Geoffrey Leonard Matthews

Geoffrey Leonard Matthews (widely known as Geoff Matthews) (September 1946 – 24 January 2015) was an English car designer who designed cars for manufacturers, including Chrysler, Talbot and Citroën.

Geoff Matthews 1988


Early life

Matthews was adopted and grew up in a family of farm labourers that picked hops for a living. He won a place at Grammar school where he went on to study car design at the Royal College of Art.[1][2]

Notable achievements

Worked on the exterior design of numerous vehicles, including: the Chrysler Alpine of 1976 (aka Simca 1308), Chrysler Sunbeam, Talbot Tagora, Matra Rancho and the car that would become the Renault Espace.[3]

During the 1980s Matthews moved to France where he was promoted to Chief Exterior Designer at Citroën,[4] where he oversaw the development of the exterior designs for production cars, refreshes and concepts.[5] This involved working on the Citroen AX, BX, series 2 CX as well as XM.

During his time at Citroën, Matthews also spearheaded the EOLE project,[6] which was displayed at the 1986 Geneva Motor Show, and pioneered developments in aerodynamics and design.

Views on car design

In an interview in 1990 by Gavin Green for Car magazine, Matthews was quoted as saying, ‘There is less room for visionary individuals than there used to be: less room for the very people who gave us the car industry in the first place. The great old men of the car industry – the ones with the vision and power to get things done – have gone. The Ferdinand Porsches, Enzo Ferraris, William Lyonses, Henry Royces. Those men stamped their personalities on their cars.’[7]

Career

Matthews worked for major car manufacturers, including; Chrysler UK, Talbot, and Citroen. Following his time at Citroen, he took up key positions in a number of companies including; Styling International (a subsidiary of Hawtal Whiting Design), MGA Developments, Geoff Matthews Design, Facel Vega Motors, Connaught Motor Company.[8] Matthews also took up roles within the Automotive Design Courses at Coventry and Swansea University.

References
  1. Morgan Matthews - Storyville, BBCiPlayer - This Was My Dad - The Rise & Fall of Geoffrey Matthews, http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08xyq06
  2. Royal College of Art Automotive design unit, Motorsport, Feb 1984, http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/february-1984/24/royal-college-art-automotive-design-unit
  3. Geoff Matthews 1946-2015, by James Walshe http://www.citroenet.org.uk/miscellaneous/geoff-matthews/obituary.html
  4. CAR Magazine, July 1990 http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/features/opinion/gavin-green/gavin-green-on-copycat-styling-car-archive-july-1990/
  5. Andy Wheel, Chief Designer Exteriors of Land Rover Design
  6. Car Design News, Concept Car of the Week: Citroën Eole 1986, http://cardesignnews.com/articles/concept-car-of-the-week/2016/01/citroen-eole-1986
  7. CAR Magazine, July 1990 http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/features/opinion/gavin-green/gavin-green-on-copycat-styling-car-archive-july-1990
  8. UK Director Company Check https://companycheck.co.uk/director/904673664/MR-GEOFFREY-LEONARD-MATTHEWS/companies

Further reading

Geoff Matthews, 1946-2015: one of the UK's great car designers by Andy Wheel, Chief designer - exteriors at Land Rover design, 19 Feb 2015.


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