Swinging the Cat by the Tail
What do Spain, Austria and Britain have in common? The Jaguar Fuore XF10 Concept - or more correctly the Fuore Jaguar XF10 Concept as it's not officially a Jaguar project, albeit the British marque agreed to let the Spanish company use its revered name and badge.
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| Although not officially a Jaguar project, the British marque has allowed the Fuore Jaguar FX10 Concept to use its name and badge. (Photo: Fuore) |
Fuore, a new Barcelona, Spain based design house that started in 2000 by Austrian Erwin Himmel, hopes to entice Jaguar into building something similar to his new creation, although he admits that his fantasy project most likely will not be taken too seriously by the staid British marque.
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| Fuore's 12-person design team was also responsible for the Subaru B11 S. (Photo: Fuore) |
The XF10, launched at this year's Barcelona Motor Show, isn't Fuore's first radical approach to design. It was preceded by the Pajero Evolution in 2001, which despite its name ironically evolved into the 2003 Paris Dakar winning Pajero, also a Fuore design. The company was also responsible for the Subaru B11 S, initially penned internally at Subaru but then massaged heavily by Fuore's 12-person design team.
Himmel learned his skills studying architecture at the University of Graz and vehicle design at the London's Royal College of Art. It wasn't all school without any practical experience though, having honed his craft further at Audi, on the team that designed the Audi quattro Spyder for one. He ran a secret Volkswagen Group skunk works studio in Munich, with such notables as J. Mays, and was rumored throughout the years to be the heir apparent for Skoda design, a VAG division, and then Fiat Stile, or was he the man to set up Mitsubishi's Barcelona studio. Neither, as it seems, with Fuore Design the proof of his more recent exploits.