Stephen Harper Birmingham

Birmingham

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

, United Kingdom, is a designer, who works primarily in the automotive industry. He is responsible for a huge number of cars including the MG F

MG F

The MG F and later the MG TF are mid-engined, rear wheel drive roadster cars produced from 1995 onwards. The MG F was the first all-new car to bear the MG marque since the MG MGB, produced from 1962 to 1980...

, Ford Escort RS Cosworth

Ford Escort RS Cosworth

The Ford Escort RS Cosworth was a sports derivative of the Ford Escort. It was available from 1992-96 in very limited numbers.It was instantly recognisable due to its large "whale tail" rear spoiler...

, and the 2010 Volvo C70

Volvo C70

The Volvo C70 is a luxury automobile manufactured by Volvo Cars in two generations: the first from model years 1997-2002 as coupé and from 1999 to 2006 as a softtop convertible...

. Founding design education took place at the Royal College of Art in London in 1979-1980 following earning an apprenticeship to the Austin Motor Company

Austin Motor Company

The Austin Motor Company was a British manufacturer of automobiles. The company was founded in 1905 and merged in 1952 into the British Motor Corporation Ltd. The marque Austin was used until 1987...

 (a part of British Leyland) in Longbridge

Longbridge

Longbridge is an area of Birmingham, England. For local government purposes it is a ward within the district of Northfield.Since 1905, the area has been dominated by the Longbridge plant, which produced Austin, Nash Metropolitan, Morris, British Leyland, and most recently MG Rover cars...

, Birmingham

Birmingham

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

 in 1978.

In his early days at Austin Rover Stephen worked on the Austin Montego

Austin Montego

The Austin Montego is a British mid-size saloon car that was produced by the Austin Rover subsidiary of British Leyland , and its successors, from 1984 until 1994. The Montego was the replacement for the Morris Ital, to give British Leyland a modern competitor for the Ford Sierra and Vauxhall...

, Rover 800

Rover 800

The Rover 800 series is an executive car introduced by the Austin Rover Group in 1986 and also marketed as the Sterling in the United States. Co-developed with Honda, it was a close relative to the Honda Legend and the successor to the Rover SD1....

 as well as a large number of unreleased cars, working at the Canley

Canley

Canley is a suburban neighbourhood located in southwest Coventry, England. Canley became part of Coventry as a result of successive encroachment of the latter's boundaries between 1928 and 1932, having historically been part of the Stoneleigh parish....

 Studios in Coventry

Coventry

Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...

.

Stephen then moved to Volvo BV in the Netherlands to help with the Volvo 480

Volvo 480

The Volvo 480 is a car with an unusual 4-seat, 3-door hatchback body, somewhere between liftback and estate in form, though marketed as a coupé...

 and Volvo 440

Volvo 440

The Volvo 440 and 460 are versions of a family car produced by the Swedish carmaker Volvo Cars. They were built at the DAF factory in the Netherlands, and released in Europe in 1987 and 1989 respectively....

 before returning to the UK to work for MGA. It was here that Stephen became involved with Rover

Rover Group

The Rover Group plc was the name given in 1986 to the British state-owned vehicle manufacturer previously known as British Leyland or BL. Owned by British Aerospace from 1988 to 1994, when it was sold to BMW, the Group was broken up in 2000 with the Rover and MG marques being acquired by the MG...

 Special products, creating the initial design for the MGF as well as a number of other niche Rovers that weren't released.

From there, Stephen worked on various projects in the UK before returning to Volvo (this time in Sweden) in 2000, when he became hugely influential in the creation of Volvo's post-millennial re-definition of the brand, having designed a string of cars for the company.

Returned to the UK in 2007, where he once again set up SHADO Ltd (SHADO is the acronym of "Steve Harper Art & Design Organisation") as a Design Consultancy,as Managing Director, this time in Paignton

Paignton

Paignton is a coastal town in Devon in England. Together with Torquay and Brixham it forms the unitary authority of Torbay which was created in 1998. The Torbay area is a holiday destination known as the English Riviera. Paignton's population in the United Kingdom Census of 2001 was 48,251. It has...

 in Devon

Devon

Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

.

Companies worked for

• SHADO Ltd (2007-date)
• Volvo
  Volvo
  AB Volvo is a Swedish builder of commercial vehicles, including trucks, buses and construction equipment. Volvo also supplies marine and industrial drive systems, aerospace components and financial services...
  
   Cars Design Studio (2000–2008)
• Creative Automotive Design (1994–2000)
• SHADO Ltd (1993–2000)
• MGA Developments Ltd (1987–1993)
• SHADO (1986–1987)
• Volvo
  Volvo
  AB Volvo is a Swedish builder of commercial vehicles, including trucks, buses and construction equipment. Volvo also supplies marine and industrial drive systems, aerospace components and financial services...
  
