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

car designer Automotive design is the process of developing the appearance (and to some extent the ergonomics) of motor vehicles - including automobiles, motorcycles, trucks, buses, coaches, and vans. The functional design and development of a modern motor ...

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 Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/tusks, horn/ antler ...

. He moved to

Rover Rover may refer to: People * Constance Rover (1910–2005), English historian * Jolanda de Rover (born 1963), Dutch swimmer * Rover Thomas (c. 1920–1998), Indigenous Australian artist Places * Rover, Arkansas, US * Rover, Missouri, US * ...

in 1963 and worked there for

David Bache David Ernest Bache (14 June 1925 – 26 November 1994) was a British automobile designer. For much of his career he worked with Rover. Early life Bache was born in Mannheim, Germany, the son of Aston Villa and England footballer Joe Bache who ...

and designed the body of the

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 (BRM). The car is part of the collection at the British Motor Museum. Rover had alread ...

gas turbine

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le ...

car. In 1966, he left Rover to join

Aston Martin Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC is an English manufacturer of luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Steered from 1947 by David Brown, it became associated wi ...

as a seat designer, eventually becoming the force behind the

Aston Martin Lagonda The Aston Martin Lagonda is a full-size luxury four-door saloon manufactured by British manufacturer Aston Martin between 1974 and 1990. A total of 645 were produced. The name was derived from the Lagonda marque that Aston Martin had purchas ...

. He left Aston Martin in 1977 for more remunerative industrial design work, setting up his own design studio, Interstyl. As a freelance designer, he worked on the Jensen-Healey, the successful

Hustler Hustler or hustlers may also refer to: Professions * Hustler, an American slang word, e.g., for a: ** Con man, a practitioner of confidence tricks ** Drug dealer, seller of illegal drugs ** Male prostitute ** Pimp ** Business man, more gener ...

kit-car, the Reliant SS2 and the short-lived Railton F28/F29.

Death

Towns died at the age of 56 or 57 from cancer in June 1993 at his home in

Moreton-in-Marsh Moreton-in-Marsh is a market town in the Evenlode Valley, within the Cotswolds district and Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Gloucestershire, England. The town stands at the crossroads of the Fosse Way Roman road (now the A429) and the ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) 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. The county town is the city of ...

Car collection

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

Gallery

File:AstonMartinDB-S-1969-flanc.jpg, 1969

Aston Martin DBS The Aston Martin DBS is a grand tourer produced by the British manufacturer Aston Martin Lagonda Limited from 1967 to 1972. From 2007 to 2012 the DBS name was resurrected for a new model, the Aston Martin DBS V12. DBS (1967–1972) The DBS w ...

File:Minissima_1972.jpg, 1972 Minissima Image:Microdot 1976.jpg, 1976

Microdot A microdot is text or an image substantially reduced in size to prevent detection by unintended recipients. Microdots are normally circular and around in diameter but can be made into different shapes and sizes and made from various materials su ...

File:Aston Martin Lagonda.jpg, 1988

Cars designed by Towns

* 1964

gas turbine car (with

) * 1967

* 1972 Jensen-Healey * 1972 Minissima * 1974

* 1974 Guyson E12 * 1976

* 1976

Series 2 * 1978

* 1980

Aston Martin Bulldog The Aston Martin Bulldog, styled by William Towns, is a British, one-off concept vehicle produced by Aston Martin in 1979. The code name for the project was DP K901. Initially, a production run of 15–25 cars was planned, but the project was ...

* 1985 TXC Tracer * 1988 Reliant SS2 * 1992 Reliant Scimitar Sabre * 1989 Railton F28 Fairmile and F29 Claremont

References

External links

Biography

Interview with William Towns on Wheels TV programme
1993 deaths British automobile designers 1936 births People from Moreton-in-Marsh Deaths from cancer in England {{automobile-bio-stub