Roy Lunn
Encyclopedia
Roy Lunn is an engineer
in the automotive industry. He has forty-one years in the design development and production of vehicles and most notably served as the head of engineering at American Motors Corporation (AMC) from 1971 to 1987.
for two years as a pilot. Trained as a jig and a toolmaker and designer, he entered the auto industry in 1946 when AC Cars
hired Lunn as a designer. After one year, he moved to Aston Martin
as the assistant chief designer and was responsible for the DB2
program. He joined Jowett
in 1949 as chief designer and was involved in a variety of projects, including the first plastic-bodied car. Lunn also participated in automobile races. He was the co-driver with Marcel Becquart, winning the 1952 RAC International Rally.
in England and was assigned the task of starting a new Research Center in Birmingham
. This center made the first prototype
of what became the 105-E Anglia
. Lunn transferred to Ford plant in Dagenham
as the car’s product planning manager to follow the 105-E into mass production
.
He emigrated to the United States in 1958 and became manager of the Ford Advanced Vehicle center. He participated in the development of a 170000 pounds (77,111 kg) gross vehicle weight rating
highway truck
, as well as the Cardinal, Ford’s first front-wheel drive
automobile that became the 15-M Taunus
.
In 1962, Lunn became a U.S. citizen. In 1962, Lunn and his team of engineers developed a two-seat Ford Mustang I
prototype in just 100 days. He was also put on a special assignment to design and develop a GT racing car along with Ray Geddes and Donald N. Frey
. Ford's CEO, Henry Ford II
, conceived this racing program after his attempt to purchase Ferrari
collapsed. In 1963, under the direction of Lunn, work began on an all-new racecar, loosely based on the Lola GT. In April 1964, the Ford GT
was presented to the press for the first time.
As the pony car
wars continued, “Bunkie” Knudsen ordered Ford's large 429 cu in (7 l) Cobra Jet V8 into the 1969 Ford Mustang
's engine bay. Lunn was charged to build the "ultimate Mustang" and worked with Kar Kraft, the Brighton, Michigan
, specialty shop that built many of Ford's racing cars at the time, to produce the Boss 429
.
, which had recently been purchased by AMC from Kaiser. Lunn quickly advanced at AMC to the position of Vice President of Engineering. His notable accomplishments include the AMC Eagle
, the compact Jeep Cherokee (XJ)
, which was the first of the modern range of SUV vehicles, as well as the development of the AMC Straight-4 engine
and the Jeep 4.0 Liter engine that were based on the "modern era" AMC Straight-6 engine
.
As Jeep's chief engineer, Lunn orchestrated 4WD's next leap ahead when he joined the AMC Concord
body with a reconstituted Jeep driveline. According to former AMC chairman, Gerald C. Meyers
, "our initial reaction to Lunn's concoction was, 'What the hell is it?' The body was raised an extra four inches for transfer-case clearance and the wheel wells were wide open." This became the AMC Eagle, which was America’s first four-wheel drive car.
Lunn was also active in the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE International) becoming their technical committee chairman in 1983. He was elected a Fellow of the Society in 1985.
He completed his career at American Motors by forming and becoming President of Renault Jeep Sport to centralize all AMC and Renault racing activities in the U.S.
Lunn also designed and put into production a low-cost racing car for the Sports Car Club of America
(SCCA), of which more than 864 Sports Renault purpose-built race cars (later: Spec Racer Ford
) have been built.
In 1984 he headed the first American entry to drive the Paris-Dakar rally
. He retired in 1985 and was immediately called back to become vice president of engineering for the AM General
division of AMC. The High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle
military Jeep (Hummer) was going into production and Lunn was charged with overseeing the corrective actions to achieve acceptance by the U.S. Army.
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
in the automotive industry. He has forty-one years in the design development and production of vehicles and most notably served as the head of engineering at American Motors Corporation (AMC) from 1971 to 1987.
Early life
Roy Lunn was educated in England with degrees in mechanical and aeronautical engineering. Lunn was in the Royal Air ForceRoyal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
for two years as a pilot. Trained as a jig and a toolmaker and designer, he entered the auto industry in 1946 when AC Cars
AC Cars
AC Cars Group Ltd. formerly known as Auto Carriers Ltd. is a British specialist automobile manufacturer and one of the oldest independent car marques founded in Britain...
hired Lunn as a designer. After one year, he moved to Aston Martin
Aston Martin
Aston Martin Lagonda Limited is a British manufacturer of luxury sports cars, based in Gaydon, Warwickshire. The company name is derived from the name of one of the company's founders, Lionel Martin, and from the Aston Hill speed hillclimb near Aston Clinton in Buckinghamshire...
as the assistant chief designer and was responsible for the DB2
Aston Martin DB2
The Aston Martin DB2 is a sports car sold by Aston Martin from May 1950 through to April 1953. It was a major advancement over the 2-Litre Sports model it replaced, with a dual overhead cam straight-6 in place of the previously-used pushrod straight-4. The car featured a 2.6 L engine, and was...
program. He joined Jowett
Jowett
Jowett was a manufacturer of light cars and light commercial vehicles in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England from 1906 to 1954.-Early history:Jowett was founded in 1901 by brothers Benjamin and William Jowett with Arthur V Lamb. They started in the cycle business and went on to make V-twin engines...
in 1949 as chief designer and was involved in a variety of projects, including the first plastic-bodied car. Lunn also participated in automobile races. He was the co-driver with Marcel Becquart, winning the 1952 RAC International Rally.
