Roy Axe: 1937-2010

[Lord Sterling]

Just found out about this. Roy Axe, former Design Director for Rootes Group, Chrysler UK, Chrysler in the USA and Rover, passed away last night.

 

Full story here:

 

http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/2010/10 ... 1937-2010/

 

Very very sad news, rest in piece, Roy.

[warren t claim]

R.I.P Roy. Such a young age.

[HereHareHere]

I always really liked Roy Axe on the basis of his reaction to the Maestro, when a pre-production example was presented to him just after he took over as Austin-Rover design director.

 

I was ushered into a room and stood in front of this object and asked, ‘What do you think of that?’ It was the Maestro. I couldn't believe my eyes. The cars whole stance and proportion were wrong. The spiky lines and all the facets and scollops made the surfaces look hollow and weak. Design was moving into more rounded forms and this car was back in the old folded paper era. Its proportions were peculiar too. Its front wheels were almost under the A pillar, producing an enormous front overhang, and there was virtually no rear overhang so the car had a very awkward stance. The sill was very high off the ground and looked even higher because of the way it sloped under.

 

In short it was a complete shambles. I thought so and said so. The interior was even worse. The fascia panel was like a wet codfish, all floppy. It was engineering of the fifties not of the eighties. The car was 20 years old when it came out. To find a car that was two decades out in its thinking was just mind boggling. When I said, ‘We have got to start again’, it was made clear to me that the car was only four months off production so there was nothing anybody could do.

 

In the end it wasn't an unpleasant car to drive, but things fell off it all the time.

[Rusty Pelican]

Another great mind lost , R I P

On another sad note Norman Wisdom has died , bit of a Rootes fan himself and had a few Imps in his time . Here he is with his 998 Stiletto

( SORRY TO STEEL THE THREAD )

 

[boobydoo]

Nothing but respect for Mr Axe. What a great, clean, crisp design the Chrysler Alpine was!!

[Mr H Sceptre]

Thats sad news.

 

Think he took over as Head of Design at AR just in time to iron out some of the 'idiosyncracies' of the Montego if I remember rightly.

 

Did a decent job on the Rover 800 though - a crisp design.

 

RIP

[Justin Case]

Yes, he was not only a great designer, the Alpine was my favourite, but he was also able to build a good team around him. He will be sadly missed,

 

RIP Roy Axe.

[RedSparrow]

Sad news indeed.

He seems to have been one of the rare gems in the British car industry who knew what he was doing, as well as being a nice chap by all accounts.

[Angrydicky]

RIP. The Rover 800 was a lovely looking car.

[dollywobbler]

Aye. Sunbeam 'Fastback' Rapier, Chrysler Alpine, Rover 800 - all some of my favourite cars.

 

Also, if you think the Montego was a bit questionable - it looked like this before Axe got involved!

[Guest]

Have to say he did a fantastic job of fixing the Montego design, always thought it was a lot more handsome than the Maestro.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Roy Axe - a bit of a legend, but he weren't no Harris Mann!

 

Did Roy do the Rover 800? Not a bad looker in Mark 1 form I thought. I didn't think the Maestro was a bad looker in 1983. It was quite modern with the big plastic bumpers but retained a few Allegro/Maxi cues. It looked good as an MG.

[Guest EccentricRichard]

Roy Axe - a bit of a legend, but he weren't no Harris Mann!

 

Did Roy do the Rover 800? Not a bad looker in Mark 1 form I thought. I didn't think the Maestro was a bad looker in 1983. It was quite modern with the big plastic bumpers but retained a few Allegro/Maxi cues. It looked good as an MG.

 

RIP Roy. Didn't realise he did the Seraph/Arnage, only knew him for his West Midlands shiteboxes. Still, he weren't no David Bache, nor were Harris Mann (possibly the worst designer ever).