Since leaving Jaguar in 2019, former design boss Ian Callum has been busy. Soon after his shock departure, Callum co-founded the Callum brand, a design and engineering consultancy based in the Midlands of the UK. The team hit the ground running, announcing a remastered version of the Aston Martin Vanquish—a design he felt deserved a facelift—alongside a handful of projects in outside sectors.
Five years since its launch, Callum is flourishing. The brand debuted its first car, the Skye, an electric off-road coupe, earlier this year. And he has plans for more sporty vehicles over the next few years.
Photo by: Callum
We caught up with Ian Callum to talk about the future of his new brand.
“It was always our ambition [to become an OEM],” he told Motor1. “In time, I’m sort of hoping the consultancy takes—not a backseat—but certainly a lesser place in the greater scheme of things. When you get into car manufacturing, no matter how small it is, it becomes a very big entity.”
Callum’s reasoning is something we can all relate to: He sought out the freedom to make what he wanted, when he wanted.
“As a designer, no matter who you’re working for or what you’re asked to do, you’re always working for someone else, which is fine, that’s the name of the game. It’s not something you can just delve into as an individual. But if you want to design something that you really want, you’ve got to do it yourself… My only regrets, probably, are that I should have done it five years earlier,” adds Callum.
The Skye isn’t designed to be a volume car. It’s made for fun rather than practicality, as Callum says.
Photo by: Callum
“It’s an indulgence car, there’s no debate about it. It’s not something you need but something you want—to use that old cliche. I think it’s the right measure of luxury. I didn’t want it to be rough and tumble and raw—I’m sure we’ll do a ‘hose out’ version, but I always saw this as something between the two. If it’s going to be urban, the interior deserves to have a sense of luxury about it.”
After its launch in the summer of 2024, Callum showed off the Skye’s interior. A mix of tactile switches, screens where necessary, and pleasing luxury. “The controls are simple,” says Callum, “They’re mechanical, not a one-touchscreen-does-all sort of scenario. We have rotaries on it, and we have column stalks. I’m a great believer in controls being physically functional rather than something you’re searching for on an iPad, and,” quips Callum, “because it’s a pleasure.”
Photo by: Callum
Photo by: Callum
Photo by: Callum
“It’s an indulgence car, there’s no debate about it.”
Reaction to the Skye has been positive, Callum notes that he hasn’t heard a single derogatory comment about it. He says it’ll be a hoot to drive, and quite quick—though the man with his name above the door would say that, of course. Its audience? The Skye won’t be designed for the whole family, but he hopes they will all find happy homes.
“It’s clearly a third or fourth car,” Callum notes. “Maybe a second car. I hope it takes on an air of the exotic given there’s not going to be a huge number of them. We do intend to do something beyond this,” he continues, “which I’m not going to talk about because I don’t quite know yet.”
We can, however, wildly speculate. Which is far more fun than knowing.
Photo by: Callum
The Skye may be the firm’s future, but its present is, in part, linked to Callum’s past. This year we saw the release of not one, but two road-legal, fully realized Jaguar C-X75 supercars. The original car, complete with electricity-generating jets and looks to kill, was a birthday present from Jaguar to Jaguar for its 75th anniversary.
The C-X75 debuted at the 2010 Paris Motor Show and the idea was that Jaguar would make it in limited numbers for a discerning few. It would have sat in the Porsche 918, McLaren P1, and Ferrari LaFerrari triumvirate, and even though it got quite far into development (with the hybrid setup—no jet turbines), the project was killed. But thanks to a reprieve as the baddie’s car in the Bond flick Spectre, not only did a prototype or two see the light of day, but a handful of stunt cars were actually built with Jag’s supercharged 5.0-liter V-8, a true-to-life C-X75 body, and… little else.
Some of those stunt cars, though, did find their way into private hands. Owners wanted them made real, and hoo boy, did they get what they wanted.
“There was a desire to bring the car up to a level of specification that was driveable,” Callum notes. “It was a film car, not great quality. The interior was pretty raw, and it was made to drive a specific way—it was actually structured to roll up on its roof and survive, so it was heavily over-engineered in terms of structure and probably under-engineered in terms of capability… We rebuilt the whole car.”
