Name Simon Cox Role Car designer | Education Royal College of Art | |
Simon Cox is a British car designer known for the Isuzu Vehicross, Cadillac Cien, Cadillac Converj, and the Opel Speedster.
Simon Cox is known as one of the top car designers in the UK, with his unique and critically acclaimed designs, he is a strong character in the field of car design.
After studying Fine Art, Jewellery Design, Product Design and Automotive Design at the Royal College of Art in London, Cox decided to combine his creative education with one of his other passions – sports cars – after a visit to the 1977 Geneva Motor Show and seeing the Porsche 928 for the first time.
Cox is a highly experienced and ex-RCA designer, he is well known for his independence of spirit and for producing ICONIC Designs that have set well-known brands on new paths. He was sponsored by Ford Motor Company while at the RCA, but he elected to move to Lotus where he set up a new designstudio with Peter Stevens, producing several Lotus designs including the Lotus Esprit, Lotus Elan and Isuzu 4200R concept launched at the Tokyo Motor Show in 1988. Cox then moved to Isuzu establishing a UK based design studio. Cox first came to notice in 1993 as creator of the left-field Isuzu Vehicross concept in 1995, this was followed by the Isuzu VX2 and the Isuzu Deseo Concepts.
Cox worked subsequently established another UK based Advanced Design studio for General Motors and operated as the Design Director, producing trend-setting concepts which have done much to influence Cadillac’s 'look' today. Here, the Cadillac Converj was created. This car was awarded the Design Excellence prize in the concept car category at the 2009 EyesOn Design Awards.
Simon Cox made his reputation with the quirkyIsuzu Vehicross Concept (1993), which the company put into production virtually unchanged, using ceramic tooling to keep costs down. After his stint at Isuzu, GM set up an advanced studio for Cox in the UK, where he produced the Cadillac Cien concept, the car that created the whole "Art & Science" look for GM’s luxury brand. This car appeared in the film The Island. The Cadillac Cien Multi award winning design concept 2002. Also: Cadillac Sixteen, Cadillac LMP, Saturn Sky, Cadillac Converj.
More recently, Cox has designed for McLaren and joined Infiniti, a Japanese luxury vehicle division, creating a new Advanced Design studio in Paddington, London, UK. An automotive design career with companies such as Peugeot, Ford Motor Company, Lotus Engineering, Isuzu Motors, Porsche and General Motors.
Simon Goodyear-Cox MA MDES RCA FRSA. Senior Lecturer in Transport Design at Coventry University, UK. September 2016