Kincsem appoints CALLUM for Hyper-car design brief

Horse power the inspiration behind digital luxury

Kincsem, the world-famous Hungarian racehorse, was unbeaten over a career of 54 races, and her legacy lives on with the global launch on March 17 of British-Hungarian digital luxury brand Kincsem, founded by 35-year-old Hungarian businessman Tibor Bak.

It was announced at the launch that Kincsem has appointed CALLUM, led by Ian Callum CBE, who was recently named GQ’s Car Designer of the Year, to deliver the design of an all-new electrified hyper-car.

Bak’s curriculum vitae says he has been involved with a number of successful businesses. Kincsem is described as being digital-first in every facet and desiring to be without constraint. Its founder’s vision is to fuse the world’s best talent with the latest technology to develop beautifully designed, high-performance products.

From finance to agile manufacturing and A.I. design, the brand is said to be pioneering the integration of digital at every aspect. Bak is bringing “all of his considerable industrial experience and skill to innovate new and previously untapped partnerships and methodologies to deliver the brand’s diverse product portfolio, of which the Hyper-GT is the first launch”.

Bak said: “The story of Kincsem the horse is the inspiration behind the brand; the ethos behind her training was pioneering and, as a result, her achievements remain unsurpassed. Our pioneering approach to digital technology allows us to create without constraints and place the individual at the centre of the design process. Our customers will experience new levels of dynamic personalisation that has never before been possible.”

He added: “The Kincsem Hyper-GT, designed by Ian Callum, will bring together new modes of digital integration into development, design, manufacture and ownership. The possibilities presented by the new augmented, digital age enable us to help our customers enter a ‘flow state’, which athletes call The Zone, offering a level of dynamic personalisation and control that has never before been possible.”

The new Hyper-GT will involve the creation of only 54 UK-manufactured luxury vehicles. These feature a revolutionary high revving F1-derived hybrid powertrain, with delivery beginning in 2023.

Eclipsing the options for customer personalisation currently available, the Hyper-GT will introduce a new “Personal Engineering” experience for each owner in a car combining driver responsiveness with zero-emissions capability. The price is yet to be confirmed but the intention is to compete at the highest echelons of luxury automotive.

The CALLUM appointment is the first of a number of high-profile partnerships to be announced that draw on the pinnacle of design, engineering and production talent across the globe. CALLUM’s inclusion brings an absolute pedigree to the project, due to be unveiled in full in late 2021, and the new car represents an empowering and open brief for the design team.

Ian Callum, who leads the CALLUM design team, said: “With Kincsem we have that rare privilege to not only create a beautiful car but also form a design language for an innovative luxury brand.

“Refreshingly, Kincsem has said there are no rules, enabling us to pose the question ‘If we could do whatever we wanted, what would we do?’. That’s one of the most invigorating opportunities for any designer. The team at CALLUM is extremely excited to start work.”

The Kincsem ethos of unrivalled customer involvement will manifest across multiple products, services and experiences as the future unfolds. This will include the launch of a luxury performance SUV featuring the same drivetrain and Personal Engineering possibilities as the Hyper-GT.

Paul Fox, the British Ambassador to Hungary, said: ‘’I warmly congratulate Kincsem, this fantastic British-Hungarian digital luxury brand, on the occasion of its global launch. I am particularly pleased to say the birth of this brand has been supported in the past three years by the Department for International Trade Team in my embassy. This team has facilitated partnerships and connections between the founder of the brand, Tibor Bak, and various counterparts in the UK.

“Technology and digital solutions are a key area for future co-operation between the UK and Hungary, and Kincsem is a brilliant example of British-Hungarian talent coming together and championing new definitions of cutting-edge technology and luxury.”

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