If you’ve been following the advanced product design of cars from Europe and Britain over the past oh, 30 years or so, you are undoubtedly familiar with the work of Ian Callum. He announced this week that he’s stepping aside after two decades as the head of Jaguar Design, where he will continue to offer his esteemed services as a consultant. Since joining Jaguar in 1999, Callum has creatively supervised the birth of the F-type sports roadster, Jaguar’s lineup of saloon cars, and the British legend’s first production SUV.
Before arriving at Coventry, Callum spent 12 years as a lead designer at Ford, where his brainchildren included the awe-inspiring RS200 rally car. My good friend Marty Schorr notes on his Car Guy Chronicles website that Callum’s adventures at Ford led him to design posts at TVR and later, Aston Martin, for which he penned the DB7, Vanquish and DB9. Callum can also claim credit for the lovely Volvo C70 of 1996. Callum will be succeeded as creative design director at Jaguar by Julian Thomson.
Jim Donnelly On Wheels 