It was on this day in 1994 that celebrated British car designer David Bache passed away at the age of 69 from cancer.

The son of legendary Aston Villa and England striker Joe Bache, David started his career at Austin but it was with Rover where he made his name.

Officially classed as a ‘stylist’ (to differentiate the role from design engineer), Bache earned widespread acclaim for refreshing the look of a number of Rover’s staple models, and is credited for giving the Land Rover its revised shape.

With his 1963 Rover P6, Bache was acknowledged to have broken new ground from both an external and internal styling perspective and gained due recognition when the vehicle was the inaugural winner of the European Car of The Year award.

After Rover was absorbed into British Leyland, Bache’s creative impact was stymied somewhat by internal politics but he was involved in the design of the hugely successful Austin Metro before setting up his own design company which worked outside the motor industry as much as in it.

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