Rest in Peace, Len
Thank you for all the tributes sent in to Len:
Charles Helps of the Historic Lotus Register says: " Len, the surviving partner of Williams and Pritchard, had been a good friend to HLR for many years and his bodywork still lives on on many of our cars. RIP Len, many of your works will live on as a reminder of you. "
John Sprinzel, historic racer and Sebring Sprite maker says: " I was so very sorry to hear that Len Pritchard passed away. Williams and Pritchard were such a very large part of my years in the Sprite business, and they built both our Speedwell GT and record breaker, and my own Sebring Sprites. Len was not just a very great body man, but also a friend over many of those years. He never gave one any problems, just set about putting Frank Costin's sketches into superb shape, and also my own scribblings, mostly on the back of cigarette packets, which he transformed into those wonderful Sebring Sprites. I always say we built just six, and now there are well over seventy of them! He and Charlie built so many of the wonderful sports car bodies of the fifties and sixties, mostly for impecunious enthusiasts - which most of the tuners and racers of those days were certain to be. That he was still building stuff into the twenty first century is just incredible.He was always respected, and now he will be greatly missed. My deep sympathies to the family. Aloha, John Sprinzel"
Don Stark who owns the former Saturn GT says: "I have just learned through Bill Steagall of the Lotus 23 registry that Mr. Pritchard has passed on. My condolences to his family."
Richard Hinton, historic racer and Lotus expert says: "Oh what sad news. Williams and Pritchard were not just body builders, they were true artists in sheet metal sculpture. Their work stood out from others for style, elegance and proportion. They put their own stamp on other people's drawings, formers or body bucks with a tremendous quality of line, shape, form and fit and finish and above all the highest quality of finished product. Their interpretation of Lotus' designs were without doubt in no small way responsible for the desirability of Lotus cars (and others they worked for) and for the styling cues that remain to this day in current Lotus body shapes. Great work from a brilliant partnership ... Len and Charlie were clearly greatly talented at the highly skilled craft of forming aluminium sheet into complex compound shapes. What a strange society it is when this week a shark in a glass tank of formaldehyde was auctioned for £11M , when to my eye one of Len Pritchard's Lotus 11 bodies displays a vastly greater ( only about a million times! ) level of artistic skill. Rest in peace Len."
Martin Ingall, historic racer and Sebring Sprite expert says: "I was very sorry to hear we have lost another stalwart of the Sprite brigade in Len Pritchard. I never met him but, of course, knew that it was his wonderful gift for turning sketches into beautifully crafted car bodies that gave us these beautiful toys. My sincere condolences to all his family and friends."
David Matthews of the World Wide Healeys Website says: "I was saddened to hear of the passing of Len Pritchard, his expertise in fibreglass and aluminium is renowned. He built some early prototype bodies for Geoff Healey ... My sincere condolences to Len's family."
Mike Marsden, the Mark Nine Registrar of the Historic Lotus Register says: "I was sad to hear of Len's death, the end of the Williams & Pritchard story. I can only echo what others have said about W & P's artistry. They may have worked to others' drawings and sketches, but there was always a lot of Williams & Pritchard in the end result. They seem to have had an innate feeling for line and proportion in everything they produced. And they were practical and down-to-earth as well. They certainly provided "added value" to the early Lotuses on which they worked. Len seemed to be one of nature's gentlemen, and remarkably modest and self-effacing about his talents. I'm so sorry he is no longer with us, but his memory will live on with all those exquisitely crafted aluminium bodyshells. RIP Len, Artist in Aluminium. My sympathies go to his family."
Steve Foster of Fibresports says: "I was sad to learn of Len's passing. David Matthews kindly rang me. I remember Len and Gladys with the utmost respect and fondness.They helped me when I did not have much, seemingly more worried that the Sebring GT moulds would go to a good home and a competent user than squeezing the last drop of blood out of me on the price that I paid. We exchanged Xmas cards for some years before losing touch. I am pleased that Gladys is still around and my thoughts are with her. It will be hard for her, I shall drink a toast to his memory; a true gentleman and a legend within his own lifetime. Here's to you Len."
Tom Barnard, Len Pritchard and David Kelsey
David Kelsey, partner with John Teychenne in the Progress Chassis Company that made all the early Lotus chassis frames and worked closely with Len throughout their careers, says: I was deeply saddened to hear of Len Pritchard's death. He and Charlie were good friends to me when we were building the first few hundred Lotuses. Len built a body on my buck for my Kelsey GT 2/4, which is still extant and being restored, and made some bits for my Gardner Douglas Cobra Replica. We kept in touch over the years, and at one time Len wanted us to jointly undertake the manufacture of a sports car based on the Mark Nine Jaguar, the idea being to take the body shell off and replace it with a new aluminium body. After many conversations, we decided we couldn't fund the enterprise, and it was dropped. Len and Charlie had a magical touch with aluminium and elektron, turning flat sheet into articles of beauty and precision, mostly by eye. Their skills with a wheeling machine were unsurpassed, and their welding, using strip cut off the sheet, was amazing. I have to say, however, that their technique with steel fusion welding wasn't up to much, being mostly confined to Dzus fastener mountings on the rear wheel arches of Lotus Sixes. But then, I was a lousy aluminium welder! The last time I saw Len was at a Historic Lotus Club dinner when the accompanying picture of Len, Tom Barnard and me was taken. I have also attached a picture of my Kelsey GT 2/4 outside Marler Haley Studios in Barnet. Somehow, the car looked better unpainted and not quite finished!
The Kelsey GT 2/4
Len's Farewell
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