RON PLESCIA 1935-2022
Ronald Earl Plescia, the unsung designer of the original Apollo GT and, later, the Apollo Verona, passed away in April after a long illness. He was 86.
Born on 2 May 1936, Plescia took an early interest in all things mechanical. “Like most kids, I loved toys and cars were big, shiny and made glorious noises,” he said. Plescia became fascinated by European sports cars while living in Massachusetts, USA, where his father was serving in the US Navy. Upon the end of his father’s National Service, the family moved to northern California where Plescia found himself in high-school classes sitting next to another youngster with “gasoline in his veins” – Milt Brown, the Apollo’s creator.
Brown studied engineering at university, but Plescia attended the Art Center in Pasadena, California, to focus on product design, including automobiles. When Brown initiated the Apollo project, his friend provided the drawings and scale model used by Intermeccanica in Italy to create the prototype. He also designed the car’s interior and badging. A total of 88 Apollos were built over two years.
Plescia’s career encompassed designs for computers, boats, medical equipment and, working for North American Aviation, the interior of NASA’s Apollo spacecraft. He even designed costumes for Lucasfilm’s The Empire Strikes Back. Robb Northrup
PAUL WOOD 1946-2022
The Rolls-Royce and Bentley world lost one of its champions on 22 May with the sudden passing of Paul Wood, co-founder with twin brother Andrew of renowned marque specialist P&A Wood. Rising from humble beginnings, cleaning cars on a Wood Green council estate, passionate enthusiast Paul became a legend in Rolls-Royce and Bentley circles, but away from the glamour of the day job he was a keen Austin Seven man, amassing an impressive collection ranging from rare sports models and a doctor’s coup
