Richard Parryjones, 1951-2021

Richard Parry-jones, the engineer credited with giving Ford class-leading driving dynamics, has died in a tragic accident aged 69. Inspired to study vehicle engineering through his love of rallying, Welshman Parry-jones joined Ford in 1969 straight out of university. In the early Eighties, he was part of a team tasked with countering the challenge of the VW Golf GTI with the Escort MKIII. RPJ’S response was the XR3, which achieved performance through light weight rather than extra power and was easily assembled on ordinary production lines, making it highly profitable.

A string of poorly-received Fords in the late Eighties brought RPJ into greater prominence as a troubleshooter within Ford. He benchmarked the 1993 Mondeo against the Peugeot 405 and Nissan Primera to ensure it had class-leading handling, and worked with Sir Jackie Stewart and Malcolm Wilson to endow Fords with raceand rally-inspired driving dynamics. Through this, he created the ’50-metre test’ – ensuring that the car impresses its abilities on its driver within a drive of that short distance.

The car RPJ became most closely associated with was the Ford Focus. He developed its ‘control blade’ rear suspension, and involved Malcolm Wilson and Nicky Grist in its development. The result was a car that’s still considered the class benchmark 23 years later – and sporty driving characteristics are now expected of most hatchbacks as a result. Volkswagen repeatedly offered Parry-jones a job, but he remained loyal to Ford, retiring from the motor industry in 2007.

He then moved into politics, advising governments on engineering matters, and chairing automotive groups. He was also a nonexecutive director of both GKN and Cosworth.