A Jaguar Man’s Jaguar: Designer Ian Callum Does the Mark 2 His Way

Arpingstone via Wikimedia Commons The Jaguar Mark 2 (a 1963 model is pictured here) features Jaguar’s rounded, elegant mid-century styling.

  Ian Callum, the design director of Jaguar, has — strangely enough — never actually owned one of his company’s cars. But he’s rebuilding one to his own specifications. Slowly taking shape at Classic Motor Cars in Bridgnorth, England, is a very special 1962 Jaguar Mark 2 that incorporates Mr. Callum’s subtle design upgrades.

“Being a designer, I can’t leave my cars alone,” Mr. Callum said in a telephone interview. “Much as I admire people who restore cars and bring them back to original specifications, I can’t do that myself.”

The Mark 2 will have reduced chrome and incorporate such features as added “in period” vents for better air flow. It will have a 5-speed full-synchromesh gearbox.

Classic Motor Cars Ian Callum, at Classic Motor Cars, in Bridgnorth, England. “I’m also designing some new body parts on my computer at home, and the process can be time-consuming,” he said. The famous XK engine will be under the hood, but with an upgrade from the original 3.8 liters to 4.2.

“As a designer, Ian knows exactly what he wants,” Nick Goldthorp, managing director of Classic Motor Cars, wrote in an email. “So we have to follow and interpret his changes in great detail.”

According to Mr. Callum, he’d originally thought that C.M.C. would “hate me” if he insisted on modifications to a classic like the Mark 2, but when the well-known Jaguar restoration facility let it be known that it was game (it actually offers several upgrades for the model, including alternator conversion kits and central locking), the search was on for a suitable car.

Mr. Callum is the designer responsible for the new Jaguar F-Type convertible, as well as such models as the XK, XF, XJ and a number of Aston Martins. It’s his design language – capturing the essence of the classic models in a way that’s determinedly modern – that is stamped on the company’s products. That makes this new/old Jaguar “a small project,” but one that’s close to his heart.

“It’s my personal indulgence,” Mr. Callum said. “An E-Type would have been too obvious for me, but I’ve just always loved the Mark 2. This project is about the aesthetics of the car; simplifying it as much as possible.”

C.M.C. said the Mark 2 would be finished in about six months, at which point Mr. Callum plans to drive it to work. That’s unless he takes one of the other classics in his garage. Mr. Callum, who grew up in Scotland but has decidedly trans-Atlantic tastes, owns a 1990 Mini Cooper that’s been “tricked up a bit,” a 1932 Ford Model B “Deuce Coupe” with a Ford Windsor engine that makes about 430 horsepower and a custom 1956 Chevy Two-Ten that’s likely to get kitted out with Corvette components.

“Nothing I own is standard,” he said. On Mr. Callum’s classic car wish list: a Triumph TR4 or TR6, and a 1932 Ford roadster. “I love buying parts for hot rods,” he said.