Peter Stevens (car designer)

Last updated

Professor Peter Stevens (born 1943) is a British car designer.

Stevens is one of the UK's best-known vehicle designers. He is currently a design consultant, teacher and lecturer.

Stevens trained at Central St Martin's School of Art and then, the Royal College of Art. He began his career in the 1970s as a designer at Ford, then Ogle design. He also began his long career as a tutor of Vehicle Design students at the RCA at this time . He spent five years as chief designer at Lotus Cars in the 1980s, where he developed the Esprit revision and designed the Lotus Elan (M100). He then designed the Jaguar XJR-15 and later in 1990 became Chief Designer at McLaren Cars. He was responsible for the design of the McLaren F1, launched in 1993. After a spell as chief designer at Lamborghini, he returned to the UK, undertaking consultancy for Prodrive, BMW, Williams and Toyota. Alongside his automotive design consultancy, he became Visiting Professor of Vehicle Design at the Royal College of Art, London, until October 2014. He was appointed as design director at the MG Rover Group in 2000.

As consultant director of design for Mahindra & Mahindra in India, from 2005, Stevens oversaw the introduction of the M&M GIO and the sell-out Mahindra XUV500.

From 2011-12, Stevens was director of design, at Rivian Automotive, a green auto manufacturer located in Rockledge, Florida, USA. [1] [2]

Currently, Stevens is a consultant, designer and lecturer. He is involved in the design and application of hybrid technology, including a high performance electric race car.[ citation needed ]

Twice nominated as the UK’s Prince Philip Designer of the Year, Peter Stevens has won numerous honours for his work, including 2002 Automotive Designer of the Year by Autocar . [3] His work includes creating road and race cars for McLaren, Lamborghini, BMW, Lotus, MG Rover and Prodrive. His well-known designs include the McLaren F1 road car, the 1999 Le Mans-winning BMW V12 LMR, the Lotus Elan, Subaru’s Impreza P1 and world rally series–winning WRC as well as Jaguar’s XJR-15.

Some of his designs include;

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lotus Cars</span> British multinational manufacturer of sports cars and electric lifestyle vehicles.

Lotus Group is a British multinational automotive manufacturer of luxury sports cars and electric vehicles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Automotive industry in the United Kingdom</span>

The automotive industry in the United Kingdom is now best known for premium and sports car marques including: Aston Martin, McLaren, Bentley, Rolls-Royce, Jaguar, Land Rover, Mini and Lotus. Specialised sports car companies include: Ariel, BAC, Morgan, Caterham, AC Cars, Gordan Murray, TVR, Noble, Radical, Ginetta, Ultima Sports, Westfield, Lister, Arash and David Brown. Volume car manufacturers with a major presence in the UK include: Nissan, Toyota, Mini and Vauxhall. Commercial vehicle manufacturers active in the UK include Alexander Dennis, Dennis Eagle, IBC Vehicles, Leyland Trucks, TEVVA and the London Electric Vehicle Company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McLaren F1</span> British sports car designed and manufactured by McLaren Automotive

The McLaren F1 is a sports car designed and manufactured by British automobile manufacturer McLaren Cars and powered by the BMW S70/2 V12 engine, of which a limited number was produced. The original concept was conceived by Gordon Murray, who successfully convinced Ron Dennis to back the project and hired car designer Peter Stevens to design the exterior and interior of the car. On 31 March 1998, the XP5 prototype with a modified rev limiter set the Guinness World Record for the world's fastest production car, reaching 240.1 mph (386.4 km/h), surpassing the Jaguar XJ220's 217.1 mph (349.4 km/h) record from 1992 achieved with an increased rev limit and catalytic converters removed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mid-engine design</span> Automobile design in which the engine is placed between the front and rear axles

In automotive engineering, a mid-engine layout describes the placement of an automobile engine in front of the rear-wheel axles, but behind the front axle.

<i>Automobile</i> (magazine) American automotive magazine

Automobile was an American automobile magazine published from 1986 to 2020. It was founded in 1986 by a group of former Car and Driver employees, led by David E. Davis with support from Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, using the credo No Boring Cars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick Fry</span> British businessman (born 1956)

Nicholas Richard Fry is the former Chief Executive Officer of the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team, having previously served in similar roles at previous incarnations of the company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jaguar XJ220</span> Mid-engine sports car manufactured by Jaguar

The Jaguar XJ220 is a two-seat sports car produced by British luxury car manufacturer Jaguar from 1992 until 1994, in collaboration with the specialist automotive and race engineering company Tom Walkinshaw Racing. The XJ220 recorded a top speed of 217 mph (349 km/h) during testing by Jaguar at the Nardo test track in Italy. This made it the fastest production car from 1992 to 1993. According to Jaguar, an XJ220 prototype managed a Nürburgring lap time of 7:46.36 in 1991 which was faster than any production car lap time before it.

