Last week we received the unfortunate news about the death of peter horbury. This Briton born in 1950 was one of the most important designers of the 21st century, although he is not as recognized as other characters. Described by those close to him as someone calm and discreet, he was the one who helped put Volvo on the map thanks to his successful designs. He also worked in other manufacturers and even in other areas, since he created motorcycles, trucks, buses and all kinds of prototypes. We are going to review his life and his contribution to automotive design.
After his university studies in Industrial Design and a master’s degree in Automotive Design, in 1977 began his career at Chrysler, where he would not spend much time. Although he collaborated to make the Chrysler Horizon, the truth is that he was already working for Ford when it was introduced. He spent a couple of years there, with the first sketches of the Ford Sierra. In 1979 he would sign with Volvo to embark on a six-year journey in Sweden and the Netherlands in which he would give life to the Volvo 480, considered his first great work.
Although Horbury was homesick and joined the British company, MGA Developments, which was an independent design consultancy. during those five years she was doing projects for BMW, Ford, Mercedes or Rolls-Royce; among others. Although the truth is that she had left her mark on Volvo and the Swedish firm contacted her to return to them. They offered him to be the Head of Designsomething he couldn’t refuse. That was in 1991 and really important products were made under his command. He started with the ECC Concept prototype to mark the brand’s roadmap.
Thus coined the design language of the brand and would give life to models such as the S40 and C40 of 1995, the C70 of 1997, the S80 of 1998, the V70 of 2000, the S60 of 2001 or the first XC90 of 2003. He also supervised the rest of the work within the brand and some facelifts. At that time there were a few years in which Volvo would be part of Ford, along with brands like Aston Martin, Jaguar and Land Rover. Horbury would also be tasked with overseeing the designs of a number of other makes’ cars from his position as Director of Design at Premier Automotive Group.
His talent earned him promotion to Executive Director of Design for Ford Americas, with the mission of renewing the language of practically all its models. He carried out an aggressive strategy to succeed with some like the 2006 Ford Fusion, 2008 Ford Focus or Ford Taurus of that same year; in addition to creating the Lincoln MKS, MKT, MKZ and MKX to give a more marked personality to the premium. Although in 2009 he would return to Volvo, now as Vice President of Design replacing Steve Mattin.
On his return to Volvo he created the Universe Concept and soon found himself in the midst of a time of change. They were bought by Geely, who trusted him for his more than proven work over the years. he happened to be Senior Vice President of Design to supervise all the brands of the Chinese conglomerate. That included some like Geely itself, Lynk&Co, Proton or Lotus; besides Volvo. In his last stage, already 71 and with no intention of retiring, they left him as Senior Vice President of Design “only” for Lotus, to focus his efforts on the rapidly evolving sports brand.
During this time, he was very aware of the design of the models that will change the brand forever thanks to the incorporation of electrification. He was supervising the work of other designers and his role as link between lotus and matrix, because we must not forget the weight it had had for Geely in previous years. In fact, Horbury died during one of his trips to China at the age of 73. A tireless worker who breathed automotive design to his last breath.
