Austin In the Austin design office Bache worked under
Dick Burzi, recruited from
Lancia by Austin in 1929. One of his first jobs was to design the dashboard of the
Austin A30.
Rover new back In 1954 Bache moved to
Rover in
Solihull, becoming Rover's first ever stylist; the term 'stylist' was used at the time to differentiate the role from that of design engineer. His first task was to update the
Rover 60, 75 and 90 models. He raised the boot height and enlarged the rear window. A year later he modified the frontal treatment, strengthening the detail and the new David Bache styled cars lasted ten more years with a very minor alteration to the grille inset. He was also responsible for giving the
Land Rover Series II a more domesticated appearance than its more agricultural predecessor. The revised shape, completed in just six weeks lived on, little changed, until
Land Rover Defender production ceased in early 2017.
Rover 3-litre The shape of cars was changing dramatically during the 1950s as soft rounded curves gave way to straight lines and sharp corners. Improvements in construction enabled engineers to dispense with a separate chassis, allowing passengers to sit lower in the vehicle. The development of curved glass also gave stylists new opportunities. A visit to the 1955
Paris Auto Show would have a profound effect on Bache's style vocabulary. He was very taken with the revolutionary new Citroen DS, as well as the imposing
Facel Vega. Other influences were the Italian coach-builder
Ghia's designs for Chrysler, and work of
Pininfarina, who had been commissioned to produce a
coupé and
convertible on the
Rover P4 chassis prior to Bache's arrival. Bache created the shape for the
P5, then expected to be a smaller, higher volume model of a similar size to the current Ford Zephyr. Bache's first attempts were distinctly modern and anticipated generous use of chrome fittings. It did not please Rover Managing Director
Maurice Wilks who, before Bache's arrival had closely overseen all styling. "It's a head turner", Wilks explained, "The Rover Company don't make head-turners. We like to make vehicles which pass unobtrusively and are not noticed." Bache went back to the drawing board and came up with something more like an evolution of the P4. But after a full-size mock-up for the P5 was completed, Wilks changed direction. The success of the Land Rover, originally intended as a stop-gap model to help Rover's exports after the war, meant all available space in the
Solihull factory was being taken up with meeting this demand. There simply was no room for a new high-volume model. The decision was taken in 1956 to make the P5 a larger lower-volume car. Bache's started again, and produced an imposing unfussy design. The straight line running from the top of the front wing to the rear and slab sides are reminiscent of the Facel Vega, as was the wrap-around front windscreen. It is a tribute to Bache's vision that while the P4 went through at least three facelifts, the shape of the P5 remained unchanged for fifteen years.
Rover 2000 With his 1963
Rover P6, Bache broke new ground not only with its external styling, but with its imaginative interior styling too, including an "open plan" dashboard and individual rear bucket seats. After being forced to resign from his post by newly installed BL chief
Harold Musgrove in 1982 following disagreements over the yet-to-be-launched
Austin Maestro, and his replacement by
Roy Axe, he set up his own design company, David Bache Associates which worked outside the motor industry as much as inside it. ==Death==