Not long after he fell in love with cars Karl Elmitt discovered his talent to draw.
"Combine the two, and it becomes an overriding passion that invariably will lead one to design school," he says.
He started his career with Volkswagen, where he created the exterior for the fourth-generation Golf, which was built from 1997 until 2003. Since joining BMW in 1998, the Englishman has done the exterior styling for the M3 CSL, M5 and M6. All three are from M GmbH, the carmaker's in-house tuner, and all three are considered iconic vehicles that convey the essence of the BMW brand.
But Elmitt's goal is to do more than just enhance the looks of BMWs. He dreams of being part of a team that creates an M-badged supercar from a blank sheet, as BMW did with the M1 in the late 1970s.
Name: Karl Elmitt.
Age: 47.
Title: Chief of exterior design at M GmbH, BMW's high-performance division.
Nationality: English.
Education: Degree in automotive design from the Royal College of Art in London.
What do you drive?
A diesel-powered BMW 3 series coupe.
What was your first job in the auto industry?
After graduating, I joined Volkswagen and stayed with the company until 1998.
What advice would you give someone who wants to become a car designer?
Carefully choose your art college so that it suits your needs and desires and work hard at networking.
What misconception do people have about your job?
People realize fairly quickly that it is a cool job. What they don't realize is that it is hard work, too.
Which cars do you wish you designed?
The Aston Martin DB5 and the BMW M1.
Finish this sentence: When it comes to car design, pedestrian safety rule are:
Annoying, but such challenges help us to solve all kinds of problems.
