Tom Karen is a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 industrial design

Industrial design

Industrial design is the use of a combination of applied art and applied science to improve the aesthetics, ergonomics, and usability of a product, but it may also be used to improve the product's marketability and production...

er of Czech origin. He was Managing Director and Chief Designer of Ogle Design

Ogle Design

Ogle Design is a British design consultancy company, founded in 1954 by David Ogle, based in Letchworth, Hertfordshire.-History:* 1954 Ogle Design was founded and produced many successful designs of industrial and household products....

 from 1962 until 1999. He oversaw design of the Bush Radio TR130 radio, the Raleigh Chopper

Raleigh Chopper

The Raleigh Chopper is a children's bicycle, a wheelie bike, manufactured and marketed in the 1970s by the Raleigh Bicycle Company of Nottingham, England. Its unique design became a true 70s cultural icon, and is fondly remembered by many who grew up in that period...

, the Bond Bug

Bond Bug

The Bond Bug was a small British two seat, three wheeled sports car of the 1970s. Following the purchase of Bond Cars Limited, Reliant commissioned Tom Karen of Ogle Design to design a fun car. It was a wedge-shaped microcar, with a lift-up canopy and side screens instead of conventional doors...

, the Reliant Scimitar

Reliant Scimitar

Reliant's first Scimitar was a coupé based upon the styling of a Daimler SP250 prototype and the chassis of a Reliant Sabre. It was first displayed in 1964. It was powered by a 2.6 L Ford straight six from the Ford Zephyr / Ford Zodiac...

 GTE, the Anadol

Anadol

Anadol was Turkey's first domestic mass-production passenger vehicle, and the second Turkish car after the ill-fated Devrim sedan of 1961.Anadol cars and pick-ups were manufactured by Otosan Otomobil Sanayii in Istanbul between 1966 and 1991....

 A1 (FW5), an award-winning series of truck cabs for Leyland, and the Marble Run. In 2001, Karen received an honorary degree from Loughborough University

Loughborough University

Loughborough University is a research based campus university located in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, in the East Midlands of England...

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Karen on fastbacks

In March 1969, shortly after the launch of the Reliant Scimitar GTE which he had designed and of the Ford Capri (which he had not designed), Karen had the opportunity to give his opinion on fastback designs. He claimed to be "baffled" by "the case for fastbacks" because he thought there was "nothing good to be said for them except that some people think they look all right. Aerodynamically they're lousy, headroom in the back is lousy, for visibility they're lousy, with a lot of glass they're lousy from a weight point of view and they give no boot access".