Axe began his career in 1959 with the Rootes Group where he progressed first to chief stylist and then to design director. Rootes became part of Chrysler Europe in 1966. Axe led the styling efforts on almost all of the Chrysler/Rootes/Simca products of the early to mid-1970s; the car models involved included the Simca 1308/Chrysler Alpine and Chrysler Horizon which won European Car of the Year in 1976 and 1978, respectively. Following Chrysler Europe's collapse in 1977, Axe moved to Detroit to head Chrysler's styling studios in the United States.
In 1982, Axe returned to the United Kingdom, joining British Leyland (BL) where he took over as styling director from David Bache (who had been sacked from BL owing to disagreements with the company boss Harold Musgrove over the still under development Austin Maestro), and was responsible for the building of a new styling studio at their Canley, Coventry plant; the former opened in 1982. He also recruited a new team. Early projects from the new studio included Project XX (the Rover 800) and the MG EX-Econcept car.
In 1991, Axe became head of the Warwick-based vehicle design consultancy Design Research Associates (DRA), which resulted from a management buyout of Rover's design studio in 1986. DRA was acquired by Arup in 1999.[3]
Axe was also involved in the design of the 1984 Austin Montego. The design had been initiated prior to his joining BL, but he was able to make last-minute changes to it shortly before it entered production. Cosmetic changes – which aimed to improve the by-then dated design – included black trim along the car's waist line. Due to BL's financial problems, the release of the Montego, and the related David Bache-designed Austin Maestro hatchback had been delayed by several years.
Personal lifeedit
After selling DRA to Arup in 1999, Axe moved to Florida. He died on 5 October 2010 after battling cancer for two years.[5][6]
This article about an engineer, inventor or industrial designer from the United Kingdom or its predecessor states is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
royden, september, 1937, october, 2010, british, designer, bornroyden, axeseptember, 1937scunthorpe, lincolnshire, englanddied5, october, 2010, 2010, aged, florida, united, statesnationalitybritishoccupationcar, designerknown, forchrysler, alpinerover, 800spou. Royden Axe September 1937 1 5 October 2010 was a British car designer Roy AxeBornRoyden AxeSeptember 1937Scunthorpe Lincolnshire EnglandDied5 October 2010 2010 10 05 aged 73 Florida United StatesNationalityBritishOccupationCar designerKnown forChrysler AlpineRover 800SpousePatChildrenSon Chris and daughter Jane Contents 1 Early life and career 1 1 Examples of Axe s car designs 2 Personal life 3 Bibliography 4 ReferencesEarly life and career editAxe was born in Scunthorpe and attended Scunthorpe Grammar School now St Lawrence Academy 2 Axe began his career in 1959 with the Rootes Group where he progressed first to chief stylist and then to design director Rootes became part of Chrysler Europe in 1966 Axe led the styling efforts on almost all of the Chrysler Rootes Simca products of the early to mid 1970s the car models involved included the Simca 1308 Chrysler Alpine and Chrysler Horizon which won European Car of the Year in 1976 and 1978 respectively Following Chrysler Europe s collapse in 1977 Axe moved to Detroit to head Chrysler s styling studios in the United States In 1982 Axe returned to the United Kingdom joining British Leyland BL where he took over as styling director from David Bache who had been sacked from BL owing to disagreements with the company boss Harold Musgrove over the still under development Austin Maestro and was responsible for the building of a new styling studio at their Canley Coventry plant the former opened in 1982 He also recruited a new team Early projects from the new studio included Project XX the Rover 800 and the MG EX E concept car In 1991 Axe became head of the Warwick based vehicle design consultancy Design Research Associates DRA which resulted from a management buyout of Rover s design studio in 1986 DRA was acquired by Arup in 1999 3 Examples of Axe s car designs edit nbsp Chrysler Alpine European Car of the Year in 19761967 Sunbeam Rapier and Sunbeam Alpine fastback coupes 1970 Hillman Avenger Plymouth Cricket 1975 Chrysler Alpine Talbot 1976 Hillman Hunter 1977 Iran Khodro Paykan facelift 1979 Chrysler Horizon Talbot 1980 Talbot Tagora 4 1985 MG EX E concept car nbsp Rover 214 R8 1986 Rover CCV concept car 1986 Rover 800 developed in conjunction with the Honda Legend 1989 Rover 200 400 R8 1994 Bentley Java concept car Axe was also involved in the design of the 1984 Austin Montego The design had been initiated prior to his joining BL but he was able to make last minute changes to it shortly before it entered production Cosmetic changes which aimed to improve the by then dated design included black trim along the car s waist line Due to BL s financial problems the release of the Montego and the related David Bache designed Austin Maestro hatchback had been delayed by several years Personal life editAfter selling DRA to Arup in 1999 Axe moved to Florida He died on 5 October 2010 after battling cancer for two years 5 6 Bibliography editA Life in Style Autobiography of Roy Axe ISBN 0 9566845 0 5References edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Roy Axe Footnotes FreeBMD Entry Info Retrieved 18 April 2017 World famous car designer Roy Axe loses his battle against cancer Scunthorpe Telegraph 14 October 2010 Archived from the original on 22 August 2013 Retrieved 2 June 2013 Driving progress with computer aided engineering Arup Archived from the original on 15 May 2006 Retrieved 14 June 2006 Cropley Steve 5 October 2010 Royden Axe 1937 2010 Autocar Retrieved 2 June 2013 Steve Cropley 5 October 2010 Royden Axe 1937 2010 Autocar Retrieved 8 October 2010 Adams Keith 5 October 2010 Roy Axe 1937 2010 ARonline live Archived from the original on 7 July 2012 Retrieved 8 October 2010 Sources McComb F Wilson 2 August 2023 MG by McComb Motorbooks International ISBN 978 0 7603 1989 5 nbsp This automobile biographical article is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte nbsp This article about an engineer inventor or industrial designer from the United Kingdom or its predecessor states is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Roy Axe amp oldid 1169505169, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
