Ian Callum wins design award
Jag and ex-Aston designer honoured by RSA
Ian Callum and the Jaguar XK
The award is given in recognition of designers who have ‘achieved sustained excellence in aesthetic and efficient design for industry’ and is presented by the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufacturers and Commerce).
Callum said: “To gain such recognition from fellow members of the design community is an enormous privilege for me, particularly from a faculty that is not directly involved in the car business. This distinction is a testament to the value of car design and the role that car designers play in the motoring industry.
“Design is a major driving force in the creation of the history of modern motoring and it is an honour for me, and my fellow artists and designers in the industry to have this acknowledged.”
Presenting the diploma at the RSA last Thursday, RSA chairman Gerry Acher said: “As the man responsible for the stunning appearance of the new XK sports car, members of the Faculty of Royal Designers for Industry felt that Ian Callum’s contribution towards the new direction of Jaguar cars should be recognised.”
Ian Callum joined Jaguar from Aston Martin in 1999 and helped in launching the X-Type Estate, the new XJ saloon, S-Type refresh and headed the design team towards the R-Coupe, RD-6, the Advanced Lightweight Coupe and other advanced design concept cars.
His most recent design is the new XK sports car. Design features such as the distinctive oval grille opening, prominent bonnet power-bulge and practicality-enhancing rear liftback all echo the classic E-type -- and many argue that it also echoes the car many see as his finest work, the Aston Martin DB7.
This is not the first time Ian has been recognised by the RSA; in 1975 he received first prize for the Annual RSA college bursary for Industrial Design, and he also received a “commendation” for Furniture Design the following year.
This is the second award for Ian Callum this year. He recently received the Jim Clark Memorial Award, given by the Association of Scottish Motoring Writers (ASMW) to a Scot or Scots who have achieved excellence in the field of motoring.
The Winslet connection
Callum's inspiration for the XK's design was the body of actor Kate Winslet, who's been reported as saying that she was very flattered but that some of the car's details should have been changed.
"The headlights are too small. They will have to go. And it needs a bar under the dashboard with pink and blue neon lights, umbrellas and pineapples," she said.
"And wings, like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. And inflatables, so it can go in water. I absolutely think I should get a free car."
Callum was reported as saying: "Kate Winslet is my ideal woman. She is naturally a very shapely woman, very British with an underlying integrity and ability. Like a car, she has got substance, she is not just a pretty face," he said.
"So I designed the new XK body with her in mind. The interesting thing is that so many woman find sensual cars more appealing as well."
He was responsible for the X300, X100 X200 and X400 and X600.
He's sorely missed....
*no doubt Zod will be along now telling us how he worships Chris Bangle and how anything different and contravercial (even if it's hideous) is always a move in the right direction
*"So I designed the new XK body with her in mind. The interesting thing is that so many woman find sensual cars more appealing as well."
Absolute drivel.
I have read the news stories on Pistonheads for a couple of years now, and checked the forums with interest without ever being a registered member; just enjoying the banter without feeling the need to contribute.
Until now.
Would you ever get Issigonis uttering this nonsense? David Brown of Aston Martin perhaps? Sir William Lyons.........?
How exactly was the design influenced by Ms Winslet? Where is the correlation between any of the features of the XK and the 'shapely woman'?
"So I designed the new XK body with her in mind?" What?!! What? What exactly does this mean? You were jacking off whilst sketching out another Aston Martin rip off?
You were thinking of Kate Winslet then. Is she your typical XK customer? If not, perhaps you could consider something else whilst designing (seemingly single-handedly) the XK......perhaps thinking of Jaguar's pedigree, the famous Brown's Lane factory, the heritage associated with building a British car in the Coventry, the heart of the UK's manufacturing industry? Kate 'kin Winslet??!!?! Shame on you.
Why spout this sh1t when all people want to hear is the truth? Something along the lines of 'Whilst recognising Jaguar's heritage and loyal customer base, I felt I needed to lead my team in a new direction to take the Jaguar brand into the 21st Century, producing high performance, high-class sportscars for the British market and beyond...'
Kate Winslet? Kate Winslet?!? WTF!
Agreed. Helfett's the man. And a genuinely nice guy to boot.
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