BRADFORD ON AVON, United Kingdom (BRAIN) — Dr. Alexander Eric Moulton, the engineer and inventor who founded the Moulton bicycle company, died Sunday evening at age 92.
A statement from the company said Moulton died peacefully in the company of his family and staff.
Moulton worked at Bristol Aeroplanes as assistant to Sir Roy Fedden during World War II. He joined Bradford on Avon rubber manufacturers Spencer Moulton in 1945, leading a new research team. His collaboration with Sir Alec Issigonis resulted in the Moulton suspension that was employed in over 12 million British cars from the original Mini to the MGF.
Moulton was famous for his small-wheeled, full-suspension Moulton bicycle, which was very popular in the 1960s and still built by hand in Bradford on Avon today.
Moulton was an engineer at heart who was interested in how the natural world could be harnessed to deliver a better outcome for human kind, said Will Butler-Adams, managing director of British-made folding bike brand Brompton Bicycle. His priority was to add real, technical value to anything he did, Butler-Adams added. Over the years, Butler-Adams rode every now and then with Moulton as part of the Centenary Club, a group of folks from the British cycling industry who gather to catch up on rides through the countryside, and took business cues from Moulton's experiences.
"On one occasion I rode with Alex for the morning and he was proud of what we were doing at Brompton and was adamant that we must not give up control of our business and if we were to continue to succeed it would only come in the long term through engineering innovation. This is something I took on board and strongly believe in. He has had a fine innings, has achieve much in his life and leaves us with a tremendous legacy, we will miss him but I suspect he will be content to continue his engineering deliberations in some other place," Butler-Adams said.
