John Heffernan

IF THERE'S A theme to the conversation, it's this: all the received narratives have been handed down and recycled. Spend five minutes in the company of John Heffernan and it soon becomes clear that he isn't one to crow. He doesn't do 'the big I am' but he cares about accuracy. 'I've read a lot about cars that I was involved in designing,' he says, musingly.
'I don't expect everyone to get everything right. It isn't as though they were there when we were doing stuff. Even so, I don't understand why those writing books or whatever don't contact me first for a fact check.
Warming to the theme, he continues: 'I've seen loads of times that the Bentley Continental we did started out as a sketch done internally at the factory in Crewe. If it did, I never saw it.
I still haven't. They did the interior, and they did a nice job.' Pause. Smile. Anyway, I am doing a book of my own so I can put the record straight. It's my memoirs. And with this he produces this work in progress: ring-bound volumes filled with the written word and lots of photos. It isn't all cars, either. 'I did lots of buses. It's funny, nobody ever asks about those.
This is understandable given that this likable artist's CV includes luxury GTs for blue-chip brands, Heffernan and his collaborator and foil Ken Greenley having been responsible for several stars of automotive design during the 1980s and '90s. All of which must have seemed a world away as he studied design at Leicester College during the mid-to-late-1960s.
'I remember the first car that really amazed me when I was a boy was the "bullet nose" Studebaker Commander. I thought that American cars looked extraordinary. I suppose that got me interested. My course was in industrial design, though, which I loved.
Bu hikaye Octane dergisinin June 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye Octane dergisinin June 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap

Hal Needham
Stuntman turned cult car-movie director, with modesty to match

Age of Innocenti
For a brief spell in the 1960s, an Italian company built a distinctly Continental-looking coupé based on unlikely British underpinnings. Glen Waddington discovers the Innocenti C

The Great Escapement
A radical move for the usually conservative Rolex

BMW Isetta
Proof that something designed with economy in mind can also be huge fun
PLAYTIME IS OVER!
A road-legal 85%-scale electric 'Blower' Bentley has hit the streets...

EVEN BETTER THAN THE REAL THING
This official continuation actually improves on the greatest Ford Escort ever made. Both their stories are as unlikely as they are fascinating

Sébastien Loeb
The most successful rally driver of all time

PARTY 7
As Jaguar prepares for a bold step into the future,Octane celebrates the F-type Project 7, a thrilling sports car that draws on the marque's Le Mans heritage

Pete Brock
This engineer, designer and racer is best known for the Shelby Daytona Coupe but there is so much more to his life and career — from hot rods to hang gliders

Salon Privé's 20th anniversary is gearing up to be its best ever show
WITH preparations for the huge 20th anniversary edition of Salon Privé well underway, it seems certain that it will present the best event yet on 27-31 August.