Ford Motor Company
In 1953, Lunn joined Ford Motor CompanyFord Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
in England and was assigned the task of starting a new Research Center in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
. This center made the first prototype
Prototype
A prototype is an early sample or model built to test a concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated or learned from.The word prototype derives from the Greek πρωτότυπον , "primitive form", neutral of πρωτότυπος , "original, primitive", from πρῶτος , "first" and τύπος ,...
of what became the 105-E Anglia
Ford Anglia
The 1949 model, code E494A, was a makeover of the previous model with a rather more 1940s style front-end, including the sloped, twin-lobed radiator grille. Again it was a very spartan vehicle and in 1948 was Britain's lowest priced four wheel car....
. Lunn transferred to Ford plant in Dagenham
Dagenham
Dagenham is a large suburb in East London, forming the eastern part of the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham and located east of Charing Cross. It was historically an agrarian village in the county of Essex and remained mostly undeveloped until 1921 when the London County Council began...
as the car’s product planning manager to follow the 105-E into mass production
Mass production
Mass production is the production of large amounts of standardized products, including and especially on assembly lines...
.
He emigrated to the United States in 1958 and became manager of the Ford Advanced Vehicle center. He participated in the development of a 170000 pounds (77,111 kg) gross vehicle weight rating
Gross vehicle weight rating
A gross vehicle weight rating is the maximum allowable total weight of a road vehicle or trailer when loaded - i.e., including the weight of the vehicle itself plus passengers, and cargo....
highway truck
Truck
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, with the smallest being mechanically similar to an automobile...
, as well as the Cardinal, Ford’s first front-wheel drive
Front-wheel drive
Front-wheel drive is a form of engine/transmission layout used in motor vehicles, where the engine drives the front wheels only. Most modern front-wheel drive vehicles feature a transverse engine, rather than the conventional longitudinal engine arrangement generally found in rear-wheel drive and...
automobile that became the 15-M Taunus
Ford Taunus
The Ford Taunus is a family car sold by Ford in Germany and other countries. Models from 1970 onward were similar to the Ford Cortina in the United Kingdom...
.
In 1962, Lunn became a U.S. citizen. In 1962, Lunn and his team of engineers developed a two-seat Ford Mustang I
Ford Mustang I
The Ford Mustang I was a small, mid-engined , open two-seater with aluminium body work, that began life as a design exercise and eventually became the progenitor of the famed Ford Mustang...
prototype in just 100 days. He was also put on a special assignment to design and develop a GT racing car along with Ray Geddes and Donald N. Frey
Donald N. Frey
Donald Nelson Frey , was widely known as the Ford Motor Company product manager who, along with Lee Iacocca and others, developed the Ford Mustang into a viable project — and who ultimately supervised the development of the car in a record 18 months.At times besieged by autograph seekers for...
. Ford's CEO, Henry Ford II
Henry Ford II
Henry Ford II , commonly known as "HF2" and "Hank the Deuce", was the son of Edsel Ford and grandson of Henry Ford...
, conceived this racing program after his attempt to purchase Ferrari
Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. is an Italian sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1929, as Scuderia Ferrari, the company sponsored drivers and manufactured race cars before moving into production of street-legal vehicles as Ferrari S.p.A. in 1947...
collapsed. In 1963, under the direction of Lunn, work began on an all-new racecar, loosely based on the Lola GT. In April 1964, the Ford GT
Ford GT40
The Ford GT40 was a high performance sports car and winner of the 24 hours of Le Mans four times in a row, from 1966 to 1969...
was presented to the press for the first time.
As the pony car
Pony car
Pony car is an American class of automobile launched and inspired by the Ford Mustang in 1964. The term describes an affordable, compact, highly styled car with a sporty or performance-oriented image.-Origins of the breed:...
wars continued, “Bunkie” Knudsen ordered Ford's large 429 cu in (7 l) Cobra Jet V8 into the 1969 Ford Mustang
Ford Mustang
The Ford Mustang is an automobile manufactured by the Ford Motor Company. It was initially based on the second generation North American Ford Falcon, a compact car. Introduced early on April 17, 1964, as a "1964½" model, the 1965 Mustang was the automaker's most successful launch since the Model A...