   Cars BV (1985–1987)
• Austin-Rover Styling Studios (1978–1984)

Notable designs

Volvo Volvo AB Volvo is a Swedish builder of commercial vehicles, including trucks, buses and construction equipment. Volvo also supplies marine and industrial drive systems, aerospace components and financial services... C70 Volvo C70 The Volvo C70 is a luxury automobile manufactured by Volvo Cars in two generations: the first from model years 1997-2002 as coupé and from 1999 to 2006 as a softtop convertible...  (2010) Exterior & Interior Design + BPT C30 Volvo C30 The Volvo C30 is a small family car produced by Volvo Cars. The C30 is a three-door, four-seat hatchback powered by straight-4 and straight-5 engines. The car is a hatchback version of the S40/V50/C70 range, and uses the same Ford C1 platform. It is being marketed as a premium hatchback or a...  (2010) Exterior & Interior Design Supervision + BPT S40 Volvo S40 The Volvo S40 is a small family car produced by Volvo. It introduced the first generation S40 and V40 cars in 1995...  (2007) Exterior & Interior Design + BPT V50 (2007) Exterior & Interior Design + BPT XC90 Volvo XC90 The Volvo XC90 is a mid-size luxury crossover SUV produced by Volvo Cars since it was unveiled at the Detroit Motor Show 2002. It is based on the P2 platform, shared with the first generation Volvo S80 and other large Volvo cars...  (2006) S60 Volvo S60 The Volvo S60 is a compact executive sedan produced by the Swedish automaker Volvo from 2000. Two generations of the sedan have been produced to date.-First generation :...  (2005) S60R (2004) S80 Volvo S80 The Volvo S80 is a mid-size executive saloon/sedan from Swedish automaker Volvo Cars, and was introduced in 1998 to take the place of the rear-wheel drive Volvo 960/S90 saloons in the model range. The Volvo S80 was built at the Torslanda Plant in Gothenburg, Sweden. Unlike most Volvo models, it...  (2003) Interior Design & Exterior Design Supervision Volvo ACC2 'XC70R' Concept Car (2003) Concept originator & Design Supervision. Volvo ACC 'XC90' Concept Car (2002) Detroit. Exterior Design & Supervision. Volvo PCC2 'V70R' Concept Car (2001) Frankfurt. Concept originator. Exterior & Interior Design Volvo PCC 'S60R' Concept Car (2001) Paris. Concept originator. Exterior & Interior Design Ashok-Leyland Ashok-Leyland Truck Cab Range Proposals (1999). Exterior Design Ford Ford India - Seven Seat Crossover-Estate Car (based upon 'ICON) (1999). Exterior Design Escort RS Cosworth Project (1989). Chief Exterior Designer Galaxy Ford Galaxy The first Galaxy was designed as a joint venture product between Ford and the Volkswagen Group. Produced at the joint-venture AutoEuropa plant in Palmela, Portugal, the vehicle was badge-engineered to create three vehicles: the Ford Galaxy; by Volkswagen Passenger Cars as the Volkswagen Sharan;...  MPV (VX62) Project (1988). Project Exterior Designer at VW/FORD Studio Escort van (1990) Escort Van Project (1987). Project Exterior Designer DAF DAF -Science, nature and technology:* Decay accelerating factor, a protein involved in the complement system* Delayed auditory feedback, a device used to delay a person's voice to their own ear, which reduces stuttering and cluttering... DAF DAF -Science, nature and technology:* Decay accelerating factor, a protein involved in the complement system* Delayed auditory feedback, a device used to delay a person's voice to their own ear, which reduces stuttering and cluttering...  Trucks - 45 and 55 Series Sleeper Cab (1997). Exterior & Interior Design.

