Ted Cutting

Edward John 'Ted' Cutting(11 October 1926 – 22 March 2012) was a British automotive engineer. He designed the body, engine, chassis, suspension and fully engineered theAston Martin DBR1,winner of the1959 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Early life

Cutting was born inClapham,Londonand educated at Kingston Technical School.

Career

Cutting began his career aged 15 as a draughtsman with the KLG spark plug company. In 1946 he joined theAllard Motor Companywhere he designed his first complete car and in 1949 moved toAston Martin.On joining Aston Martin he took part in theDB2re-design and worked withEberan von EberhorstonDB3,DB3SandDP Lagonda V12cars. In 1955 became Chief Designer for racing cars, producing theDBR1,DBR2andDBR3sports racingcars and theDBR4andDBR5Formula Onecars. In 1961 he became Chief Designer for the company withTadek Marekthe Chief Engineer andHarold Beechthe Technical Director, all working together underJohn Wyerand ultimatelyDavid Brown.From 1962 as Chief Designer his Project racing carsDP212,DP214andDP215were conceived purely as prototype racing cars, particularly for long-distance races, unique vehicles to gain maximum publicity. DP215 was recorded at 319.6 km/h (198.6 mph) on theMulsanne Straightin practice atLe Mansand remains the fastest 6 cylinder front engine Aston ever made.

After leaving Aston Martin in the early 1960s, he joined the Glacier Bearing Company designing large bearings for steam turbines and was named on Company patents.

In 1966 he joined theFord Motor Companyas a race car design engineer and initially began work on theGT40racing project withJohn Wyerat Advanced Vehicles in Slough. Circumstances changed so he was asked to joinFord of Britainin advanced chassis engineering at the beginning of the Capri project and then working through advanced pre-production on all car models up to the Granada, introducing many innovations along the way. During the latter stages of his career at Ford he was engaged in working at relationships within the Governments of Europe and The Common Market on the development international motor vehicle construction law. He remained with the company until his retirement in 1985.

Retirement

During retirement he was often engaged as a consultant on technical and legal matters including a return to Aston Martin advisingVictor Gauntletton several projects. As an automotive engineer he was extremely proud to have been made an associate member of theBritish Racing Drivers Cluband a full Fellow of TheInstitution of Mechanical Engineers,he wrote many technical papers and automotive articles with lectures that were always informative and entertaining.

In 2008 Stuart Bailey and Brian Joscelyne, both creative professionals and active members within theAston Martin Owners Club,persuaded Cutting to verbally record his story and put the record straight for the Club archives, as he had been reluctant to write an autobiography. From these extensive audio tapes when transcribed, they formed the basis of a book covering eight decades, which once Cutting personally edited and gave access to his previously written articles, documents, illustrations and many original photos, a comprehensive book under his total control was produced, with his full consent to publish just prior to his demise. The 268 page book (self published), titledCutting Edge Conversationsincludes a DVD of a full IMECHE lecture on Racing Astons in 2003 given by Cutting. The limited edition, heavy A4 volume is exclusive to theAston Martin Heritage Trust.