Christopher Lawrence, a well known car design and development engineer, died in August 2011.


Born in 1933 Christopher had "an early addiction for motor cycles and golf" according to an obituary published on his company website www.lawrence-tune.co.uk from which this account is taken. Influenced by his mother and an uncle, he opted for a career at sea and attended the NCP where he was a leading light in the Model Club. "I have memories of his noisy diesel-engined model racing car whizzing round the concrete floor of the gymnasium annexe" recalls a Pangbourne contemporary, Tom Tribe (48-52).

After the NCP Christopher went in to the Royal Navy and, in line with his love of all things mechanical, opted for the engineering branch. "His early life as a Midshipman, at a time when discipline was absolute, no doubt helped to develop his taste for formidable levels of determination and perseverence" - qualities which defined his life.


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Christopher Lawrence (47-51)



Having gained an engineering degree while in the RN, Christopher decided that making sports cars go faster held more appeal than a life at sea. He resigned his commission and set up his own company, LawrenceTune, and began to work as a development engineer, tuning cars and creating his own marque, the Deep Sanderson, which later claimed many track successes.

Lawrence was also a racing driver and won over 100 races and set many lap records during his career culminating in a Le Mans 2-litre class win in 1962 which helped to revive the Morgan sports car. He also had a passion for sailing, owning and racing a 1927 schooner in which he won line honours in the 1976 Fastnet Race.

In 1966 Lawrence was invited by a French company to project manage the development of a luxury grand tourer. After five years work the Monica was launched at the Paris motor show in 1971. Beautiful in design and "stunning in performance," the car hit the showrooms just as the 1973 oil crisis hit and never sold well.

The demise of the Monica hit LawrenceTune hard and Christopher left for California in the mid-1970s. For the next 15 years he worked in the American classic car industry, with mixed success "although there was plenty of racing and his golf handicap came down close to scratch." He returned to England in 1992 and soon after was approached by Morgan Cars to design a completely new model,  the Aero 8. The LawrenceTune obituary concludes: "Bred as much for the track as the road, the car has ensured The Morgan Motor Co (has) a secure place in the 21st century."

A Celebration Service of Christopher Lawrence's life will be held at The Priory, Great Malvern, on 30th September, 2011, at 2.00pm