Gerald Palmer

Gerald Marley Palmer (30 January 1911 – 23 June 1999) was a British car designer.

Background Born in England, Palmer grew up in Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, where his father was chief engineer to the state-run railways. Another source says that he was born in Rhodesia on 30 January 1911. In 1959, he married Diana Varley (died 1989), whom he had met at Scammell's drawing office. They had one daughter.

Career Apprenticeship Palmer returned to England in 1927 where he started an engineering apprenticeship with Scammell, the commercial vehicle builders,

Starting with a clean sheet, Palmer went on to design the Jowett Javelin. The first prototype car was finished on 25 August 1944 and production started in late 1947, with cars reaching the first customers in 1948. The car was well received but was expensive and beyond the resources of the small Jowett company. There were problems with the engine and production volumes never reached the planned level. Body production had been outsourced to Briggs and they turned them out as ordered even though sales did not match resulting in a large stockpile and drain on Jowett's cash flow.

Morris again

In 1949, Palmer left Jowett and returned to Morris where he took up the job of designer of a new range of cars for M.G., Riley and Wolseley. The results of this were the M.G. ZA Magnette and Wolseley 4/44.

BMC In 1952, Palmer was made chief engineer of the British Motor Corporation (BMC), where he oversaw the design and launch of the Riley Pathfinder and Wolseley 6/90, also being involved in the design of the MGA Twin-cam engine. He became a director but, in 1955, fell foul of chairman Leonard Lord and was dismissed. He was succeeded by Alec Issigonis.

Vauxhall Palmer then joined Vauxhall Motors, working with the team responsible for the Victor and Viva ranges.

Retirement Palmer retired in 1972, but did not give up on innovation. He claimed in his book, The Auto Architect, that he designed the Oxford Hoist, a device for assisting disabled people. He also restored and competed in a Type 44 Bugatti and a 2-litre Mercedes-Benz.

Publications or