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Robin Page | Jaguar E-Type
Design Director Page's beautiful red 1967 Series 1½ roadster, which he has owned for about 13 years, is the opposite of a garage queen. He bought it during his first stint at Bentley, then took it to Gothenburg on the ferry when he was hired as Volvo's design boss. Page drove it back again when he took up his current post nine months ago, reporting a high level of interest from Swedish car lovers because of its rarity. Over there, they're more used to "big Yanks" as classics.
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Graham Browne | Northern Light e-trike
Browne not only designed and built this novel e-trike but he also owns the company that can make one for you. His Northern Light Motors "ticks away in the background" while he does his day job. Formerly TVR's chief designer, Browne has been building electrified single-seat trikes for the past few years, showing them at places like Bicester Heritage.
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Adrian Charnell and Alex Charnell | Aston Martin V8 Vantage and Jaguar F-Type
It’s not often you run into a father and son working in the same design studio, let alone one with a Jaguar F-Type and the other an Aston V8. Alex, the son, is a design validation engineer who always dreamt of an F-Type V6 and reckons his 20-plate later Series 1 P340 is the ideal. Adrian, Alex’s dad, is also a studio engineer. Adrian bought his top-plate Aston after several other V8 masters because, now semi-retired, he likes GT-style touring in Europe.
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Tom Warwick | 110cc homebuilt trike
This tiny contraption looks perfect for pulling high-speed circuits out of the design compound, in and out of other cars, but that would be a bit antisocial, says its owner. A studio engineer, Warwick started the project by buying a Lifan 110cc single-cylinder motor in the pub, and the project grew into two years of spare moments. It’s loud and a bit wild, especially since it wears special rear PVC "overboots" that make it oversteer everywhere.
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Chris Whitlow | Caterham Seven
There have been three Sevens in Whitlow’s motoring life; this latest has been in his garage for three years. It started life as a 1.6-litre 310R but has since been modified to produce 190bhp instead of the standard 150bhp, and though it is still a capable road car, it is also used for motorsport.
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Andy Plumb | Reliant Robin
Well known in the design world for his varied career, Plumb was the last designer at now-defunct Reliant. He did the final styling refresh on the Robin, joined Morgan while the Super 3 was being created, and then joined Bentley. He is also famous for writing the latest Reliant three-wheeler book, entitled ironically Tipping Point. Despite a keen knowledge of the Robin's faults, Plumb uses one as a daily driver, having bought it on eBay in 2014 with 92,000 miles on the clock.
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Fred Dams | Austin Allegro
This fine Allegro 1.1-litre has many special features: it is an early model with the legendary Quartic steering wheel, it is a rare three-door, it has been sympathetically restored - and it was owner Dams' wedding car. An 18-year Bentley man who cites his first big design gig as designing the exterior changes to the Mk2 Continental GT, Dams says the car was actually used by its wife in the 2000s, five years before he met her. It is used for occasional drives to work, cruising at a steady 45mph.
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Darren Day | Porsche 944
Bentley's Head of Interior Design is celebrating 30 years at Pyms Lane - and he has been regularly driving his 1991 Porsche 944 S2 to work there since he bought it in 2007. It's a well-used car, with one engine refresh in its 200,000 miles, but resplendent in Panthero Black it looks perfect.
