Charles Spencer “Spen” King was apprenticed to Rolls-Royce in 1942 and joined Rover, run by his uncles Maurice and Spencer Wilks, in 1945. He worked first on the gas-turbine JET1 and T3 experimental prototypes and was responsible for the Rover-based Marauder sports car of 1950. In 1959 he became chief engineer of new vehicle projects.
He led the teams that developed the advanced Rover P6, introduced as the 2000 in 1963, and the Range Rover, launched in June 1970. When Rover was taken over by Leyland, and became part of British Leyland, he also led teams responsible for the Triumph TR6, the Stag and the TR7, and the innovative 16-valve cylinder head of the Dolomite Sprint. He and David Bache designed the SD1 fastback.
As chairman of BL Technology from 1979 he developed light, aerodynamic experimental cars, the ECVs, features of which reached later BL cars, including the K-series engine. King often complained of the compromises forced by lack of funds and of the outdated plants and poor quality of BL. He retired in 1985, was a director of the Coventry Land Rover specialist JE Engineering from 1992 to 2005, and died in 2010. In 2004 he criticised urban SUV owners, saying the Range Rover was “never intended as a status symbol”.
