Roy Lunn, 'Godfather of the Ford GT40,' dies at 92

Roy Lunn, the "Godfather of the Ford GT40," died on August 5 at the age of 92.

"All of us at Ford are saddened to hear of the passing of Roy Lunn," said Raj Nair, executive vice president and president of North America, Ford Motor Company. "His legacy as the godfather of the original Ford GT40 was well known throughout the company, and he helped bring Ford a performance car that is just as legendary today as it was in the 1960s. The team that put together the Ford GT of today was inspired by the work of Roy and his team and we will be forever grateful for the work they started. We like to think that his GT40, and our GT of today, are both cars that showcased the best of what Ford Motor Company can do."

Born in Richmond, England in 1925, Lunn earned degrees in mechanical and aeronautical egineering at Kingston Technical College and was a pilot in the Royal Air Force. When World War II ended, he transferred to the Royal Aircraft Establishment in Farnborough and worked on the design and development of gas turbine generators for the first Turbo-Jet aircraft.

He started his automotive career at AC CARS as an engineer in 1946 and, in the late 1940s, became the assistant chief designer (1947-49) at Aston Martin and built two DB2s that competed at Le Mans. After three years as chief designer and engineer at Jowett Cars, he joined Ford of England in 1953 as an engineer and product-planning manager.

In 1958, Lunn moved to the U.S. and Ford Central Advanced Engineering. Between 1958-69, some of the projects he was responsible for included the Mustang I, Big Red, the Superhighway truck, Flying Car Concept, the mid-engineered Mustang and all the GT40 variants. He left Ford in 1969 to become vice president of engineering at Kar-Kraft, where he oversaw production of the Boss 429 Mustang and development of Mustang concepts with mid-mounted 429 engines. In 1971 Roy was recruited by American Motors Corporation (AMC) to become the technical director of engineering for Jeep.

Among Lunn's credits are the 1983 Jeep Cherokee XJ, the first American-branded vehicle to be manufactured in China, and the AMC Eagle, the first production four-wheel-drive car. He also developed the first SCCA Spec-racing car in 1983, the SCCA Sports Renault.

Lunn served as chairman of the technical board of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) in 1982-83 and elected a Fellow of the Society in 1983. After retiring from AMC in 1985 he joined AM General as vice president of engineering to head the Humvee military compliance program for the Pentagon.

He is survived by his wife of 70 years, Jeanie, and two daughters, two granddaughters, a son-in-law and one great-grandson.