--- title: Peter Stevens · HICONIUM description: Peter Stevens in the HICONIUM register — one file carrying their credit. canonical_url: https://hiconium.dev/people/peter-stevens image: https://hiconium.dev/og/people/peter-stevens.png --- > HICONIUM · Index: https://hiconium.dev/llms.txt · Every page: append `.md` or send `Accept: text/markdown`. > Path: [Home](https://hiconium.dev/) › [People](https://hiconium.dev/people) › Peter Stevens > On this page: [Package and aero first](#package-and-aero-first) · [Cabin first, then ends](#cabin-first-then-ends) · [Rounded for Cd and stiffness](#rounded-for-cd-and-stiffness) · [One file carries this name](#one-file-carries-this-name) People # Peter Stevens McLaren F1 exterior and interior designer | Label | Value | | --- | --- | | 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. 1972–1973 Ford Motor Company Designer, Dunton Design Centre 2. 1973–1976 Ogle Design Senior designer 3. 1974–1999 Royal College of Art Part-time lecturer in vehicle design 4. 1976– Peter Stevens Design Founder and consultant designer 5. 1985–1988 Lotus Cars Chief designer 6. 1990–1993 McLaren Cars Chief designer, McLaren F1 programme 7. 1994–1995 Automobili Lamborghini Chief designer 8. 1999–2014 Royal College of Art Visiting professor of vehicle design 9. 2000–2005 MG Rover Group Director of product and design 10. 2011–2012 Rivian Automotive Director of design The house [![McLaren](https://hiconium.dev/images/marques/full/mclaren.svg)](https://hiconium.dev/manufacturers/mclaren) Credited through McLaren Cars. In the register ## One file carries this name - [McLaren F1 Exterior and interior designer · McLaren Cars Autocar says he was engaged to design the exterior and interior. After nine months of packaging with Murray from the three-person seating buck he spent about three months on the final shape, with half a dozen end treatments. He had left before the Longtail; the BMW V12 was Paul Rosche's. 1992–1998 €20M 1992–1998 €20M Rating 99.0](https://hiconium.dev/vehicles/mclaren/f1) The files above are the register's own record of this name. [The people index](https://hiconium.dev/people) 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 Sources - [peterstevensdesign.co.uk](https://www.peterstevensdesign.co.uk/welcome/biography-) - [peterstevensdesign.co.uk](https://www.peterstevensdesign.co.uk/welcome) - [peterstevensdesign.co.uk](https://www.peterstevensdesign.co.uk/design/mclaren--f1) - [peterstevensdesign.co.uk](https://www.peterstevensdesign.co.uk/teaching/rca) - [peterstevensdesign.co.uk](https://www.peterstevensdesign.co.uk/design/esprit) - [caranddriver.com](https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a28200878/peter-stevens-car-designer-interview/) - [autocar.co.uk](https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/mclaren-p1/men-who-made-mclaren-f1) - [vallettaconcours.com](https://www.vallettaconcours.com/team-3) - [magnetomagazine.com](https://www.magnetomagazine.com/articles/formula-1-2026-mclaren-f1s-peter-stevens-reviews-livery-hits-and-misses/) - [magnetomagazine.com](https://www.magnetomagazine.com/articles/brooklands-centenary-celebration-of-the-first-british-grand-prix-magneto-was-there/) - [evo.co.uk](https://www.evo.co.uk/features/204415/my-life-in-cars-peter-stevens-car-designer) - [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Stevens_(car_designer)) - [aronline.co.uk](https://www.aronline.co.uk/opinion/top-five-peter-stevens/) - [footmanjames.co.uk](https://www.footmanjames.co.uk/blog/peter-stevens-mg-supercar) - [motorsportmagazine.com](https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/april-2008/108/bmw-v12-lmr/) - [mulsannescorner.com](http://www.mulsannescorner.com/bmwlmr.html) - [classicandsportscar.com](https://www.classicandsportscar.com/features/lotus-esprit-50-norfolks-supercar-meets-its-creators) - [lotusespritturbo.com](https://www.lotusespritturbo.com/Lotus_Esprit_Stevens_X180.htm) - [lotusespritturbo.com](https://www.lotusespritturbo.com/Peter_Stevens.htm) - [web.archive.org](https://web.archive.org/web/20120923080922/http://www.autoweek.com/article/20110722/CARNEWS/110729968) - [roadscholars.com](https://www.roadscholars.com/articles/fresh-brewed-air-cooled---deep-tracks-with-peter-stevens) - [formtrends.com](https://www.formtrends.com/author/peter-stevens/) - [businesswire.com](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110721006274/en/Renowned-Auto-Designer-Peter-Stevens-Joins-Rivian) - [stateofspeed.com](https://stateofspeed.com/2019/04/30/f1-designer-peter-stevens-takes-his-t-black/) - [telegraph.co.uk](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/2723085/The-art-of-design.html)