The interior was… something else. It took quite some time for Ian and his team to put it back together.
“We could have emulated or copied the interior of the original show car, but the prototype cars never really got a very sophisticated, complete interior. So we decided to start again. Now, I’ve always loved what I call the ski slope; the idea of the dash running down to the center console, giving you a natural place for control switches and such. That sets up the visual architecture. I would say it’s a traditional makeup… I’ve always said that simple, strong architecture makes a great interior, because you can then put more work into details.”
Callum revealed that the cars took about 18 months to transform from concept to reality, which is no small task. And if something breaks? They’re prototype parts, but they’ve been designed to be remade if needed. There are other C-X75 stunt cars out there—though not many—but their owners have yet to knock on Callum’s doors. After the first two, you’d hope they do.
The reaction to the car has clearly pleased Ian. Even though the original concept caused such fanfare when it was released, it seemed destined to end up as a model in a museum. Nearly 15 years after it first came out, though, it’s finally a living, breathing car in the real world.
“The fact we brought this car that was destined to die, now it’s not going to… it refuses to,” muses Callum, “And even the Jaguar skeptics turn around and say: ‘It’s just the most beautiful thing,’ is very satisfying. Beauty is timeless, you know. It worked in 2010 and it still works now… I always have a very strong view—you can’t really perceive to understand something until you see it in the proper environment.”
“The fact we brought this car that was destined to die, now it’s not going to… it refuses to.”
Callum is a design consultancy by definition. So when it’s not bringing legendary concept cars back to life or designing chairs, whisky bottles, and much more, it’s also working with clients who have specific needs. One such organization is the UK’s Motability Operations.
Motability helps disabled people get into cars and keep moving, pointing buyers in the right direction of vehicles that will suit their needs. The company will do its best to help differently abled people get on the road. Callum is working with Motability Operations to create eVITA, a concept for the perfect electric vehicle for disabled drivers.
Photo by: Callum
“This is all about the consumer,” says Callum, “for someone who’s disabled, in a wheelchair… to give them a better quality of life. We examined what’s currently available, and with the best will in the world, they’re not ideal. There’s a lot of effort and engineering that goes into some of them. But from the notion of the consumer, they are compromised by the nature of the origins.”
There’s only so much that can be done to a production vehicle, and with that comes limitations. Callum, on the other hand, has a blank sheet of paper to make a vehicle fully fit for purpose.
Being an EV comes with packaging challenges, but once the team figured out where to put the batteries for max range, work began on making it as accessible as possible. For wheelchair users, access is key—they need space for their chair and a ramp to get themselves into the vehicle. There are third-party solutions on the market, but Callum’s car will have it built in from the start; It will fold itself out as and when needed, and be part of the fabric of the vehicle when it’s not.
Photo by: Callum
Photo by: Callum
The Callum team even thought of a smart way to make sure no one blocks access to it while the occupants are parked.
“We’ve got a light that shines behind the vehicle when you park up. It lights out a disabled wheelchair patch on the ground to keep clear, and it’s always there on the vehicle when you leave it somewhere, leaving markings on the ground to keep the area clear for wheelchair use.”
The team has designed it with wheelchair use at the forefront. Callum notes that in converted vehicles, often the wheelchair user is at the very back of the car, high up, and far from any sort of fun. The ride isn’t good and it can be isolating. Here, they’ll be in the middle of the second row of seats, part of the experience. Disability, Callum notes, has no prejudice—it can affect anyone, no matter who they are, or where they’re from. It’s only right to cater for everyone.
Photo by: Callum
Does that mean it’ll become a production vehicle? The numbers may be big enough to justify it, but… “If you took the world market, or the European market itself, it [the numbers] kind of justifies a production vehicle. I’m not suggesting that’s the ultimate answer, because this is purely to demonstrate what could be done.”
Callum’s comparatively short existence so far has been one of headline, luxury, style, and talent. Its ideas have made headlines, sure, but also raised smiles, and evoked warm, fuzzy emotions. Ian Callum and his team are treading a path that others have fallen off—and are making it work.
With Skye, the Motability project, and everything else coming from the brands, there’s lots to look forward to. And be assured that in another five years, we’ll be looking back on some fantastic achievements.
