Callum Skye is an £80k dune buggy from the future
Warwickshire-based design firm Callum has opened order books for the new Skye
Callum, named after its founder and famed car designer Ian Callum, has launched a wild high-performance electric car with off-road aspirations called the Callum Skye. Alongside some new technical specifications, Callum has also revealed the interior of the Skye for the first time.
The Skye will start at around £80,000 and range up to £110,000 with customers able to reserve a car now. While specifics are yet to be revealed, Callum claims a number of variants will be offered with varying degrees of off and on-road focus.
The Skye is the first car to be designed and engineered entirely within the Callum design firm. Since its inception in 2019, Callum has revealed the Callum Vanquish 25 by R-Reforged (a reimagination of the Aston Martin Vanquish) and the shooting brake variant, the Callum Vanquish VC25.
The Skye is a completely different concept however. David Fairbairn, says the Skye “addresses a void in the market” and while a fully-electric buggy certainly is a niche idea, we’ve seen Volkswagen toy with the idea with the ID. Buggy concept in 2019 and we’d almost forgotten about the Meyers Manx EV buggy unveiled in 2022.
Inside, the 2+2 cabin has also been revealed with design director, Ian Callum explaining: “In order to maximise the room, it’s essential to keep the interior forms simple. It uses clean yet sophisticated geometric shapes that complement the beautiful forms showcased on the exterior. With the elegant simplicity of the interior, we retain the honesty of Skye being a capable and durable lifestyle vehicle, while offering a refined cabin experience.”
The overall design of the interior is pretty stripped back. There’s a sporty-looking steering wheel with a centre-marker up top, a thin centre console featuring three dials and a gear selector below. Callum says the dashboard was designed “with restraint” and “a focus on functionality”. The central touchscreen is equipped with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity.
In terms of exterior design, the Skye wouldn’t look out of place roving around the moon. While the car is being developed for on-road use, its appetite for the rough stuff is clear. There’s almost no overhang front or rear, chunky all-terrain tyres with plenty of space on the wheel wells for articulation and a glass section in the lower part of the doors - all of which will aid the Skye’s off-road ability.
It might have a sleek, sloping roofline, but it’s a 2+2 layout inside with a “comfortable, refined cabin” according to Callum. It’s just a tiny bit smaller than the VW ID. Buggy, measuring 4,047mm in length and 1,900mm in width.
The 42kWh battery might not sound like much but Callum is targeting a weight of just 1,150kg for the Skye, not to mention 50/50 weight distribution across both axles. Range is anticipated at 170 miles and while there’s no information on electric motor capacity, the Skye is four-wheel drive so a motor on each axle is expected, helping to power the car to 62mph in under four seconds. Callum also claims a 0-100 per cent will take under ten minutes.
The Callum Skye will make its first public appearance at the Concours on Savile Row in London on 22 May.
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