Don Hayter, lauded automotive designer pivotal in the creation of the MGB, died today (9 October 2020), at the age of 94.
Beginning his education at Abingdon School in Oxford, Hayter won the Bennett Scholarship to Pembroke College before taking an apprenticeship in aircraft design at the Pressed Steel Company in Cowley, following the outbreak of WW2.
He worked on a number of aircraft including the Avro Lancaster during the wartime years before migrating to car production, having a hand in creating body panels for cars ranging from the Jaguar XK120 to the ZA Magnette.
By 1952 Hayter had taken a position at Aston Martin, contributing to work on the DB2/4, before returning to Oxford ahead of the firm’s move from Feltham to Newport Pagnell, becoming a draughtsman at MG.
He arrived at Abingdon during the early years of MGA production and began work on the Twin Cam, designing, among other things, the exhaust access panels, before being given the task of readying the Coupé’s body for full-scale production.
