McLaren P1 designer Frank Stephenson

 Ford, BMW, Mini. The top styling jobs at Maserati, Ferrari, Fiat, Lancia and Alfa Romeo, then leading McLaren’s design journey from a standing start to the dawn of an entirely new product cycle. Frank Stephenson has some CV.

Unfettered by the birth of Frank Stephenson Design in 2018, the 62-year-old American’s current projects are intriguingly diverse, extending well beyond the automotive world.

So we wanted to know what views this unique perspective would lend to the armchair designer topics du jour. Should electric cars look different from fossil-burners? What four-wheeled artistry can I buy on a budget? And, not unimportantly, are SUVs inherently ugly?

“The EV world will change everything we know about interior packaging. When you start reducing the powerplants, you’re going to open up a lot of room inside the vehicle, which should be used to maximum effect. You have to start radically changing the architecture. Family vehicles will have a lot more comfort. Perceived space is comforting: that’s why people fly first class.

“And that will reflect in the exterior design. When designing the new Mini in 1995, I did a sketch that was 10 years ahead of the [2000] car. I completely changed the architecture with an electric motor in the front but tried to keep the Mini look. The length stayed the same but it had super-short overhangs that really helped with the interior. That’s how I think cars will become: one-or one-and-a-half-box designs, rather than two- or three-box, like a sedan. Wheels will be pushed out to the corners and you will get a blunter front end. Then it’s the designer’s job to make it look exciting.

“Aero isn’t a problem: you can make an aerodynamic brick if you want to. It’s a dark art. Flushness is important: minimal gaps, clean surfaces. It’s not so much of a challenge as when we were doing clays in the 1980s and 1990s and you started getting this ‘bar of soap’ look. It’s about a scientific understanding of what’s happening under the car. And electric motors provide enough power to counterbalance aerodynamic problems. There are a lot of solutions coming that will shock us. I don’t think we’ve bottomed out on aerodynamics by a long shot.”