Is the Callum Skye What Off-Roading Will Look Like Someday?
Designer Ian Callum started his own EV manufacturing company back in 2019 with a reimagination of the Aston Martin Vanquish and the VC25 Vanquish wagon. Now, he’s reaching farther with this high-styled Callum Skye. Nobody ever said every off-roader needs to be Jeep-like. Or Land Rover-like. While planning on revealing more technical information in the spring, there is still a lot to digest.
Callum was the design director at Jaguar for years and has a stellar portfolio of exciting cars that include the Aston Martin V12 Vanquish. As an aside, his brother Moray was head of Ford design for years as well. So you can say the Callum family is design-rich, as is the Skye.
Is the Callum Skye made for off-road?
“After 20 years, I’d done everything I wanted,” he told Auto Express in 2020. “I’d always wanted to work for myself, to be independent, and I wasn’t going to stop designing. I’m not a golfer, and there’s only so much time you can spend fixing your old cars.”
He says that an electric Skye is filling a “void in the market.” That void is undoubtedly a stylish on-roader with off-roading intent. Large wheel openings and large off-road tires indicate it can more than handle dirt trails and rocky terrain.
How large is the Callum Skye?
There is also almost no front or rear overhangs. And that lower door window is reminiscent of the prototype two-door Bronco. It is only there for eyeing path surfaces and pointy things nearby, not for highway dividing lines.
In some ways, it is like a 21st-century Meyers Manx. But one with doors and what Callum calls a “comfortable, refined cabin.” The overall length is only 173 inches and just under 75 inches wide. That’s about the same size as a Toyota Corolla with an extra five inches of width.
Callum is shooting for a weight of 2,500 lbs. So, while the 42kWh battery seems small, it should give plenty of performance with around 170 miles of range. Two motors, one at each axle, give the Skye four-wheel drive, which is what we would expect. Other features include zero to 62 mph times in under four seconds. Charging from zero to 100% will take only 10 minutes.
How far along is the development of the Skye?
Callum says they’re already testing prototypes in and around the U.K. and Europe. Its U.K. headquarters are in Warwickshire. We don’t know whether it will do its own manufacturing or outsource it to a company like Magna Styer. Warwickshire is home to numerous auto manufacturers, including Jaguar Land Rover and Aston Martin.
We can’t think of any fastback off-roaders, making this very unique. There are a couple of slant backs for Hummers and Jeep Wranglers, but nothing close to the Skye’s silhouette. So, combining its unique design elements along with Callum’s ability to manufacture, we are expecting this to turn heads on- or off-road.
