A few years ago, Jaguar decided their cars were becoming stodgy. They looked the same for decades and had begun to stagnate. But then a product renaissance came around in the forms of the all new XK, XF, XJ, and last night it came full circle with the unveiling of the gorgeous F-Type roadster.
These cars are the vision of Ian Callum, one of the most influential and talented designers the industry has seen. And now he's here to answer your questions.
For those of you that aren't familiar, let's just run through a little bit of Ian's already awesome resume.
He started at Ford in the '70s, where he worked on everything from Fiestas to Escort Cosworths. He was then wooed by race team owner Tom Walkinshaw to create TWR Design. It was while he was here that he worked on the Aston Martin DB7 and Vanquish, among others.
He then went to Jaguar, which at the time was owned by Ford, and he set out to really shake things up. When he joined, plans were already in place for a few years of retro production cars, but Ian had a vision. It started off with concept cars, but they were realized first with the striking XK and second with the XF sedan. He took Jag out of the 1960s and planted them firmly in the 20th century.
Over the summer, I got to party with Ian at Jaguar's Playboy Party at Pebble Beach. He's just one cool dude.
And now, live from the Paris Motor Show and the reveal of the F-Type, Ian has graciously made available 30 minutes to you, the Jalopnik commentariat.
Ask him anything you want about the F-Type, Jaguar, or cars. But definitely ask about the F-Type, cause it's awesome.
UPDATE: Ian's had a long day, and he has to run. Big thanks to him for stopping by and answering some questions!