It’s barely past sunrise when Laurens van den Acker, Renault Group’s design supremo, bounds out of a Rafale at Aston Martin HQ. He’s running on little sleep after a predawn flight to the UK, but you wouldn’t know it. “This is like Christmas for me,” he grins, moments before taking the keys to a V12 Vanquish from his old friend Marek Reichman, Aston Martin’s chief creative officer.

Reichman, in turn, takes the keys to something altogether smaller and sunnier: a bright yellow Renault 5. On paper, it’s a mismatch. In practice, it’s a fascinating collision of worlds—the kind of car swap you only get when designers, not accountants, call the shots.

A Vanquish Dream, a Hot Hatch Reality

The duo set off into the Warwickshire countryside, where Aston routinely fine-tunes its cars on a diet of lumpy cambers, tight corners, and potholes that could swallow a Twizy whole.

For van den Acker, the experience borders on spiritual.
“I don’t think I’ve ever experienced this type of acceleration before,” he says, still laughing as if the Vanquish’s V12 tickled him rather than tried to rearrange his organs. “You feel the adrenaline pumping, and the car just invites you to go faster. I thought I’d be intimidated, but it just wants you to come play.”

Reichman, meanwhile, wrings surprising joy from the pint-sized Renault. “It was really good,” he admits. “Responsive, fun, even a little wheel screech at one point. If you see an opportunity, you can take it. The Vanquish behind me probably helped.”

Cross-Pollination at 7,000 RPM

Design directors rarely get to sample cars outside their own segment. When they do, they can’t help themselves—they drive with one eye and inspect with the other. Reichman admits he spent as much time studying the R5’s material transitions and screen integration as he did hustling it down the B-roads. Van den Acker, for his part, treats the Vanquish as both fantasy fulfillment and a benchmark: “For us, Aston Martin is a reference in design. It’s the whole brand experience.”

Despite the gulf between their products, both men agree we’re living through a “golden age of car design.” With new competitors from China, electrification reshaping proportions, and consumers expecting premium execution at every price, the arms race is hotter than ever.

Mainstream vs. Luxury: Same Game, Different Budgets

Reichman has spent two decades shaping Aston Martin’s form language, racking up more than 50 production cars, one-offs, and specials. Van den Acker, by contrast, has overseen Renault, Alpine, and Dacia—brands that sell in high volume and tight budgets but now carry a design coherence he’s proud of.

“The level of car you can get for the money now is incredible,” he says. “With the Renault 5 we pushed to the last five percent of detail. It’s like Formula 1: that last bit has the biggest impact.”

Reichman nods. “At Aston, we might spend the budget on carbon fiber. At Renault, you might tool plastic differently. The shape is what matters—the rest is about where you allocate the money.”

It’s a reminder that whether you’re sketching a €20,000 hatchback or a €300,000 GT, the essential challenge is the same: create desire.

Old Friends, New Roads

The chemistry between the two is obvious. They first met in California in the early ’90s, part of a wave of young designers lured by surfboards, barbecues, and big dreams. They later crossed paths at Ford in Detroit, where their competitive streaks spilled over into a legendary football match that left Reichman with a scar courtesy of van den Acker’s uncompromising attack. “He should have been sent off,” Reichman jokes. “Deserved,” van den Acker admits.

Now, decades later, they find themselves on parallel but opposite trajectories: one drawing dream machines in Gaydon, the other shaping icons of the street in Boulogne-Billancourt. Both insist they’d happily swap challenges. Reichman fancies designing a Twizy as much as a Valkyrie; van den Acker, meanwhile, still dreams of penning a sports car. “Give me a package,” he says, “and it would come naturally.”

Parked side by side at Caffeine & Machine, the Vanquish and Renault 5 attracted equal amounts of attention—proof that charisma doesn’t always correlate with cylinder count. “Popular cars need to be flexible,” van den Acker says. “But whether it’s a Renault 5 or an Aston Martin, people know when it’s right and when it’s wrong.”

That’s the unspoken bond between two friends from opposite ends of the automotive spectrum: respect for the craft, the competition, and the sheer joy of a good drive.

And judging by the grin still plastered across van den Acker’s face, the Vanquish delivered exactly that.

Source: Autocar