The Design Issue is one fine-looking magazine. November issue of Wheels mag out now

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You know Ian Callum. He’s been responsible for shaping the face of modern car design through cars like the Aston Martin DB9 and the Vanquish. His F-Pace was Jaguar’s first SUV and was such an elegant fit that nobody raised a sniff of a complaint about it. The all-electric I-Pace, Ford’s bonkers RS200 Group B rally car, the Nissan R390 GT1 racer, even the detailing of HSV’s iconic 1996 GTSR all flowed from his pen. So we were understandably delighted when he agreed to guest edit the latest instalment of Wheels magazine: The Design Issue.

We have Callum at his most expansive, talking about the state of modern car design and the way forward. He helps us nominate the 10 most influential designers currently working in the industry, but we banned him from nominating himself. He’s a pretty modest guy, so I don’t think that was strictly necessary. Sorry, Ian.

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Alex Inwood gets access to GM’s secret design studio in Melbourne to document the art of clay modelling and talks to GM’s local design guru Richard Ferlazzo to understand why, in today’s virtual world, there’s still no substitute for sculpting two-tonne clods of clay.

Callum walks us through the steps in designing a car, and we sent Ash Westerman to Turin to visit one of the most outrageous design houses of them all, Zagato. His interview with Andrea Zagato as the company celebrates its centenary is well worth a look.

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We’ve packed the issue with other features if wielding crayons isn’t your thing. The Supra finally fronts up to some of its fiercest rivals in the shape of the BMW M2 Competition Pure and the revitalised Audi TT S quattro.

We sit down with Le Mans legend Andy Wallace to discover what it’s like getting air at nearly 500km/h in a Bugatti Chiron, and we run the rule over the forthcoming Volkswagen ID.3, Land Rover Defender, Lamborghini Sian FKP 37 and Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series. Our Modern Classic is the quirky but delightful Honda Insight Mk1.

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We have drives of the new Hyundai Venue baby SUV, the lovely Peugeot 508, the refreshed Land Rover Discovery Sport, the Volvo S60 T5 and the ball-tearing Ferrari F8 Tributo. You’ll need to check the mag for a famous face from Wheels’ past in the Fez. But plugging the latest mag actually isn't hard. It's a cracker.

Anyway, that’s enough from me. There’s a whole lot more in Australia’s car magazine. Hell, just buy it for the cover, lovingly created by designer Felipe Ubilla with original sketchwork by artist Romeo Varga of the ID.3, Defender and the astonishing Lamborghini Sian. Get after it!