Ron Hickman Ron Hickman Ronald Price Hickman OBE (21 October 1932 – 17 February 2011) was a South African-born, Jersey-based car designer and inventor who designed the original Lotus Elan, the Lotus Elan +2 and the Lotus Europa, as well as the Black & Decker Workmate. Hickman was born in Greytown, Natal, South Africa, where he worked as a courthouse clerk after leaving high school. He moved to London in the 1950s where he was employed by a music publisher. From 1954 Hickman worked for the Ford Motor Company at Dagenham first as a clay modeller and later he helped to style
Peter Stevens (car designer) Esprit revision and designed the Lotus Elan (M100). He then designed the Jaguar XJR-15 and later became Chief Designer at McLaren Cars. He was responsible for the design of the McLaren F1, launched in 1993. After a spell as chief designer at Lamborghini, he returned to the UK, undertaking consultancy for Prodrive, BMW, Williams and Toyota. Alongside his automotive design consultancy, he became Visiting Professor of Vehicle Design at the Royal College of Art, London, until October 2014. He was appointed as design director at the MG Rover Group in 2000. As consultant director of design for Mahindra and Mahindra