Spen King: The pragmatist
Charles Spencer ‘Spen’ King was very much a Rover man, an inevitability since his uncles, Maurice and Spencer Wilks ran the company. After a brief period apprenticed to Rolls-Royce, King joined the family firm after WW2 and over time was responsible for some ground-breaking cars, even enduring the Leyland years when he was moved over to Triumph… although he would have harsh words about product quality during that period.
Unlike Issigonis who pursued his one good idea long beyond its sell-by date, King had a greater appreciation of the importance of the end customer and was happy to design products accordingly
