3 Famous Car Designers and How they got Started
While car designers aren’t A-list celebrities by any stretch of the imagination, millions of people appreciate their work each year, including many aspiring automotive technicians. Take a look at how three of the most famous car designers in the world got their start in the automotive industry.
Peter Schreyer
Born in West Germany, Schreyer attended Munich University, where he majored in industrial design. As a student, he won a scholarship from Audi to attend the Royal College of Art in London, where he studied transportation design. When he graduated, Schreyer began working on the designs for the Audi and Volkswagen revivals that took place in the ’90s. Schreyer’s work can be seen in the Audi TT, A3, and A6, and he’s credited for being part of the team that designed the new VW Beetle.
Schreyer currently serves as the chief design officer for Hyundai and Kia Motors. His work has turned around Kia’s reputation from being associated with lower-end cars to more desirable vehicles.
Jason Castriota
Born in White Plains, NY, Castriota left art school to take an internship at a design studio in Italy. He ultimately decided to stay in Italy to pursue his passion for designing vehicles, and the results of his work are some of the most beautiful on the road.
Castriota took part in the designs for the Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano, the Maserati GranTurismo, and the Rolls Royce Hyperion. He continued designing Italian cars until he joined the Saab team, where he was credited for the design of the Swedish company’s concept vehicle, the Saab PhoeniX.
Ian Callum
Callum grew up studying every form of automotive design available. He was an attendee of art school, school of transportation design, and school of industrial design. He began his automotive work at Ford, where he designed pieces of the overall vehicles, such as the steering wheels. Callum left his job at Ford to become the chief designer at TWR (Tom Walkinshaw Racing), where he ended up being responsible for the design of the Aston Martin DB7 and the Aston Martin Vanquish.
Callum now acts as the head designer for Jaguar vehicles. He’s responsible for putting the Jaguar X-Type on the road along with the C-X75, C-X16, and F-Type.
These pioneers of automotive design should serve as inspirations for aspiring automotive technicians. Each of these visionaries dedicated himself to the automotive world and worked to find his place in the field. Enrollment in auto-specific programs and institutions is a commonality among these three famous car designers. From there, each of them was able to make a name for himself in the automotive industry.
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