Ron Hickman obituary
The prolific designer and inventor Ron Hickman, who has died aged 78 after a long illness, made his fortune from an idea for a simple but multifunctional bench with a gap down the middle to grip wood. The Workmate enabled DIY enthusiasts to saw through pieces of timber without using the edges of chairs and tables for support. The idea had come to him in 1961 when he accidentally sawed through the leg of an expensive Swedish chair while making a wardrobe. Nearly 70m Workmates have been sold since Black & Decker put Hickman's design into mass production in 1973.
That alone would be quite an achievement for one lifetime. I use mine nearly constantly, including clamping my Logitech Momo Force steering wheel controller to it when I drive in rFactor. Last night I was reading a book about composite fabrication techniques and couldn't help noticing the author's Workmate in use supporting a mould during the lay-up process.
But Hickman was also a Lotus employee from 1956 to 1967, and while there he designed two of the most iconic road vehicles of all time, the Elan and the Europa. A quick glance at the massive field of Spec Miatas at any SCCA club racing event is a testimony to the awesome legacy of the Elan. (The edition I have of the American Heritage College Dictionary has a picture of an Elan next to the definition of sports car.) And as the first mid-engined road car, the Europa was the progenitor of everything from 914s to Enzos and Murciélagos.
It seems worthwhile to give a little bit of space here to his memory.
1 comment:
What a legacy, indeed - Elan, Europa and Workmate? All things which we've needed or wanted.
You should paint your Workmate Lotus Green.
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