One Man Designed the Sexiest British Cars of the Last 30 Years. These 5 Are His Best

On June 4th, legendary automotive designer Ian Callum announced that he will be leaving his position as Jaguar design director after two decades. While he plans to stay affiliated with Jaguar as a consultant, he will also be using his newfound freedom to pursue other projects.

The announcement of Callum’s quasi-retirement quickly resonated throughout the industry. Besides being a universally-acknowledged good fellow, he has produced some of the sleekest, sexiest, and most forward-thinking car designs of the past 30 years.

Callum had a distinguished early career at Ford and TWR, before going on to designed the classic Aston Martin DB7 and the Aston Martin Vanquish — two vehicles that helped stabilize the brand and set the table for its move into the modern era. He also contributed to Ford of Europe icons like the Ford Escort Cosworth and Ford Puma.

But Callum will be most remembered for revitalizing Jaguar during the 2000s. He broke the brand out of a nostalgia trap, retiring the staid, aristocratic dad cars in favor of a fresh, aggressive look. His bold-yet-refined design language recaptured Jaguar’s sporting ethos and made the carnaker a progressive force at a time of significant change in the automotive industry.

If there’s a surprising part to the news, it’s that Callum is not stepping back during the victory lap phase of his career, but at its apex. Under his guidance, Jaguar has produced three World Car Design of the Year award winners – the F-Type, the F-Pace, and the I-Pace – since 2013. The I-Pace, the most exciting electric vehicle to date not produced by Tesla, also won World Car of the Year and World Green Car of the Year in 2019.

While the automotive world awaits his “other design projects,” we at Gear Patrol have pulled together five of Callum’s most notable car designs, both in honor of his hard work…and because, well, we’ll take any excuse to ogle these beauties.