Design guru Frank Stephenson lifts the lid

Is there one car design Frank Stephenson believes surpasses all others? At the end of our interview, I ask this question without much hope, knowing that the design scene is complex, and that car designers have to live with their peers. But Stephenson had already been impressively candid.

“For me, it’s the Jaguar E-type,” he declares. “The S1 coupé. It was built for just one purpose and nailed it the way only the finest designs can ever do. It’s the most sensuous car in history. It has timeless beauty and incredible proportions. If they’d pushed it any further, it would have been a cartoon. If they’d held it back, it would have been mundane. Instead, it’s perfect.

“We need future car design to be like this. When you saw the E-type, you instantly knew you had to have it. There was no need to get used to it, as with some modern designs. Today’s cars are often stretched and pulled about, often by computer influence. We have to resist that. You simply cannot beat the hand of man on a product.”