GERRY COKER

1922-2020

Gerry Coker, the engineer responsible for the shapes of the Austin-healey 100 and the ‘Frogeye’ Sprite, died on 14 November 2020, aged 98.

Joining Healey in 1950 from aircraft manufacturer Armstrong-whitworth, the former Rootes apprentice was recruited as chief body engineer for the Nashhealey. “I had no thoughts of styling a car,” he admitted in a 2007 interview. “Although I’d spent all my life drawing cars, ever since I could hold a pencil.”

After designing minor aspects of the Healey 3-litre Sports Convertible, his talent was exploited in earnest when he was asked in 1951 to draw up the body for the Nash-healey coupé that finished sixth at Le Mans.

In 1952 the brief for what became the Austin-healey 100 landed on his desk. As well as the car’s lines, he was responsible for the detailing. He went on to work on the 100S, the two fixed-head 100 coupés and on a streamliner for record-breaking at Bonneville.

In 1956 and ’57 he laid down the shape for the Sprite, again paying attention to detail – the arrow-shaped badge was inspired by the clip of his Parker pen. He toyed with pop-up headlamps on a mechanical linkage, but before a solution could be found he had left Healey. It was finally decided to mount the headlamps in bonnet-top pods, giving rise to the ‘Frogeye’ look.

In 1957 Coker became an engineer in Chrysler’s design department, moving to Ford in 1960 from where he retired in 1987 as a senior design engineer.