People

Peter Stevens

McLaren F1 exterior and interior designer

Born
Macclesfield, 1943
Nationality
British

The record

British automotive designer engaged to design the McLaren F1's exterior and interior after packaging work with Gordon Murray around a three-person seating buck. After Lotus, Lamborghini and MG Rover he still runs Peter Stevens Design.

Stevens was born in 1943 in Macclesfield. He studied sculpture at Saint Martin's School of Art in 1961 and industrial design at the Royal College of Art from 1963. Ford sponsored two RCA students, including Stevens, for what he later described as the first UK master's course in automotive design; a Valletta Concours biography gives 1972 as his MDes graduation year. He then worked at Ford's Dunton Design Centre on a Capri facelift before becoming Ogle Design's senior designer in 1973.

In 1974 Stevens began part-time teaching in RCA vehicle design and in 1976 began his own consultancy. His 1985 Lotus appointment covered the revised Excel, a new Esprit and the new Elan. In 1988, after resigning from Lotus but while working his notice period, he worked after hours on the Jaguar XJR-15 clay model, which was brought over in a van.

Stevens joined McLaren's road-car project after Murray asked him to recommend a designer; he volunteered himself. Autocar says Stevens was engaged to design the F1's exterior and interior. Murray and Stevens spent about nine months on packaging from a three-person seating buck before finalising the shape, for which Stevens made half a dozen alternative front and rear treatments. The F1 was revealed at the 1992 Monaco Grand Prix.

After the F1 he spent about a year and a half as Lamborghini's chief designer; the Diablo SV was done on his watch. BMW employed him on the 1999 V12 LMR to recover downforce without losing the company's styling cues. In 2000 he became MG Rover's director of product and design, remaining until the group collapsed in April 2005.

He later designed Mahindra's Gio, a job he told Car and Driver had changed more lives than the F1. Autoweek reported his July 2011 appointment as Rivian's director of design. Visiting professor at the RCA from 1999 until October 2014, he still runs Peter Stevens Design and, as of August 2026, writes for Magneto.

Package and aero first

On the F1, Stevens delayed finalising the shape until packaging and aerodynamic work were complete. Autocar records about nine months of packaging with Murray before the final shape, which then took about three months.

Cabin first, then ends

Stevens produced half a dozen simple front and rear treatments for the same three-person seating buck rather than fixing the exterior before the package. Car and Driver records that during the first year he drew nothing while the aerodynamic work was done.

Rounded for Cd and stiffness

On the Esprit X180 he found the outgoing car at 0.44 Cd, not the claimed 0.33, and worked the new shape down to 0.33. Autocar later recorded that the rounded edges also stiffened the body: he thought the old sharp edges behaved like hinges.

The stations

  1. 1972–1973Ford Motor CompanyDesigner, Dunton Design Centre
  2. 1973–1976Ogle DesignSenior designer
  3. 1974–1999Royal College of ArtPart-time lecturer in vehicle design
  4. 1976–Peter Stevens DesignFounder and consultant designer
  5. 1985–1988Lotus CarsChief designer
  6. 1990–1993McLaren CarsChief designer, McLaren F1 programme
  7. 1994–1995Automobili LamborghiniChief designer
  8. 1999–2014Royal College of ArtVisiting professor of vehicle design
  9. 2000–2005MG Rover GroupDirector of product and design
  10. 2011–2012Rivian AutomotiveDirector of design

The house

McLaren

Credited through McLaren Cars.

In the register

One file carries this name

The files above are the register's own record of this name. The people index holds everyone the register credits.

In their words

“We didn't want to build something we liked too early, then have to put 'bandages' on it to make it fit the package.”

Peter Stevens · Autocar, 5 November 2013