Not the easiest to get on with but universally respected: Richard Parry-Jones
Mercurial describes very few in this world, but it’s an apt depiction of Richard Parry-Jones, Ford’s former head of global product development, who has died aged 69 in an accident at his farm in Wales.
RP-J, the Welsh wizard and Ford’s saviour would be other names, for this was a man who in his pomp would cross the Atlantic for a 20-minute drive in a prototype car, give his verdict to his engineers and catch the next plane back. Not the easiest to get on with, his direct, first-principles approach epitomised the engineer he was at heart, although he was also an accomplished player in the byzantine poker game of car-making politics.