Bakrie Bakrie Motors, Indonesia - Beta 97 MPV (1996). Exterior, Interior & Colour+Trim Design. ·Grinnall Cars Grinnall Cars – BMW motorcycle based R1150 'Trike' (2002). Exterior Design Subaru Subaru ; is the automobile manufacturing division of Japanese transportation conglomerate Fuji Heavy Industries .Subaru is internationally known for their use of the boxer engine layout popularized in cars by the Volkswagen Beetle and Porsche 911, in most of their vehicles above 1500 cc as well as... Legacy Subaru Legacy The Subaru Legacy is a mid-size car built by the Japanese company Fuji Heavy Industries, and manufactured by its division Subaru since 1989, and is available as a sedan or wagon. Part of the original design goals for the Legacy model was to provide Subaru a vehicle in which they could compete in...  (2003) Legacy Estate. New Vehicle Concepts (1999). Exterior Design London Taxi International ·London Taxi International (1997) TX1 Black Cab project (1992). Chief Exterior Designer Rolls Royce Rolls-Royce Motors Rolls-Royce Motors was created from the de-merger of the Rolls-Royce car business from Rolls-Royce Limited in 1973. The original Rolls-Royce Limited had been nationalised in 1971 due to the financial collapse of the company, caused in part by the development of the RB211 jet engine... Silver Seraph/Bentley Arnage Project (1991).Chief Exterior Designer Rolls Royce Rolls-Royce Motors Rolls-Royce Motors was created from the de-merger of the Rolls-Royce car business from Rolls-Royce Limited in 1973. The original Rolls-Royce Limited had been nationalised in 1971 due to the financial collapse of the company, caused in part by the development of the RB211 jet engine...  - 1994 facelift of RR and Bentley models (1990). Chief Exterior Designer Rover Rover -Leyland companies:* Rover Company , a British motorcycle and car manufacturing company, absorbed into Leyland Motor Corporation in 1967* Austin Rover Group , a mass-market car manufacturing subsidiary of Leyland... MGF 1995 MGF Sports car Project (1991). Chief Exterior Designer Aston Martin Aston Martin Aston Martin Lagonda Limited is a British manufacturer of luxury sports cars, based in Gaydon, Warwickshire. The company name is derived from the name of one of the company's founders, Lionel Martin, and from the Aston Hill speed hillclimb near Aston Clinton in Buckinghamshire... DB7 Aston Martin DB7 The Aston Martin DB7 is a grand tourer which was produced by Aston Martin from September 1994 to December 2004. The grand tourer was available either as a coupé or a convertible. The prototype was complete by November 1992, and debuted at the Geneva Motor Show in March, 1993, the car was styled by... . Concept Design proposal (1992). Exterior Design Austin Rover Metro Montego Austin Montego The Austin Montego is a British mid-size saloon car that was produced by the Austin Rover subsidiary of British Leyland , and its successors, from 1984 until 1994. The Montego was the replacement for the Morris Ital, to give British Leyland a modern competitor for the Ford Sierra and Vauxhall...  Estate Metro 800 Rover 800 The Rover 800 series is an executive car introduced by the Austin Rover Group in 1986 and also marketed as the Sterling in the United States. Co-developed with Honda, it was a close relative to the Honda Legend and the successor to the Rover SD1....

Further reading

1. ^ 'Movers & Shakers – Steve Harper – Grabbing you heart-strings', Andrew Noakes, Classic Cars, June 2009.
2. ^ 'The Escort Cosworth Story: Project Feral ACE-14', Dan White/Jamie King, Fast Ford, August 2009.
3. ^ 'Bright Sparks', Jane Simms, Director, June 2009.
4. ^ 'Steve's imagination lets him soar into the air', Paul Greaves, Herald Express, 12 March 2009.
5. ^ 'Design Guru's £5m bid to find new talent', David Smith, The Observer, 8 February 2009.
6. ^ 'Cosmetic Brilliance', Mabuyane Kekana, SOWETAN Road Rave, 22 August 2007.
7. ^ 'Volvo refreshes the S40 sedan and V50 wagon inside and out', Jim Robinson, Metroland Media Group, 9 August 2007.
8. ^ '2008 Volvo S40 and V50 First Impressions', Nadine Filion, AUTO123.com, 9 July 2007.
9. ^ 'Volvo grows younger', J.P Vettraino, AUTOWEEK, 26 June 2007.
10. ^ 'The Nokia,Ikea of a Car', Wiwat Chang, Bangkok Post, 13 October 2006.
11. ^ 'Think like a Swede', Glen Woodcock, AUTONET DRIVE, 9TH October 2006.
12. ^ 'Car design can be a national game', Tony Whitney, Vancouver Sun, 29 September 2006
13. ^ '2007 Volvo S80', Bengt Halvorson, carconnections.com, 25 September 2006.
14. ^ 'S60 with added BLIS', Alastair Clements, AUTOCAR, 22 June 2004.
15. ^ 'Facelift plus for big Volvo's', Andrew Hamilton, The Irish Times, 16 June 2004.
16. ^ 'Big upgrades for Volvo's', John Oxley, WHEELS24.co.za, 17 February 2005.
17. ^ 'Our Steve's a real character', Edward Stephens, Birmingham Evening Mail, 27 August 2004.
18. ^ 'Volvo S80', Martin Sharp, AutoExpress, 20 May 2003.
19. ^ 'Volvo S60R and V70R', Eddie Alterman, Automobile, February 2003.
20. ^ 'The Cosworth Fords', Jeremy Walton, Bluestream Books. ISBN 1-8526-0481-6.
21. ^ 'Three-Wheelers', Chris Rees. Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-9018-6001-9

External links

• SHADO Design Stephen Harper's design company.