With six honorary doctorates to add to his earned degree and post-grad in product and automobile design, plus innumerable accolades for creating the look of some of the world’s fastest and most beautiful cars, Ian Callum has become a legend in his own lifetime. Having already dipped a toe into the world of watchmaking, Revolution quizzes him about his journey so far and what is yet to come.

You knew at the age of three that you wanted to design cars. How did you turn the dream into reality?

It became such a focus that other things became less important and, hence, Patek Philippe Replica Watches less of a distraction. I was never great at cricket, football or rugby. I was fixated on cars and drawing and, at 18, realised that was all I could do, so thought I’d better stick to it. And that was the hard bit.

At school, I wanted to study engineering and art,Panerai Replica but in those days sciences and the arts did not cross. When I was 17, there wasn’t a lot around in terms of industrial design courses – the discipline was just starting to find its place in the UK around then. I found a course at Glasgow School of Art, which is one of the most creative places ever – I had some amazing times there. I was holding back the tears when I read about the recent fire there, it broke my heart.

Ian Callum, Jaguar  Director  of  Design

After Glasgow I wanted to specialise, but there were only two car design courses in the world – one in London and one in LA. I wanted to go to LA and got an endorsement from the chief of Vauxhall Design, Wayne Cherry, who has since become a good friend, but my local education authority grant wouldn’t cover the costs involved in studying abroad. I did, however, manage to get sponsored by Ford to go to the Royal College of Art in London.

What was it like studying at the RCA?

I was right in the middle of London – panerai radiomir replica Hyde Park was my back garden – it was a fabulous time. Glasgow was really hard work; I had to prove myself and I pulled many all-nighters to finish projects. The Royal College was more about socialising and we were given the freedom to explore design. It was a huge privilege to be sponsored by Ford and in the holidays, I would drive out to Essex in my old Mini to work there. I got a true understanding of how the design studio operated.

I went into Ford thinking I would change the world, but what happened was that only as people got promoted did they get the chance to be more creative, so it was the senior guys doing all the creative work and the younger ones doing all the mainstream work. That was what happened to me – if you drive a 1970s or early-1980s Ford, chances are I did the steering wheel in it.