Jaguar Director of Design Ian Callum has been named one of TopGear magazine’s Men of the Year 2012, selected by its awards judging panel for “designing beautiful cars, again and again”. The accolade adds to Callum’s international success this year, following the worldwide acclaim for his design of the new Jaguar F-TYPE two-seater sports car, revealed at the Paris Motor Show in September.
In its pen-profile of Callum’s achievements, published in the current issue, TopGear says: “The genius of Jaguar director of design Ian Callum isn’t just in the classically exact proportions of his cars, it’s in the way they continue to intrigue and inspire long after the initial novelty has worn off.
“In 2012 the erudite Scotsman… cemented his iconic status with the F-TYPE, ironically as classic a Jaguar as there’s been since Callum arrived there 12 years ago. Who else could have penned such a worthy successor to the E-Type.”
Commenting on his selection, Callum said: “It’s an honour to be singled out by TopGear as one of their ‘men of the year,’ the magazine is respected internationally for its insight and its enthusiasm for all aspects of cars and motoring. However, it is with the benefit of having such a great team around me that we have been able to deliver the cars and designs that define Jaguar today, so they, too, deserve recognition for what we are achieving together.”
Since the introduction of the Aston Martin DB7, Ian Callum has been acknowledged as one of the world’s foremost design talents. Born in Dumfries, Scotland, Ian attended a course in Industrial Design at Glasgow School of Art which was followed by a two-year course in Automobile Design at the Royal College of Art.
His performance at the RCA persuaded Ford to recruit him immediately and from 1978 he spent 12 years working in the company’s design studios in Britain, Japan, the United States, Australia and Germany. He was then appointed Design Manager responsible for the Ghia Design Studio in Turin before he returned to the UK to join TWR in Oxford as Chief Designer in 1990.
During his time with Ford Ian Callum worked on the Ford RS200 and the Escort Cosworth.
While he was with Ghia in Turin he played a major role in the Via design Concept as well as the development of the Ghia Zig and Zag compact 2-seater sports car and mini van vehicles.
Since his return to the UK in 1990 Ian Callum has worked on TWR programmes for GM’s Australian subsidiary, Holden, together with projects for Aston Martin (DB7 and Vanquish), Ford (Puma), Volvo (C70), Nissan (R390 Le Mans) and, ultimately, Aston Martin DB9.
Ian joined Jaguar in 1999 but continued to manage Aston Martin Design, developing the DB9 as well as directing Jaguar Design where he and his team created, amongst others, the R-Coupe, RD-6, C-X75 & C-X16 Concepts. Heralding an exciting new era for the brand, each of his cars takes the design theme further and continues to reinforce Jaguar as a creator of cars which represent innovative, seductive performance. The first of the new models was the current XK, followed by the XF and XJ. Representing the latest in Jaguar design is the exciting all-new two-seater sports car, the F-TYPE.
Ian continues to lead a team of highly talented designers at the Jaguar Design Studios in Coventry and has been acknowledged as one of the world’s foremost design talents. Ian has received five honorary doctorates from universities around the world as well as being honoured as a Royal Designer for Industry (RDI) from the Royal Society of Art (RSA).
TopGear’s list of the year’s most influential men – and women – also includes Ratan Tata, Chairman of Tata Sons and Tata Motors, who is praised for his investment in Jaguar Land Rover, and Sir Chris Hoy, Britain’s most successful track cyclist who is a Jaguar Academy of Sport Ambassador.
