Inside Ian Callum’s personal car collection

A highlight of this year's London Concours was Ian Callum's very own collection. We had a tour

Tom Evans

23 August 2020

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Former Jaguar design chief Ian Callum brought along six cars from his personal collection to the 2020 London Concours show.

The ever-affable Scot took time out from the event held in the City of London to take us on a personal tour of his collection. We couldn’t resist asking him which car was his favourite – and his answer may surprise you:
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1932 Ford Model B

“I’ve always been a hotrod fan, and John Golding in Southend has put it through three renovations to get it to where it is today, complete with the 1970s period look which is my favourite hotrod trend. The original car had a four-cylinder of course, and I think was built in Cork. Most of these rebuilds feature Chevy engines. But I think being a Ford it should have a Ford engine, and as I worked there at the time I got a nice discount on a 351 cu in Windsor crate engine.”
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1932 Ford Model B

“It’s good for around 400bhp, and as the car only weighs around 1200kg, you have to treat it with respect,” he laughs. “I’ve taken it to 120mph on drag strips, but I reckon it could do a fair bit more than that!”
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1976 Jaguar XJC 4.2

“I have always wanted one of these. The pillarless design is so exquisite, and I’m not surprised it was William Lyons’ favourite Jaguar. I feared rot from any car that had spent time in the UK, so I tracked down my one in Saint Tropez. And it proved strong and solid, and I got it swapped from left-hand to right-hand drive.

I never liked the vinyl roof much, so that went in its restoration by Miles Classic, which added a sportier suspension and 18-inch alloys that look like steelies.”
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1976 Jaguar XJC 4.2

“I also gave it fatter 225 tyres, which in combination with a smaller 14-inch steering wheel communicates a surprising amount, but still conserves that classic XJ experience of effortless driving.

I like the XJC so much I actually once looked at giving the [2003] X350 XJ the coupé treatment as a one-off. But making that car pillarless would have been tricky to say the least, so I dropped the idea!”
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1995 Mini Cooper

“This is the car I’ve had for longest. I bought it 25 years ago when it was 18 months old and had 18,000 miles on the clock. My children utterly loved it when I brought it home, and one of them owns one today. I’ve only put 7000 more miles on it since. It’s a brilliant design. The shape derived out of efficiency is perfect.”
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1995 Mini Cooper

“Wearing the right wheels it has one of the best stances of any car.”
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1974 Triumph TR6

“I bought it on a whim one day while trawling the internet. I’ve always wanted one, but am aware that so many are rotting away now so searched far and wide until I found one in 2013. My one originally lived in Canada, but had already been converted to right-hand drive when I got it, and then put through an extensive rebuild. I then slotted in triple Weber carburettors , which boosted power to around 150bhp.”
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1974 Triumph TR6

“Of all my cars, I use this one the most. It’s perfect for a sunny Sunday; I’ve only ever driven it once with the roof up when I got caught out in the rain. It’s definitely a fair weather car. And the TR6 is so much better than the TR7 that came after; that car was over-bodied and frankly hasn’t aged very well.”
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1995 Porsche 911 (993)

“I’ve always loved the classic 911 shape, and the 993 is my favourite. The model of course benefited from being in the middle of 911 designs – the 964 and 996 – that were less successful to my eyes. But I had to have one, and 993 prices were going up and up but after 18 months I finally got a call from Williams Crawford in Cornwall who had one in as a part-exchange.

I bought it unseen, on 65,000 miles. A Carrera 2, it had already had the perfect modifications I could ask for, from Germany’s Roock Racing.”
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1995 Porsche 911 (993)

“They chopped a fair bit of weight out of it from removing the rear seats among other things, it had an engine rebuild at 30,000 miles, split-rim Cup wheels and it’s lowered, with a track set-up that gives it just the right handing. I’ve driven it a far bit recently during the [pandemic] crisis, using it on the two hour or so drive between my homes in Warwickshire and Dorset.”
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2005 Aston Martin Vanquish S

“I realised one morning that I’ve never actually properly owned any of the cars I designed. So I settled on my favourite, the Vanquish. Part of it was that it was quite a concise, precise design process. Buying it brought back some memories, and when I drove it I was frankly surprised by how good it was, and it didn’t feel old.”
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2005 Aston Martin Vanquish S

“The hydraulic gearbox on the earlier cars was less than perfect, but the issues had largely been solved by the time my 2005 example was produced. It’s amazing how many original owners still have them today.

But driving it I thought of ways it could be better, and that process ended up becoming a business with the launch of the Vanquish 25 [resto-mod business].”
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His favourite of all?

“I don’t like that question! But if forced, I’d have to go for the 911. Oops – I guess I was supposed to say the Vanquish!”

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