Ninth award goes to Land Rover Richard Woolley
Design Studio Director
The Tom Pryce Trophy commemorates the young Welsh racing driver of Formula 1 fame killed tragically in a freak accident at the South African Grand Prix of 1977. Gohebwyr Moduro Cymru-Welsh Motoring Writers award the Trophy annually, in memory of Tom Pryce, to recognise an outstanding contribution to the world of transport.
Last year saw the first posthumous award to commemorate the centenary of the partnership between Charles Stuart Rolls and Frederick Henry Royce. Collected by Simon Harding-Rolls, on behalf of the family, it now stands on display at Plas yr Hendre, Llangattock. Other recipients have included power boat ace Jonathan Jones, Richard Parry-Jones CBE (Ford), David Richards (Prodrive) and Professor D Garel Rhys OBE
This year the award was made to Richard Woolley, Design Studio Director at Land Rover. Ninth recipient of the trophy, Richard Woolley is the second Ford Group member to join the WMW Roll of Honour. Richard Parry-Jones, Ford Group Vice-President was present together with Tom Malcolm (Ford UK) and James Andrew (Land Rover) to witness the event and congratulate Richard Woolley on his achievement.
Richard Woolley was born in Pontardawe and went to Gowerton Boys Grammar school. Into cars (and motocycles) from an early age, he turned down a place at Bath University to study Architecture – much to the dismay of his parents – and went to Swansea College of Art and Design (as it was known then). There was no specific academic route into car design at that time but he went to work for Austin-Rover and, apart from two years in Hamburg with Airbus Industrie, stayed there.
When Land Rover was acquired by Ford’s Premier Automotive Group in 2000, Geoff Upex, Head of Design, persuaded Richard to join and move to the new HQ at Gaydon. As Studio Design Director, he has responsibility for Freelander and Range Rover. The award this year was made with particular reference to Richard’s latest project: Range Rover Sport. Announced ‘Scottish SUV of the Year’ just before the Welsh award, further accolades and prizes are already piling up.
This year’s inscription on the Welsh Crystal trophy replica reads: ‘Dylunydd Disglair Ceir Cain’ – ‘Gifted Designer of Fine Cars’. It is a fitting description of Richard’s place in British car design. Look at the post-war work of John Blatchley (Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud and Silver Shadow) or Gerald Palmer (Riley Pathfinder, Wolseley 4/44; 6/90 & 15/50, MG Magnette ZA/ZB) and you see the same talent for proportion and detail.
The same flair for elegant design is evident in the work of David Bache – who Richard Woolley holds in particularly high regard. His work on Rovers of the 60s and 70s (P4, P5 & P6) not forgetting the original iconic Range Rover of 1970 is second to none. All these really knew how to finish off a car – especially towards the rear and tail.
Richard’s own Rover 75 of 1998 is a masterful piece of work. S-Type Jaguar and Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph, launched at the same time, were good looking cars but it could be argued the Rover 75 is the most resolved and balanced design. Detailing is first class and can be compared to the work of Lyons and Sayer. From C-pillar back, especially, execution is outstanding and the car has the look of a classic (and classy) rear wheel drive machine despite its transverse FWD layout.
This is what Richard Woolley brings to Land Rover. His brief is to re-interpret some of the company’s iconic products for the future. Range Rover Sport evokes elements of the original Range Rover together with Range Rover II but, built on Discovery chassis-frame architecture, constitutes a discrete and distinct model between Discovery 3 and Range Rover III. It takes Land Rover into a new market segment, the Sport SUV.
Tauter lines together with a lot of careful work around the C-pillar and rake of the rear window have endowed the Sport with real sporting poise and presence. Proportion and balance are all there, of course – minimal front overhang and a “rakish” rear upper structure sit very happily with an elegant tail which is very much the Range Rover hallmark. On the move too, the Range Rover Sport looks good and possesses striking dynamic elegance.
This, of course, is just the beginning. There is a lot in the pipeline and Richard Woolley looks set to produce some very exciting work for the future: “ceir cain yn wir” – fine cars indeed.
Huw Thomas
The Tom Pryce Trophy 2005 Award honouring Design Studio Manager at Land Rover, Welshman Richard Woolley