I have to say, Spies, I don't live with many regrets but there's one thing I think I'd do differently if I had another shot at this thing called life. It really boils down to two different paths.
One would be to have studied Accounting and Economics during my college days as it would have set me up for a different route. The other would have been to do something truly remarkable and become an automotive designer.
As a fan of architecture and excellent product design, it's just a hobby today. But, boy, being able to literally shape the automotive world must be exciting. And from the designers I've had the pleasure to talk to, it sure sounds like it.
Though with anything corporate there's got to be a little bit of a meat grinder element to it somewhere down the line.
I know I am not alone when I say the auto industry's coolest people are the designers. I think 001 would be with me when I say our heroes are guys like Adrian van Hooydonk, Chris Bangle and Henrik Fisker.
And though I never knew any of the folks from Toyota's Calty Design facility by name, I do as of today. Some of the most unbelievable designs have come from Calty and here's just a peek behind the curtain, care of Petrolicious.
Kevin Hunter is a little idiosyncratic in the world of Japanese car design. For one, he was born, raised, and educated…in Detroit. He joined the firm at the peak of Detroit’s “malaise” era, just as Toyota was unleashing the fuel sipping Celica on the North American market. It was this little car going against the grain that drew him away from his roots and his peers. Now, I have to imagine the sunny campus of Toyota’s Calty Design Research Center played a factor in his decision to move halfway across the country, but let’s let him tell the full story as it was told to me recently in Newport Beach California.
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