near Aston Clinton in Buckinghamshire...
as a seat designer, eventually becoming the force behind the Aston Martin Lagonda
Aston Martin Lagonda
The Aston Martin Lagonda was a luxury four-door saloon built by Aston Martin of Newport Pagnell, England, between 1974 and 1990. A total of 645 were produced. The name was derived from the Lagonda marque that Aston Martin had purchased in 1947...
.
He left Aston Martin after the Lagonda for more remunerative industrial design work in 1977, but as a freelance designer, worked on the Jensen-Healey
Jensen-Healey
The Jensen-Healey is a two-seater convertible sports car that was originally produced between 1972 and 1976 by Jensen Motors, Ltd. Roughly 10,000 were produced at West Bromwich, England. A related fastback, the Jensen GT was introduced in 1975.-Design:...
, the successful Hustler
Hustler (car)
The Hustler was a Mini-based project designed in 1978 by Aston Martin Lagonda designer William Towns and later developed into a kit car by his Interstyl design studio....
kit-car, the Reliant SS2 and the short-lived Railton
Railton (car)
Railton was a British car maker based in Cobham, Surrey between 1933 and 1940. There was an attempt to revive the marque by a new company between 1989 and 1994 in Alcester, Warwickshire....
F28/F29.
Towns died from cancer in June 1993, at his home in Moreton-in-Marsh
Moreton-in-Marsh
Moreton-in-Marsh is a town and civil parish in northeastern Gloucestershire, England. The town is at the crossroads of the Fosse Way Roman road and the A44. The parish and environs are relatively flat and low-lying compared with the surrounding Cotswold Hills...
, Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
.
Up until July 2005 his own cars were on display at the Heritage Motor Centre
Heritage Motor Centre
The Heritage Motor Centre is a British motor museum and research centre, located adjacent to the Jaguar Land Rover Gaydon Centre near Gaydon in Warwickshire, England. The centre is open to the public, and houses a collection of important vehicles, celebrating Britain's motoring heritage...
, Gaydon
Gaydon
Gaydon is a parish and village in Warwickshire, England, close to Leamington Spa. In the 2001 census, the parish had a population of 376.The village is at the junction of the B4100 and B4451 roads, a mile from Junction 12 of the M40 motorway, and is two miles north-east of Kineton.-Motor...
, UK.
Some of his cars
- 1964 Rover-BRMRover-BRMThe Rover-BRM was a prototype gas turbine-powered racing car, jointly developed in the early 1960s by the British companies Rover and British Racing Motors .Rover had already been working with gas turbines for road vehicles since World War II...
gas turbine car (with David BacheDavid BacheDavid Ernest Bache was a British car designer. For much of his career he worked with Rover.-Early life:Bache was born in Worcestershire, the son of Aston Villa and England footballer Joe Bache...
) - 1967 Aston Martin DBSAston Martin DBSThe Aston Martin DBS is a GT car produced by the British manufacturer Aston Martin Lagonda Limited. Originally produced from 1967–72, it featured in the 1969 James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service...
- 1972 Jensen-HealeyJensen-HealeyThe Jensen-Healey is a two-seater convertible sports car that was originally produced between 1972 and 1976 by Jensen Motors, Ltd. Roughly 10,000 were produced at West Bromwich, England. A related fastback, the Jensen GT was introduced in 1975.-Design:...
- 1972 MinissimaMinissimaThe Minissima is a small concept city car that was designed by William Towns as his idea for a replacement for the Mini in 1972 and displayed by BLMC on their stand at the 1973 London Motor Show after buying the prototype from Towns....
- 1974 Aston Martin LagondaAston Martin LagondaThe Aston Martin Lagonda was a luxury four-door saloon built by Aston Martin of Newport Pagnell, England, between 1974 and 1990. A total of 645 were produced. The name was derived from the Lagonda marque that Aston Martin had purchased in 1947...
- 1976 MicrodotMicrodot (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...
- 1976 Aston Martin LagondaAston Martin LagondaThe Aston Martin Lagonda was a luxury four-door saloon built by Aston Martin of Newport Pagnell, England, between 1974 and 1990. A total of 645 were produced. The name was derived from the Lagonda marque that Aston Martin had purchased in 1947...
Series 2 - 1978 HustlerHustler (car)The Hustler was a Mini-based project designed in 1978 by Aston Martin Lagonda designer William Towns and later developed into a kit car by his Interstyl design studio....
- 1980 Aston Martin BulldogAston Martin BulldogThe Aston Martin Bulldog, styled by William Towns, was a one-off testbed vehicle produced by Aston Martin in 1979. Originally, it had been intended to be a limited run of about 25. The code name for the project was DP K9, named after a Doctor Who character. It was built in the UK, but is a...
- 1985 TXC Tracer
- 1988 Reliant SS2
- 1989 RailtonRailton (car)Railton was a British car maker based in Cobham, Surrey between 1933 and 1940. There was an attempt to revive the marque by a new company between 1989 and 1994 in Alcester, Warwickshire....
F28 Fairmile and F29 Claremont