Malcolm Sayer
| Malcolm Gilbert Sayer | |
|---|---|
| Born | 21 May 1916 Cromer, Norfolk, England |
| Died |
22 April 1970 (aged 53) Leamington Spa, England |
| Cause of death | Heart attack |
| Nationality | British |
| Education | Loughborough College |
| Occupation | Engineer |
| Notable work | E-Type Jaguar |
Malcolm Sayer (21 May 1916 – 22 April 1970) was an aircraft and car designer. His most notable work being the E-Type Jaguar and Jaguar XJS. He spent the last twenty years of his life working at Jaguar Cars and was one of the first engineers to apply principles of aircraft design to cars.
Sayer was born in Cromer, Norfolk. He was educated at Great Yarmouth Grammar School (where his father taught Maths and Art). At age 17 he won the prestigious Empire Scholarship and attended at Loughborough College (later Loughborough University) in its Department of Aeronautical and Automotive Engineering, earning first class honors.
He worked for the Bristol Aeroplane Company during the Second World War, which exempted him from conscription by way of reserved occupation protection.
Sayer traveled to Iraq in 1948 to work at Baghdad University where he established the Faculty of Engineering. While there he reportedly met a German professor who helped him recognize the mathematical relationship to curve shapes and identity. Often he worked instead maintaining the fleet of government vehicles. He returned to the UK in 1950.
Sayer was hired by Jaguar Cars in 1951. He described himself as an industrial designer and artist. He loathed the term 'stylist', saying he was not a hairdresser.
His designs include:
His prime concern was that a design 'worked' both aerodynamically and visually. Some of his particular contributions were the introduction of slide rule and seven-figure log tables to work out formulae he invented for drawing curves, work which is now undertaken by complex Computer Aided Design software.
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