OLIVER WINTERBOTTOM (1944-2020)
Beloved Jaguar, TVR and Lotus designer passes away, aged 76
Tributes have poured in following the sad death on 6 November of Oliver Winterbottom, who has left a lasting legacy on the industry.
Landing a prestigious five-year apprenticeship at Jaguar proved fortuitous for Oliver who, in 1961, had grand plans to become a body stylist. He quickly progressed to the former Daimler machine shop and then into fighting vehicle manufacture, eventually moving to the experimental body shop. He contributed to the 420G, and then the XJ4 (which became the XJ6) after meeting stylist Doug Thorpe in Jaguar’s local, the Sportsman’s Arms. Oliver’s interim work on the stillborn XJ21, previously considered as an E-type replacement, sadly came to naught. It was a prelude to a later bitter blow at Lotus where, in the early Eighties, the X90/X100 Elan – in which he played a significant role – was supplanted by Peter Stevens’ front-wheel drive M100.
Acclaim was not shy when it came to Oliver, however. In 1966 at the Coventry College of Art, he won the Concorso Grifo d’Oro Bertone competition, picked out of 5000 entries by the great Italian himself.
Five years later, restless at Jaguar, he joined Lotus as manager of body styling and design, turning his predecessor John Frayling’s M50 proposal into the Elite sports estate, launched in 1974. The Elite begat the saloon Éclat and, later, the Colin Spooner-engineered Excel.
It would not be the last time Oliver’s designs formed the basis of an automotive canon; after a stint at Colin Chapman’s boat manufacturer, MCL Marine, TVR welcomed Oliver as chief engineer in 1978, where his Tasmin sired an entire generation of ‘wedge’ models.
In 2005, after ten years of running his own consultancy, Oliver retired, becoming a beloved guest of honour at Lotus and TVR group gatherings and appearing at classic shows.
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