Jason Castriota

Jason Castriota is an automotive designer.

Jason Castriota
Born	White Plains, New York
Alma mater	Art Center
Occupation(s)	Car designer, product designer
Years active	1997–present
Employer(s)	Gruppo Bertone, Pininfarina, Saab, Ford, Castriota Design Company
Known for	Ferrari 599, Maserati GranTurismo, SSC Tuatara, Mustang Mach-E, Ferrari P4/5, Rolls-Royce Hyperion, Ferrari 612 Kappa
Website	castriotadesign.com

Biography

The C-pillar shaped like an arch guided air to the rear section to help keep the car on the ground. It was initially a styling exercise.

Jason Castriota was born in White Plains, New York, and raised in Greenwich, Connecticut. He graduated from Emerson College in Boston and attended but dropped out of the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena.^[1] Castriota began his internship at the Pininfarina design studio, which later turned into full time position in design. Castriota had decided to stay in Turin and he took part in the design of production cars such as the Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano and Maserati GranTurismo,^[2] concept cars like the Maserati Birdcage 75th^[2] with accepted and approved U.S. patents^[3] on the design and the Rolls-Royce Hyperion. As Head Designer he continued on for Special Projects, one-off exclusive cars for particular customers, such as the Ferrari P4/5 by Pininfarina,^[4] a restyled Enzo Ferrari for American car collector James Glickenhaus, and the Ferrari 612 Kappa,^[5] a restyling of the Ferrari 612 Scaglietti for car collector Peter Kalikow.

Castriota left his position at Pininfarina on the eve of the Paris Motor Show in September 2008, and was set to become Design Director at Stile Bertone.^[6] In 2009 he also formed his own design consultancy with offices in New York and Turin; Jason Castriota Design LLC.^[7]  

In June 2010, Saab Automobile hired Castriota as its new design director.^[8] In 2014, Castriota joined Skylabs, a small product design firm in New York. In early 2016, he was recruited to work for Ford Motor Company as an Advanced Strategic Design leader in Dearborn, Michigan.^[7] Castriota moved into a strategy role on Ford's dedicated Electrified Vehicle team – Team Edison. Castriota was one of four directors who were responsible for the overall company’s EV strategy and lead Ford's Battery Electric Global Brand Strategy^[7] for all major markets. His latest project, the Mustang Mach-E^[7] is fastest selling EVs on the market today.^[9]

Castriota is also responsible for designing the SSC Tuatara a sports car made in Washington State.^[10] Tuatara entered production in 2020, and also set world speed records for the fastest production car on January 27, 2021 hitting a one-way speed of 286.1 mph (460.4 km/h) and a two-way average of 282.9 mph (455.3 km/h) in 2021. the SSC Tuatara hit a verified top speed of 295 mph in just 2 miles of road in May 2022.^[11]

Designs

• Maserati Birdcage 75th (2005)^[2][3]
• Ferrari P4/5 by Pininfarina (2006)^[4]
• Ferrari 612 Kappa (2006)^[5]
• Ferrari 599 (2006)^[12]
• Maserati GranTurismo (2007)^[13]
• Rolls-Royce Hyperion (2008)^[14][15]
• Bertone Mantide (2009)^[6]
• Saab PhoeniX (2011)^[8]
• SSC Tuatara (2020)^[10]
• Ford Mustang Mach-E (2021)^[9]

• 
  Ferrari P4/5 by Pininfarina
• 
  Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano
• 
  Maserati GranTurismo
• 
  Bertone Mantide
• 
  SSC Tuatara
• 
  Ford Mustang Mach-E

References

1. Pfister, Werner (2007-01-24). "The Pininfarina 612 K". Veloce Today. Retrieved 2007-02-21.
2. Breen, Bill (2008). "An Oral History of The Design Behind Maserati's 2008 GranTurismo". Fast Company.
3. Patent Design Office, United States (2007-10-09). "United States Design Patent Office: Patent US D552,513 S" (PDF). United States Design Patent Office: Patent US D552,513 S. Retrieved 2007-10-09.
4. Migliore, Greg (2010-06-17). "Ferrari P4/5 designer Castriota heads to Saab". Autoweek. Retrieved 2023-01-28.
5. "Ferrari 612 Kappa". www.carrozzieri-italiani.com. Retrieved 2023-01-28.
6. Gallina, Eric (2008-11-27). "Who's Where: Jason Castriota joins Stile Bertone". Car Design News. Archived from the original on 2008-12-07. Retrieved 2008-11-28.
7. Callaway, Sue (February 5, 2016). "Ford Finally Is Getting Serious About Design". Fortune. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
8. "SAAB Newsroom". Archived from the original on 2010-06-21. Retrieved 2010-06-19.
9. Bell, Sebastian (April 23, 2021). "Ford Didn't Initially Plan To Add A High Performance GT Version To Mach-E's Lineup". Car Scoops.
10. "SSC Ultimate Aero II: First Photos Of America's Bugatti Fighter". Jalopnik.com. 2010-09-04. Retrieved 2012-03-11.
11. Moore, Alina (2022-05-25). "2021 – 2022 SSC Tuatara Hits 295 MPH, Becomes World's Fastest Production Vehicle". TopSpeed. Retrieved 2023-01-29.
12. "How the Ferrari 599 GTB Accidentally Changed Car Design". roadandtrack.com. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
13. "An Oral History of The Design Behind Maserati's 2008 GranTurismo". fastcompany.com. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
14. "Pininfarina Rolls-Royce Hyperion". coachbuild.com. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
15. "Price Dropped On Pininfarina-Designed Hyperion Rolls-Royce". motorauthority.com. Retrieved 13 October 2019.