's engine bay. Lunn was charged to build the "ultimate Mustang" and worked with Kar Kraft, the Brighton, Michigan
Brighton, Michigan
Brighton is a principal satellite city of Metro Detroit located in the southeast portion of Livingston County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 7,444. Brighton forms part of the South Lyon-Howell-Brighton Urban Area...
, specialty shop that built many of Ford's racing cars at the time, to produce the Boss 429
Boss 429
The Boss 429 was a high performance Ford Mustang variant offered in 1969 and 1970.-Overview:The Boss 429 is arguably one of the rarest and most valued muscle cars to date. In total there were 859 original Boss 429s made. The origin of the Boss 429 comes about as a result of NASCAR...
.
American Motors
Lunn joined American Motors in 1971 as the director of engineering for JeepJeep
Jeep is an automobile marque of Chrysler . The first Willys Jeeps were produced in 1941 with the first civilian models in 1945, making it the oldest off-road vehicle and sport utility vehicle brand. It inspired a number of other light utility vehicles, such as the Land Rover which is the second...
, which had recently been purchased by AMC from Kaiser. Lunn quickly advanced at AMC to the position of Vice President of Engineering. His notable accomplishments include the AMC Eagle
AMC Eagle
The AMC Eagle is a compact-sized four-wheel drive passenger vehicle that was produced by American Motors Corporation . The AMC Eagle line of vehicles inaugurated a new product category of "sport-utility" or crossover SUV....
, the compact Jeep Cherokee (XJ)
Jeep Cherokee (XJ)
The Jeep Cherokee is a unibody compact SUV. It shared the name of the original full-size SJ model, but without a body-on-frame chassis, it set the stage for the modern SUV. Its innovative appearance and sales popularity spawned important imitators as other automakers began to notice that this...
, which was the first of the modern range of SUV vehicles, as well as the development of the AMC Straight-4 engine
AMC Straight-4 engine
The American Motors Corporation straight-4 engine was used by a number of AMC, Jeep, and Dodge vehicles from 1984-2002.*For an outline of all engines used by AMC see -Development:...
and the Jeep 4.0 Liter engine that were based on the "modern era" AMC Straight-6 engine
AMC Straight-6 engine
The American Motors Corporation straight-6 family of engines was used by a number of AMC and Jeep vehicles from 1964 through 2006.-195.6:American Motors' first straight-six engine was the...
.
As Jeep's chief engineer, Lunn orchestrated 4WD's next leap ahead when he joined the AMC Concord
AMC Concord
The AMC Concord is a compact car produced by the American Motors Corporation for the 1978 through 1983 model years. The Concord replaced the AMC Hornet and to some extent the mid-size AMC Matador, discontinued after 1978 in a market moving to downsized automobiles...
body with a reconstituted Jeep driveline. According to former AMC chairman, Gerald C. Meyers
Gerald C. Meyers
Gerald C. Meyers, former chairman and CEO of American Motors Corporation is an industrialist, author, lecturer, and management consultant.-Career:...
, "our initial reaction to Lunn's concoction was, 'What the hell is it?' The body was raised an extra four inches for transfer-case clearance and the wheel wells were wide open." This became the AMC Eagle, which was America’s first four-wheel drive car.
Lunn was also active in the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE International) becoming their technical committee chairman in 1983. He was elected a Fellow of the Society in 1985.
He completed his career at American Motors by forming and becoming President of Renault Jeep Sport to centralize all AMC and Renault racing activities in the U.S.
Lunn also designed and put into production a low-cost racing car for the Sports Car Club of America
Sports Car Club of America
The Sports Car Club of America is a club and sanctioning body supporting road racing, rallying, and autocross in the United States. Formed in 1944, it runs many programs for both amateur and professional racers.-History:...
(SCCA), of which more than 864 Sports Renault purpose-built race cars (later: Spec Racer Ford
Spec Racer Ford
Spec Racer Ford is a class of racing car used in Sports Car Club of America and other series road racing events. The Spec Racer Ford, manufactured and marketed by SCCA Enterprises , is a high performance, closed wheel, open cockpit, purpose-built race car intended for paved road courses, such as...
) have been built.
In 1984 he headed the first American entry to drive the Paris-Dakar rally
Dakar Rally
The Dakar Rally is an annual rally raid type of off-road automobile race, organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation...
. He retired in 1985 and was immediately called back to become vice president of engineering for the AM General
AM General
AM General is an American heavy vehicle manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana. It is best known for the civilian Hummer and the military Humvee, that is assembled in Mishawaka, Indiana...
division of AMC. The High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle
High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle
The High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle , better known as the Humvee, is a military 4WD motor vehicle created by AM General. It has largely supplanted the roles formerly served by smaller Jeeps such as the M151 MUTT, the M561 "Gama Goat", their M718A1 and M792 ambulance versions, the CUCV,...
military Jeep (Hummer) was going into production and Lunn was charged with overseeing the corrective actions to achieve acceptance by the U.S. Army.