Jaguar’s Former Design Boss Just Said What the Type 00 Is Missing

Not sure anyone outside of Jaguar really knows what's going on at the brand right now. Not even entirely sure if anyone inside knows. But if there's anyone who can shed some light on what's happening at the storied British car company and what was lost in the transition it's this man. Ian Callum ran the company's design direction for 20 years and stayed on even after retirement as a consultant. On a new podcast he talked about his time at the company and what's happening there now.

Can Jaguar Be Saved?

Starts with a seemingly inadvertent jab when Callum's asked about setting rates for his design consultancy business. Road to Success Podcast host Benedict Fowler asks "How do you even go about pricing? You start your own business, designing a car for a brand. You know, Jaguar comes and says 'Help, please save us.'"

Callum cuts him off with a look and a snide "Unfortunately they haven't done that." He then goes into setting rates but the conversation quickly circles back to Jag's business. Callum's asked for his feelings about the company's current direction. Pointedly he's asked if it's possible to save Jaguar.

"It's always possible to save the brand. Sometimes it takes somebody from outside to take a long hard look at it."

He said that he and his successor Julian Thompson "created quite a lot of new Jaguars" before Callum left. But "they were all taken away" to make room for Jaguar's reboot starting with the Type 00 concept. All the company's existing plans including both current vehicles and replacements were stopped. He said that replacements for the XF sedan, F-Type coupe, and the F-Pace crossover "were all in the cards, they were all being done."

Callum even said the new XJ replacement was nearly finished. "That was all stopped. Just like that," he said snapping his fingers. "And then the company had to start again." Callum said he knows why it happened and that "there's no founded real excuse for doing that" but didn't elaborate.

Type 00 Is Missing One Key Element

Designer seemed to respect the Type 00. He said Jag's old models looked the way they did, traditional three-box sedans for example, because they were meant to compete with BMW and others.

He said the new car was "proportionally based on the XJS." Called it "handsome," "bold," and "brave," saying "it's got a lot of good design attributes about it."

But Callum hits the nail on the head with his next line. "But it's not beautiful. And Jaguars need to be beautiful."

In the hour-long interview Callum speaks about his decades with Jag and Aston Martin as well as designing vehicles for James Bond. He also gets into his own design firm which does design consulting but also restomod versions of the classic Mini and others. Callum even weighs in on his thoughts about body kit companies like Liberty Walk and Mansory.

Quite a discussion offering some interesting insight into the automotive space from arguably one of the most prominent designers in the last 30 years.