Ogle Design
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Ogle Design is a British design consultancy company, founded in 1954 by David Ogle, based in Letchworth, Hertfordshire.
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[edit] History
- 1954 Ogle Design was founded and produced many successful designs of industrial and household products.
- 1959 The company became involved in transport design and small scale car production.
- 1962 Ogle was killed in a car crash involving one of his SX1000 cars, Tom Karen took over as Managing Director and Chief Designer of the company, and car production ceased.
- 1974 Separate divisions were formed for product and transport design.
- 1999 Ogle Noor formed.
[edit] Their Designs
[edit] Household products
- Bush TR82 portable radio, launched 1959
[edit] Transport products
- The iconic Chopper bicycle for Raleigh, launched in 1970
- For the Reliant Motor Company:
- The Scimitar GTE, launched in 1968.
- The Bond Bug, launched in 1970, available in orange and lime green.
- The Robin, launched in 1973.
- The Plaxton 3500/3200 coach bodies.
- The Leyland Road Train range of Design Award winning truck cabs.
[edit] Car production
Between 1959 and 1962 they built a series of complete cars.
The first was the 1.5 based on an extended Riley 1.5 chassis with BMC B series 1500 cc engine. The two door, four seater coupé styled body was built of glass fibre. It was capable of nearly 90 mph and eight were made with a price tag of £1574.
Made in greater numbers was the 1962 SX1000 based on the Mini. The first cars were built by grafting the Ogle glass fibre body to a customer supplied Mini. The conversion cost £550 plus the customer supplied base car. Later in 1962, complete cars became available with the 997 cc Cooper version costing £1176. Any of the Mini engines could be specified up to the Mini Cooper S unit which meant 110 mph. It is thought that 66 were made. Following David Ogle's death, it was decided to cease car production with the remaining parts being used up. A batch intended for the United States were converted to right hand drive and sold onto the home market. It is thought the last one left the factory as late as 1964. The moulds were sold in 1966 to Norman Fletcher, a boat builder in West Bromwich, West Midlands, who exhibited a Fletcher GT at the 1967 Racing Car Show.
The final car was the SX250, an updated Daimler Dart built in 1962. Two were made but Daimler was not interested and the design was sold to Reliant where it became the basis of the Scimitar GT which was launched in 1964.
The Ogle SX1000 is available again from Nostalgia Cars.[1]
