Benjamin Bowden

Benjamin George Bowden (3 June 1906 – 6 March 1998) was a British industrial designer, who is known mostly for his work on automobiles and bicycles. Bowden designed the coachwork of Healey's Elliott, an influential British sports car. He was also the designer of the Spacelander, a space-age bicycle which was commercially unsuccessful when in production, but has since become a collector's item. He received violin training at Guildhall, and completed a course in engineering at Regent Street Polytechnic.

Automobile design

In 1925 Bowden began working as an automobile designer for the Rootes Group. By the late 1930s, Bowden was chief body engineer for the Humber car factory in Coventry. During World War II, he designed an armored car which was used by Winston Churchill and George VI.

Bowden designed the body of Healey's Elliott, which, in 1947, was the first British car to break the 100 mph barrier. Working with Achille Sampietro who created the chassis, Bowden drew the initial design for the auto directly onto the walls of his house.

The Spacelander

In 1952 Bowden emigrated to Windsor, Ontario before moving to the United States. Financial troubles from the distributor forced Bowden to rush development of the Spacelander, which was released in 1960 in five colours: Charcoal Black, Cliffs of Dover White, Meadow Green, Outer Space Blue, and Stop Sign Red. The bicycle was priced at $89.50, which made it one of the more expensive bicycles on the market. In addition, the fibreglass frame was relatively fragile, and its unusual nature made it difficult to market to established bicycle distributors.

Bowden designed a third iteration of the bicycle, called the 300, but only a small number of prototypes were ever made.

Beginning in the 1980s, there was a resurgence of interest in the Spacelander as a collector's item. Two bicycle enthusiasts, John Howland and Michael Kaplan, purchased the rights to the Spacelander name from Bowden, and have manufactured a small number of reproductions and replacement parts. The first reproduction was sold in 1988 for $4,000. The reproduction's design has been modified to improve durability.