> FOTters
>
> I learnt from Martin Cox (brother of the late Peter Cox) at the Triumph
Day
> at Gaydon yesterday that John Turnbull, designer at Standard Triumph,
> passed away early last week. John was responsible for the chassis
redesign
> on the abortive 20TS prototype which, with his new chassis and Walter
> Belgrove's re-styled rear end, became the first TR2.
>
> John was a friend of my late father Ken who, like many others in the
> company, had the greatest of respect for him.
>
> John left Standard Triumph circa 1957 to join the design team of the Ford
> Company. For the last seventeen years of his working life, before his
> retirement in 1984, he enjoyed Chief Engineer status on many projects
> within the motor industry. One of these involved the birth of the Rover
> SD1. It is interesting to note that he was in charge of building 15
> different prototypes of the SD1 before the final design was
> settled.
>
> During the war, John, with the then Chief Engineer of the Standard Motor
> company Ray Turner, designed the Standard 'Series AA' prototype car,
which
> was very futuristic. It had a rear mounted, air cooled engine, had three
> front seats (staggered in the 'cloverleaf' design) with a 'central'
driving
> position.
>
> Thankfully, I interviewed John about a year and a half ago, almost
filling
> two tapes, so his full Triumph story is not lost. He was a delightful man
> who will be sadly missed by his family and friends.
>
> Paul
>
>
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