For those of you who admire the line of any post war Triumph, spare a
thought for Arthur Ballard.
Arthur was Chief Body Engineer, whose task was to take the designer's
concept on paper and turn it in reality on a chassis. This has to be
one of the most difficult aspects of car design and over the years,
Arthur was the man at Standard Triumph who did just that.
Paul Richardson has just informed me that Arthur died on Tuesday of
this week. The particularly sad fact (though is it?) is that his wife
also died on Monday. She had been diagnosed as having a particularly
pernicious form of brain tumour and a week or so earlier, Arthur had
had a severe stroke. When told of the death of his wife, to whom he
was totally devoted, it is the opinion of their daughter that Arthur
just gave up and no longer wanted to live. He was 89 years of age
and had been with The Standard Motor Company since 1934.
John Mac
|