Plus ça change…

My younger colleagues often ridicule me about just how long I’ve been a car designer. Did I carve out my designs on stone tablets? Were my earliest three-dimensional models made from wattle and daub? In truth they’re right – the process of designing a car has changed drastically since I started at Ford in the Eighties.

Going right back to basics, even the simplest task – putting together a sketch, for example – meets with open-mouthed faces of disbelief when explained to graduate designers. Today, any would-be Giugiaro can get hold of an iPad, download a free app and have at their disposal the exact same equipment used by a professional Audi designer. Back in the Eighties, however, getting anything like the same result required much research and expenditure.