Roy Lunn

British engineer who directed Ford’s GT project after the failed Ferrari acquisition talks and later held senior engineering roles at Jeep and American Motors Corporation.

Born in Richmond, England, on 26 June 1925, Lunn studied mechanical and aeronautical engineering at Kingston Technical College and served as an RAF pilot. After the war he worked on turbo-jet gas-generator development at the Royal Aircraft Establishment in Farnborough. He joined AC Cars in 1946, was Aston Martin’s assistant chief designer from 1947 to 1949, then worked at Jowett before joining Ford of England in 1953.

At Ford, Lunn set up Birmingham Research; its first project was the Anglia 105E. He moved to the United States in 1958, where he headed Advanced Vehicle work. His team produced the mid-engine Mustang I running prototype in 100 days in 1962. After the Ferrari acquisition talks collapsed in 1963, Henry Ford II gave Lunn management of the GT40 programme for Le Mans.

To accelerate the GT40 programme, Lunn used the Lola Mk6 GT as a development car; the first cars were fabricated at Slough under John Wyer. All three GT40s retired at Le Mans in 1964 and none remained after seven hours in 1965. Lunn remained director of the project while racing teams managed the track programmes. Ford’s Mk II won in 1966 with Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon; Dan Gurney and A. J. Foyt won in 1967 in the Mk IV.