Stag quiz of sorts

[Paul Kelley]

Just a bit of light entertainment but hopefully also informative about the Stag, I'm kicking off what could become a thread if people want it to continue. First up:
What is the Stag connection to these 3 topics: Haileybury School, 'Chelsea Tractors', jet-engined cars? And why?
Paul

[CJG]

Just googled the above three questions to death, the answers appear well hidden although may have got one. Wont spoil it for the rest Paul.
Who doesn't like a quiz.

[davidf]

The last two gave me a thought, and a google confirmed the connection with the first. When do we declare our answers?

[Paul Kelley]

Ah, yes, when to declare your answer. Well, I suggest when you feel ready to! I don't want to make it too complicated with rules, it will only cause arguments and then we'll need a referee and that will cause more issues and so then we'll need an arbitrator etc etc!!

[CJG]

Ah, yes, when to declare your answer. Well, I suggest when you feel ready to! I don't want to make it too complicated with rules, it will only cause arguments and then we'll need a referee and that will cause more issues and so then we'll need an arbitrator etc etc!!

What have you started Paul ( can and worms springing to mined )

On the plus side its good to have a bit of fun and something lighthearted on the forum of late, good on you! Paul.

[Paul Kelley]

Yes, lighthearted was the idea CJ, but hopefully also informative about Stag-related connections. Cheers, Paul

[mallardstag]

What is the Stag connection to these 3 topics: Haileybury School, 'Chelsea Tractors', jet-engined cars? And why?
Paul

Charles King? See https://www.theguardian.com/business...-king-obituary

[Paul Kelley]

Correct, Mallardstag! Charles Spencer King, known as 'Spen' King, is best known for designing the original Range Rover (aka Chelsea Tractor as the favoured 4x4 of well-heeled mums to ferry kids to school). He went to the fancy public school, Haileybury, allegedly hated it, then trained as an engineer at Rolls Royce before joining his two uncles who just happened to own Rover Cars. He worked on the experimental Rover jet-engined cars of the 1950s. When Rover and Triumph became part of British Leyland, in 1968 Triumph's chief engineer (Harry Webster) got moved to Austin and Spen King took over at Triumph. He oversaw the final stages of the Stag design and commissioned its production, crucially increasing the V8 from an original 2.5 to 3.0 litres. He was also a great skier and sadly died following a cycling accident, aged 85. Here's a thought - did the Stag also not get the Rover V8 because Spen needed it for the Range Rover - also launched in 1970? We'll probably never know, and maybe just as well as the TV8 has its own character and, of course, sound.
Paul

[davidf]

'Chelsea Tractors', jet-engined cars - that says Rover, so the connection with the Stag has to be Spen King. A bit more Googling finds his education at Haileybury School, and confirms his involvement in the Rover jet-engined cars.
I think more of a connection with the Chelsea tractor clue is not so much the original Range Rover, which mainly was used for its original purpose, but later evolutions expressed in this quote from Spen King:- "vehicles like the Range Rover he created were "never intended as a status symbol but later incarnations of my design seem to be intended for that purpose"

The whole debate about the Rover V8 for the Stag can be further examined here https://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/the...met-spen-king/

Triumph had already designed the engine in the mid 60's (not as an after-thought by welding two Dolly engines together - thank you for that myth, Jeremy Clarkson) as a strategic way of developing a family of engines for the future of Triumph, giving scope for a range of capacities from 1.5 litres to 3.5 litres through the slant 4 and V8 sharing many common components, but as importantly, common technologies.
On top of that, there was not the capacity to build Rover V8's for all the Rover applications and the Stag (which was supposed to sell 20,000 per year).

Thanks to Paul for the quiz - a light hearted way to open an interesting discussion.

Any more?

[Paul Kelley]

Thanks David for the extra info and the link to the Spen King interview. It's easy to forget the difficult times in which the Stag was being built: shortage of investment funding for development, poor industrial relations, fragmented production sites brought about by various car companies, e.g. Triumph and Rootes group, having been pressured and bribed by Government in the 60s to set up in high unemployment locations. Also, the Stag never had a dedicated production line, but was built in batches on other car's lines. I've also heard it quoted that it is now reckoned you need up to 50 man hours to properly assemble the Stag's V8, but the shop floor was targeted on 11.5 hours! No wonder casting sand got left in the cylinder heads.

OK, anyone want to pick up the quiz topic baton?!

Paul