Frank Stephenson

The man defined a style for McLaren, reinvented the Mini and revitalised Fiat-yet he could just as easily have been a Motocross champ...

- Elliott Hughes

'I NEVER SET out to be a car designer - I just sort of became one,' says Frank Stephenson. It's an odd admission from the man who penned iconic cars such as the McLaren P1, BMW's first Mini and the Maserati MC12. Like any great designer, Frank was first drawn to beauty and form - long before he fell under the spell of cars and engines.

'All I wanted to do as a kid was draw. My mother had to kick me out of the house to get me to go out and play, Frank chuckles. Born in Casablanca, Morocco, in 1959 to a Spanish mother and Norwegian father, Frank spent his early childhood in sunny Málaga, Spain, surrounded by cars.

'My father started a car dealership with my uncle in the mid'60s,' Frank continues. 'It was a top dealership that sold SEATS, Saabs and Rovers. When I was about nine or ten, I'd just sit in the showroom and stare at the cars. I always drew, but I started to draw the cars - modifying them, drawing them differently.

I didn't realise it, but I was already designing.' When Frank was 11 his family moved to Istanbul, Turkey, before going back to Spain to live in Madrid, where he graduated from high school. 'I was a colourful mix of cultures, which helped me creatively.' Yet after finishing high school, Frank didn't immediately pursue design. 'I actually started racing motorcycles!' he laughs.

'My father said I could have a year off after graduation and I had a friend who started racing. I went to help and caught the bug.

The bug developed into something more serious. 'I got successful and raced at a pretty high level,' he continues. 'But then, my father said: "Is this going to be your life until you're 30? Broken bones, probably racing at a competitive level, but never World Champion? Number two is never good enough." And so the 22-year-old Frank faced a fork in the road of his life. He could commit to Motocross, work at his father's dealership or forge another path. He chose the latter.