<i>Fifth Gear</i> Television series

Fifth Gear is a British motoring television magazine series which has been broadcast since 2002. Originally shown on Channel 5 from 2002 to 2011, it began as a continuation of the original version of the BBC show Top Gear, which ran from 1977 until being cancelled in 2001. It moved to the Discovery Channel in 2012, then in 2015 to History; since 2018 it has been broadcast on Quest. The show is currently presented by Vicki Butler-Henderson and Jason Plato, with Rory Reid, Grace Webb and Jimmy de Ville featuring in some episodes. Its former presenters include Quentin Willson, Adrian Simpson, Jonny Smith, former racing driver Tiff Needell and Car SOS host Tim Shaw.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geneva International Motor Show</span> Annual Swiss auto show

The Geneva International Motor Show was an annual auto show held in March in the Swiss city of Geneva.

<i>Evo</i> (magazine) British automobile magazine

Evo is a British automobile magazine dedicated to performance cars, from hot hatches to supercars published by Carwow.

Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR) was a motor racing team and engineering firm founded in 1976, in Kidlington, near Oxford, England, by touring car racer Tom Walkinshaw.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LA Auto Show</span> Annual US auto show

The Los Angeles Auto Show, also known as the LA Auto Show, is an auto show held annually at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is open to the public for ten days, filling 760,000 square feet (71,000 m2) of exhibit space. Since 2006 the event is held in November or December.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prodrive P2</span> Motor vehicle

The Prodrive P2 is a prototype two-seater sports car designed, engineered and built by Prodrive at its Banbury and Warwick sites. The car is based on the platform of the Subaru R1 kei car and has a modified Subaru Impreza WRX STi engine along with many Prodrive systems originally designed for their World Championship and Sports Car Racing programmes. The car's styling was done by Peter Stevens, who also designed the McLaren F1. The car includes rally-inspired anti-lag to prevent turbo lag, as well as an active center and rear differential that maximizes grip.

Beijing International Automotive Exhibition, Beijing Motor Show or Auto China is an auto show held biennially in Beijing, China since 1990.

A retro-style automobile is a vehicle that is styled to appear like cars from previous decades. Often these cars use modern technology and production techniques. This design trend developed in the early 1990s and led to almost all automobile brands introducing models that referenced previous cars of the 1950s and 1960s.

Silverstone Festival is an annual three-day Festival featuring historic motorsport, live music and family-friendly entertainment at the Silverstone Circuit, home of the British Grand Prix. The event attracts hundreds of historic race cars in 20 races over the weekend, displays from over 100 car clubs with more than 10,000 classic cars, free access to the paddocks and grandstands, interactive activities, dynamic demonstrations, live music on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings, a shopping village and lots more. Founded in 1990, the event was one of the first of motor sport meetings dedicated entirely to historic racing cars and celebrated its 30th anniversary online in 2020 with postponed celebrations at the 2021 event. Originally held in late July, since 2022 the event has taken place over the August bank holiday weekend.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">London Motorfair</span>

London Motor Show, formerly the London Motorfair, was a motor show in England. It was held biannually at Earls Court Exhibition Centre, from 1977 to 1999. When the event won the support of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders and P&O Events, in October 1993, the name was changed from the London Motorfair to The London Motor Show.

References

  1. "Rivian Automotive, Economic Engine?". Florida Trend. 31 October 2011. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
  2. "Renowned Auto Designer Peter Stevens Joins Rivian Automotive". BusinessWire. 21 July 2011. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  3. "MG ROVER GROUP SCOOP AUTOCAR'S ANNUAL AWARDS". MG Cars. 20 November 2002. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  4. "McLaren F1 Designer Signs on with Florida Startup". 22 July 2011. Archived from the original on 23 September 2012. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  5. "Exterior design and aerodynamics of the Subaru Legacy/Outback (2003-2009)". www.peterstevensdesign.co.uk. Retrieved 27 December 2020.