Ian Callum, Who Revolutionized Jaguar Design, Is Leaving after 20 Years

Ian Callum, Who Revolutionized Jaguar Design, Is Leaving after 20 Years

fabrice coffrini / contributorgetty images
  • ian callum, jaguar's director of design, is leaving after 20 years at the company.
  • he oversaw models that reinvented the jaguar brand, including the xf and the f-type.
  • before jaguar, he designed cars such as the aston martin db7 and vanquish.

    in the past two decades, no one has transformed jaguar as much as ian callum. since joining the company in 1999, he oversaw multiple design revolutions within the brand, yanking the company into the future and creating all of its most well-received modern designs. today, jaguar announced that callum, 65, will be leaving his position as director of design effective july 1, marking the end of an era for the brand.

    before his time at jaguar, callum worked at ford from 1979 to 1990, where he contributed to the designs of mundane cars such as the fiesta and the mondeo as well as much more exciting cars including the escort rs cosworth, the puma, and the rs200. as design manager of the ghia design studio, he also worked on a number of concept cars. after leaving ford, callum went on to be chief designer at twr designer, where he helped pen the volvo c70 and created the nissan r390 race car.

    perhaps most memorably, he was the lead designer for the aston martin db7 and the vanquish and had done the vast majority of the work on the db9 and v8 vantage by the time he left the company.

    callum's first project at jaguar was the r-coupe concept in 2001, which was meant to reboot jaguar's image—and it did. that concept was followed in 2003 by the even funkier r-d concept. at that time, jaguar's production cars were all products of geoff lawson's tenure (whom callum replaced upon lawson's passing), and jaguar was still focused on retro styling and classic ideals. callum worked on the x-type wagon and the facelift for the s-type, both of which were holdovers from the previous era.

    ian callum, who revolutionized <a href=https://www.autopartmax.com/used-jaguar-engines>jaguar</a> design, is leaving after 20 years

    the first jaguar production car designed wholly under callum was the 2007 xk, which truly brought jaguar into the modern era with an only slightly retro design. that xk was closely followed by the first-gen xf sedan, which was previewed by a radical concept car. it was the xf that started jaguar on the design-oriented path that the brand is still on today. callum's xj was even more of a statement than the xf when it debuted in 2009, and it's still on sale and looking fresh today. this design renaissance for jaguar came at the same time as jaguar land rover's purchase by india's tata motors, which also saw an influx of cash and innovation to the british brands.

    ian callum, who revolutionized <a href=https://www.autopartmax.com/used-jaguar-engines>jaguar</a> design, is leaving after 20 years

    but of all the cars from his time at jaguar, two of the most iconic are high-drama sports cars. the c-x75 concept from 2010 was an extraordinarily complex and unexpected hypercar that nearly entered production as a world-beating hybrid. while that project never did see the light of day, it saw the light of the silver screen as the villain's ride in the 2015 james bond movie spectre.

    then came the f-type. first previewed by the 2011 c-x16 concept, it was a total rethinking of what a sporty jaguar coupe could be like. the production car arrived the next year nearly unchanged as the brand's first truly new sports car in 50 years. fresh in design, modern in engineering, and excellent to drive, the f-type was exactly the kind of sports car jaguar needed to prove that it was really back.

    ian callum, who revolutionized <a href=https://www.autopartmax.com/used-jaguar-engines>jaguar</a> design, is leaving after 20 years

    more recently with callum at the helm, jaguar created its first suv, the f-pace, and its first electric car, the i-pace, which have both been extremely well received both in terms of design and engineering. this year at the world car awards, the i-pace won world car design of the year, world green car, and world car of the year in a historic sweep. jag's most recent designs, all of which have been created thanks to callum, are leading the brand on an exciting new path toward an electrified future.

    ian callum, who revolutionized <a href=https://www.autopartmax.com/used-jaguar-engines>jaguar</a> design, is leaving after 20 years

    callum says that it's "both personally and professionally" the right time to move on from jaguar and that doing so will allow him to go after other design projects.

    "i came into this role with a mission to take jaguar design back to where it deserved to be," he said in a statement. "it has taken 20 years, but i believe i have achieved what i set out to do." he went on to say that he will remain at jaguar in a consultant role, but gave no details as to whether his personal design projects will include anything automotive related.

    callum's replacement will be julian thomson, who has been at jaguar since 2000. thomson is currently jaguar's creative design director. he previously worked at ford, as head of design at lotus, and as chief of exteriors at volkswagen's concept design center. "[thomson] is a hugely talented designer and absolutely the right person to lead jaguar design into its next chapter," said callum. and if anyone would know about taking jaguar into the future, it's ian callum.

    source:caranddriver.com

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