Aside from a few shining beacons, the current state of electric performance cars is rather depressing if you’re into lightweight, fun little machines. Well, here’s an expensive potential anecdote. Famed Jaguar designer Ian Callum has his own company now, and is looking to produce a properly small, properly light electric off-roader called the Callum Skye. Consider our eyebrows raised.
If you don’t know who Ian Callum is, don’t worry. He oversaw design of some of the most beautiful cars of the past twenty years, primarily for Jaguar. We’re talking about the bewitching F-Type, the radically modern XF, the beguiling XK, and the astonishing Aston Martin Vanquish of the early aughts. These are cars so beautiful, Callum was appointed Commander of the British Empire for his work in car design.
At the moment, the Callum Skye is just a rendering, so it has a little bit of vaporware about it. However, we’ll just have to see what happens. After all, if Faraday Future can deliver cars, who knows anymore? Regardless, British car magazine Autocar reports that “the first prototype of [the Skye] is expected to be running in the spring,” so we’ll just have to jot it down in the calendar and see what happens. If Callum and Co. pull it off, we could be looking at one seriously tantalizing EV, especially from an engineering standpoint.
So what makes the proposed bones of the Callum Skye so interesting? Its purported 42 kWh battery pack isn’t massive, its claimed four-second zero-to-62 mph time isn’t wildly fast, and an alleged range of 170 miles isn’t exactly far. Well, it all comes down to claimed weight. As it stands, the vast majority of EVs have been on the pies. Curb weights measured in pounds beginning with a four or five are the new normal. This thing? Its curb weight might begin with a two.
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Annoyingly, the Callum Skye only has a targeted dry weight for now, which is a bit stupid because you don’t measure your own weight after draining all the blood out of your body. However, said targeted dry weight is quoted at a mere 2,535 pounds, and since electric vehicles don’t contain nearly as much fluid as a combustion-powered car, expect that figure to rise just slightly for curb weight. This should be a properly light EV if Callum pulls it off, and lightness is often the key to fun.
Of course, being an Ian Callum design, the Callum Skye looks fantastic. It’s like Mad Max graduated from ArtCenter and immediately bought a Toyota Sera. We’re talking an elegant canopy, transparent door inserts, wide fenders, and the kamm-iest of kammtails. There’s a delicate muscularity to this shape that feels absolutely cutting-edge. Perhaps that’s what it needs to sell at the purported price.
Ah yep, here’s the theoretical rub: Autocar reports the Callum Skye will cost around £100,000. That’s Porsche 911 money, Chevrolet Corvette money, Lexus LC 500 money. You can buy an insane amount of car for that sort of money, so why hang about for one that’s theoretical at the moment? Well, the sort of person who’d buy one of these, if it reaches limited production, probably already has a few supercars. To them, a vehicle like this is an experience, something completely and totally different. I guess we’ll just have to wait until Spring to see what materializes.
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(Photo credits: Callum Design)
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November 24, 2023 at 08:27AM
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Legendary Jaguar F-Type Designer Ian Callum Has Penned An Electric Off-Roader And It Looks Wicked - The Autopian
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