Features
Men of the year
The Mentor
Mike Cross, development driving guru
Mike Cross brings cars into the world. He nourishes them, grows them, shows them the ways of the road, and only when they're good and ready does he takes his hand off their shoulder and gently push them out there.
Computer-aided design means new cars now spend longer in utero, not taking their first steps until just months before we buy them.
Your new car could have as little as one year's driving under its belt, so those miles better count - in this, the motorcar's second century, it's where crucial differentiation can be dialled in.
That makes Cross as important to new Jags and Land Rovers as their design teams. Maybe more so. British luxury cars now feel more, well, luxurious than their German counterparts. That didn't happen in a design studio.
'Think how the 205 rescued Peugeot from fustiness. He did the merry all-new Yaris too'
The Minimalist
Manabu Morisaka, Toyota's small-car guru
Toyota business cards must have small writing. His fits in: 'Manabu Morisaka, Executive Chief Engineer, Product Planning Division, Toyota Development Center II'. This man is in charge of all Toyota's small cars around the world.
Pre-Morisaka, they were as dreary as snoring. His original Yaris up-ended that. Think how the 205 rescued Peugeot from fustiness. He did the merry all-new Yaris too. And the scions that gave Toyota a turnkey 'youth brand' in the US. Plus all kinds of delightful madcappery like the Will Vi.
He's a clever, charming engineer who has made small Toyotas wantable. Oh, and he understands us - he drives an Elise, and when we complained Top Gear's long-term Aygo (he did that too) was too long-geared, he smiled and said "Yes, but just fit smaller wheels".
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