Coventry is to England what Detroit is to America. It is not the first place you would picture housing a design centre for a marque with so much prestige and heritage. Nargess Shahmanesh-Banks went there to meet Ian Callum, the outspoken design director of Jaguar. Most premium carmakers have a very specific design language, their cars may not be identical, but certain features run right across their product line. Jaguar cars, on the other hand, have a fairly varied language; they seem to stay clear of family ties. "It's wrong," Callum says firmly. The designer came to Jaguar five years ago straight from Aston Martin where he had sketched the stylish DB7. "I always loved Jaguars," he says. Growing up in the 60s, the cars made an extremely strong impression on him. "They were very cool cars back then. They had a strong identity.
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