British Designer Craig Callum On His Love Of Cars And Hot Rods

As Craig Callum approaches his second anniversary as Design Manager at Hot Wheels, I caught up with him to discuss his personal car collection and what inspires him as a designer.

Trinity Francis: Talk us through how your career landed you in Los Angeles working for Hot Wheels.

Craig Callum: I originally came from an automotive background. I was a car designer in the real car world then moved into toys around 15 years ago and haven’t looked back. There’s still a lot of automotive design skills that are being put into place in our studio here. My job is running the design team for die-cast cars from the basics mainline vehicles to premium collectible premium lines.

Francis: How much does TV and film influence Hot Wheels products?

Callum: Perhaps not enough. We’re trying to be proactive and move forward, thinking about the future of car design. Sometimes TV and film can be a reaction to the design world as it is at the moment. That’s not always the case though, there’s a lot of future-thinking design work in the TV and film industry. There’s a lot of designers that we’re inspired by who are designing vehicles for these futures that don't exist, in such a way that we can connect with these concepts.

Francis: Were there any TV shows or films that were particularly influential for you growing up?

Callum: I think my interest in cars probably came from the movie world. Iconic vehicles like the Ecto-1 from Ghostbusters, the DeLorean in Back to the Future, and the Volkswagen Beetle in Herbie. These cars became characters in their own right and that’s what got me into cars and car design. I wanted a Beetle until I saw The Italian Job, so my first car was a classic red Austin Mini.

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Francis: What happened to your first car?

Callum: When I went to university, I abandoned it. I’d managed to do an engine swap but the car was very rusty and I didn’t have the skills at the time to restore it properly. Many years later, I realized it wasn’t rusted as badly as I thought it was and it was definitely fixable. I’ve had several other cars but you can’t buy your first car again, so I’ve kept it all this time and it’s just been registered in California. It’s really surreal, now I’m driving around Los Angeles in my first car. When I was 17 I wouldn’t have even dreamed of such a thing happening.

Francis: Do you have any other cars?

Callum: In California I have a 1928 Ford Model A Roadster in a traditional hot rod style with a Riley Coyote engine. A few weeks ago, I was invited down to the Los Angeles river basin for a hot rod gathering. I’ve seen this location in all the movies and now here I am with my own car on this concrete, it was so surreal. I also have another traditional hot rod, a 1931 Ford Model A Coupe which is currently in Denmark where I used to live.

Francis: How did you get into hot rods?

Callum: When I was in Denmark, there was a small community of people building traditional pre-war hot rods. Every year we’d go down to this beach race called Rømø Motor Festival which is essentially Goodwood Revival goes to the seaside. It’s a traditional hot rod race on the beach where we all dress up in vintage gear.

Francis: Have you got any plans for another hot rod?

Callum: I made a promise to myself when I moved to Los Angeles that I would do one project at a time and keep it as simple as possible. I’ve got a Ducati motorcycle that I ride to work everyday, those are my only three cars at the moment but there’s always room for more projects. As a designer, I see the potential in everything.

Francis: What’s your dream car?

Callum: My absolute dream car is a Jaguar D-Type. I was lucky enough to drive one a few years ago on track. When I tried to get in I couldn’t fit, I have quite long legs and there wasn’t a lot of space so I had to drive around with my knees up and perched slightly forwards to reach the throttle. When I needed to brake I had to shift my whole body. I guess that car was designed, engineered and built for much smaller people than me but that made me feel better about the fact that I’ll never be able to own one.

Francis: Are there any cars that stand out to you for their design and driving experience?

Callum: There’s cars that I love the design of but have always felt like they were overrated. One of those cars for me was the Jaguar E-Type. Everyone always talked about how beautiful it is and yes, it’s a very beautiful car but it just felt like everyone put it on this pedestal. A few years ago I got to drive one and it’s one of the best cars I’ve ever driven. It was such an experience. For a car of that age, you can cruise along at 70 mph and it’s quiet and comfortable because it’s so aerodynamic. It was brilliant, now I get why everyone has such a high opinion of the E-Type.

Francis: Where does your inspiration come from?

Callum: It comes from absolutely everywhere. It could be magazine articles, Instagram, social media, or walking down the street. That’s one of the great things about being in Los Angeles, you can go to an Italian car event or a JDM meeting on the same day within a few miles of each other and they will both be the biggest events you’ll ever go to if you were in Europe. Inspiration also comes from the community. That’s something that’s often overlooked. It's so important bumping into people in the street, or bumping into people at some kind of car meeting and talking to them, that's probably where the majority of my inspiration comes from.

The conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.