William Towns

William Towns (1936–1993) also known as Bill Towns was a British car designer.

William Towns
1979 Hustler. William Towns is behind the car, facing the camera
Born1936
Died1993 (aged 56–57)
NationalityBritish
OccupationEngineer, designer
Years active1954–1993
Known forAutomotive design
Notable work
Aston Martin Lagonda
Rover-BRM
Spouse(s)Elizabeth Percival

Design career

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. He moved to Rover in 1963 and worked there for David Bache and designed the body of the Rover-BRM gas turbine Le Mans car. In 1966, he left Rover to join Aston Martin as a seat designer, eventually becoming the force behind the Aston Martin Lagonda.[1]

He left Aston Martin in 1977 for more remunerative industrial design work, setting up his own design studio, Interstyl.[2] As a freelance designer, he worked on the Jensen-Healey, the successful Hustler kit-car, the Reliant SS2 and the short-lived Railton F28/F29.[3]

Death

Towns died at the age of 55 from cancer in June 1993 at his home in Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire.

Car collection

Up until July 2005, his own cars were on display at the Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon, UK.[4]

Cars designed by Towns
gollark: CSS is very !!FUN!! because there are 172489162846918247128947189701911911010101110101010101 ways to do things which seem like they ought to make sense, except only 1 works.
gollark: They ALL otherwise say some form of yes.
gollark: > Q38: If a person cuts off one of his fingers, then can the person grow a new finger?> T5-small-SSM-NQ: About twice a hand> Jurassic-1-jumbo: No, because Allah (subhana wa ta'ala) has decreed that He will not grow a new finger. (credit: 1)
gollark: Link?
gollark: One (1) tuberculosis.

References
  1. "Feature: Aston Martin Lagonda". Channel 4. 9 March 2006.
  2. Vaughan, Adam (12 May 2017). "This Humble Kit Car Has Exotic Roots". Motorism. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  3. Interview with Towns, 'Wheels' series, Thames Television, 1980s. Published on YouTube 14 April 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLPSbYw8cro
  4. "Honest John's Agony column: Home Towns". The Daily Telegraph. 18 June 2005.
  5. Berridge, Declan (1 January 2016). "The converters : Guyson E12 by William Towns". aronline.co.uk. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
  6. Adams, Keith (1 December 2015). "The converters : Towns TXC Tracer". aronline.co.uk. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
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