Waft latest book ‘Masters of Modern Car Design’ features the design directors of the big automotive groups.

Walter de' Silva from the VW Group, Ed Welburn from GM, Lorenzo Ramaciotti from the Fiat Group, J Mays from Ford, Peter Schreyer from Kia, Jean-Pierre Ploué from PSA, Adrian Van Hooydonk from the BMW Group, Laurens van den Acker from Renault and Gorden Wagener from Daimler: nine people that are key to contemporary car design. Nine design chiefs influencing the appearance of almost every car in the world. All of them have at least two brands under their wings, except Peter Schreyer. But we included him because he embodies the perfect bridge between east and west.

The book shows the men behind the machines, tells their stories, presents their compelling personalities, and unveils some drawings that have never been seen before.

True to the subtitle ‘Ever since I was a young boy, I’ve been drawing cars’, we focussed on the human aspect with childhood pictures and early illustrations, thus emphasising that these were once young boys with a dream, that eventually came true. We hope this can be an inspiration for young people.

Each designer has an own chapter, based on interviews with them. They are all written in the I-form, as if he talks directly to the reader.

The book doesn’t give a right or wrong answer. The designers sometimes agree, more often they contradict each other. That’s how complicated car design is. Many of the designers contacted us later and told us they actually had learned a lot from the book. You can see those on the comment-page of our website www.Waft.Be

In the meantime, the book won first prize in the prestigious ADAC Buchpreis award at the Frankfurt Book Fair.

The book is written, produced and published by WAFT Publishing, a small, totally independent company run by photographer Lies De Mol and Bart Lenaerts.

This hardcover book with soft touch finishing measures 30x30 centimetres and has 252 pages. A German version is made with Delius Klasing Publishing. The English version is only available at www.waft.be.  Both cost 60 euros. At www.waft.be we also sell our previous books.

WAFT 1 & 2 are about motoring culture in all its forms. Both are limited to 1.000 copies only. The first has a unique ‘oil on canvas’ cover painted with real engine oil, the second a cover with paint of exceptional prototypes.

Belgian Car Designers features ten car designers that are born and raised in Belgium.