Niki Smart is a British car designer, known for being the lead designer on the

Ariel Atom The Ariel Atom is a road-legal high performance open-wheel car made by the British Ariel Motor Company based in Crewkerne, Somerset, England, and under license in North America by TMI Autotech, Inc. at Virginia International Raceway in Alto ...

project and his concept car design for

Cadillac Cadillac Motor Car Division, or simply Cadillac (), is the luxury vehicle division (business), division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Its major markets are the United States, Canada and China; Cadillac models are ...

, as design manager for the General Motors Advanced Design team in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. Smart began designing the

whilst studying at

Coventry University Coventry University is a Public university, public research university in Coventry, England. The origins of Coventry University can be linked to the Coventry School of Art and Design, Coventry School of Design in 1843. It was known as Lancheste ...

, in conjunction with Ariel Motor Company boss and senior transport design lecturer Simon Saunders. Smart completed his master's in vehicle design at the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public university, public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City, London, White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design uni ...

, London in 1999. In 1997, Smart moved on to

Tom Walkinshaw Racing Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR) was a motor racing team and engineering firm founded in 1976, in Kidlington, near Oxford, England, by touring car racer Tom Walkinshaw. The company initially handled privateer work before entering works touring car ...

as a designer and then to the

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational corporation, multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. T ...

in 1998. Smart was exterior design manager for the General Motors Advanced Design team in Los Angeles, California up until 2019, and oversaw the design of the Cadillac Urban Luxury Concept in 2010 and the Cadillac Ciel Concept, a

hybrid electric A hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) is a type of hybrid vehicle that couples a conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) with one or more electric engines into a combined propulsion system. The presence of the electric powertrain, which has i ...

concept car A concept car (also known as a concept vehicle or show vehicle) is a car made to showcase new styling or new technology. Concept cars are often exhibited at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or may not ...

released in 2011. Smart also oversaw the design of the Cadillac Elmiraj, which was unveiled at

Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance The Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance is an annual automotive event held on the Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, California. It is widely considered the most prestigious car show in the world and it is the pinnacle ''Concours d'Elegance'' c ...

in 2013. On its debut at the 2019 Quail Motorcycle Gathering, Smart unveiled the ABC 500. It received first place in the Modified Class.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smart, Niki 21st-century British designers 1973 births Living people Alumni of Coventry University British automobile designers