Extraordinary Life Stories

The Man Who Designs Icons, Ian Callum CBE | Extraordinary Life Stories

September 19, 2026·43 min
Episode Description from the Publisher

Long before he became one of the world’s most celebrated automotive designers, Ian Callum was a schoolboy in Dumfries with a very simple ambition: to design cars when he grew up. He even told his primary school teacher.That childhood ambition went on to become an extraordinary career, producing some of the most recognisable cars of the modern era.In this episode of Extraordinary Life Stories, John Reynolds sits down with Ian Callum CBE to explore the story behind the man who helped redefine British automotive design.From the Ford Escort Cosworth to the Aston Martin DB7 and Aston Martin Vanquish, Ian talks about the risks, frustrations and creative decisions behind some of the world's most iconic cars. His career at Jaguar would go on to produce the XK, XF, XJ, F-TYPE and I-PACE, helping create a new design language for the marque.But this is also a conversation about the future of the car.Ian gives his perspective on Jaguar's dramatic recent rebrand and the enormous shift taking place across the automotive industry as designers move from the world of combustion engines towards EVs. From a schoolboy's dream to the drawing board of the Aston Martin DB7, and from Jaguar's golden era to the future of the electric car, this is the story of a man who turned a childhood obsession into a career designing icons.

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