Frederick Leslie Hart (born 12 September 1914, died 16 July 2008) is best known as an automotive engineer for

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

in England. Initially working for the City of London, he joined Ford during World War II as a draughtsman and continued with Ford after the war to become chief engineer in 1963. In 1969 Hart moved to

GKN Sankey GKN Ltd is a British multinational automotive and aerospace components business headquartered in Redditch, England. It is a long-running business known for many decades as Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds. It can trace its origins back to 1759 a ...

to become technical director. He retired in 1979.

Early years

Hart was educated in Walthamstow grammar school and undertook engineering classes at night school. Initially working for the city of London, he then became a

landscape architect A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water manageme ...

. In 1940 he joined Ford as part of the war effort to become a draughtsman and took part in the design of armoured vehicles. Hart married Margaret Lydia Bennett in 1943, and they had a son named John.

Career

After the war, Hart continued with Ford where he became executive engineer of light cars in 1957, his first major project being the

Ford Anglia The Ford Anglia is a C-segment, small family car that was designed and manufactured by Ford of Britain, Ford UK. It is related to the Ford Prefect and the later Ford Popular. The Anglia name was applied to various models between 1939 and 1967. ...

in 1959. He played a major role in the development of the new

Ford Cortina The Ford Cortina is a medium-sized family car that was built initially by Ford of Britain, and then Ford of Europe in various guises from 1962 to 1982, and was the United Kingdom's best-selling car of the 1970s. The Cortina was produced in fi ...

launched in 1962 and is credited with specifically developing the successful "aeroflow" ventilation system. He was promoted to chief engineer in 1963 and was involved with the

Ford Corsair The name Ford Corsair was used both for a car produced by Ford of Britain between 1963 and 1970, and for an unrelated Nissan-based automobile marketed by Ford Australia between 1989 and 1992. Ford Consul Corsair (1963–1965), Ford Corsair V4 ...

and the 1966

Zephyr In European tradition, a zephyr is a light wind or a west wind, named after Zephyrus, the Greek god or personification of the west wind. Zephyr may also refer to: Arts and media Fiction Fiction media * ''Zephyr'' (film), a 2010 Turki ...

and

Zodiac The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north or south (as measured in celestial latitude) of the ecliptic, the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. The p ...

. In 1969 Hart left Ford to join GKN Sankey in Telford as their technical director and to develop a car specifically for drivers who used wheelchairs, originally known as the

Minissima The Minissima is a small concept city car that was designed by William Towns (as the Townscar) as his idea for a replacement for the Mini in 1972. It was displayed by BLMC on their stand at the 1973 London Motor Show after they bought the prot ...

and later as the Elswick Envoy. The project won a

Design Council The Design Council, formerly the Council of Industrial Design, is a United Kingdom charity incorporated by Royal Charter. Its stated mission is "to champion great design that improves lives and makes things better". It was instrumental in the pro ...

commendation in 1978 but was too expensive for government support and was cancelled. GKN sold the rights to Elswick, and a small number were built and sold as the Envoy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hart, Fred 1914 births 2008 deaths Ford people British automotive engineers