How design star got drive to succeed

But while there must be countless faded and long-forgotten school notebooks covered with the scribblings of sportscar-mad Edinburgh schoolboys gathering dust in houses across the Capital, George is probably the only former city pupil to bring his childhood dream machine to life.

More than 15 years after he left school, George returned this January to talk to current pupils about his work as the designer behind the latest Ford supercar, the Shelby GR-1. His speech came a few days after he paid a surprise visit to the school to thank his old art teacher, Bob Anderson, for setting him on the road to success.

The Shelby, which can go from 0-60mph in 3.5 seconds, is touring the world’s motor shows from New York to Beijing where it has been creating a real buzz. And while George may not yet be as famous as Gail, he is making a name for himself as one of the world’s leading car designers.

Recalling his feelings as he witnessed his supercar go from a scrawl to a sleek gleaming sportsmobile, George, now 33, says: "It was a very strange thing. To see it go from a sketch to hearing the engine and watching it vibrate and gleam. It was amazing."

Referring to its origins in his schoolboy doodling he jokingly adds: "It took a lot of preparation! I remember thinking as I was working with the team of sculptors on the model that this might never happen to me again. I would never have dreamed that this would happen [when I was at school].

"It is like an opportunity fell into my lap. The car that I have been drawing all my life finally got a chance to be seen by the people who needed to see it."

The "people who needed to see it" were the leaders of motor giant Ford, who were very impressed by the sketches of George’s dream car - done over a "wet weekend when I had nothing better to do".

In fact, they were so taken with the design that they skipped the usual development stages and ordered a full-size clay model to be made immediately.

George is modest about his personal progress from doodler to designer, but he is quick to heap praise on his old teacher for pointing him in the right direction.

"Mr Anderson was a great influence on me. He was very encouraging. I didn’t know what I wanted to do when I was at school. I was always drawing, but not just cars, I drew horses, rabbits, people... I ended up doing a degree in engineering at Glasgow.

"Afterwards I went to see him because I did not want to pursue a career in aerospace engineering and he gave me some pointers to put together a portfolio and I got accepted on a course on vehicle design at the Royal College of Art in London.

"That was the first time I seriously thought about car design as a career. I am really grateful to Mr Anderson for that. Without him I would not be where I am now."

After completing the course, George worked for renowned firms around the world, including Toyota in Brussels, before landing his current job as design manager on advanced product creation for Ford, in Detroit.

IT was another moment of having "nothing better to do" which brought him back to Portobello High when he was visiting family last Christmas. He says: "I thought I’d pop in and say hello. I had a word [with Mr Anderson] and he said I should come back and talk to the sixth-years about working as a designer, so I went back in January.

"I got a lot out of that. I was in their shoes 15 years ago; it was good to give something back."

Head of art Mr Anderson is equally complimentary about George, saying: "He was always a very talented artist throughout his school career. I remember when he came back to school after finishing his engineering degree he brought in his portfolio to show it to me. There were a lot of concept cars, motorbikes, things from his own imagination. It seemed so obvious that he was more suited to vehicle design than engineering."

With typical understatement George agrees his was not the "normal" road taken by Portobello school-leavers. He remains modest and does not put himself in the same league as Ms Porter.

He says: "I was in the same year as Gail so we knew each other. I wonder whether she even remembers me! I have some memories of her, particularly in our school show when we did Grease - she was pretty good. I was just making up the numbers in the chorus and she played the lead. Most of the lads at school had a crush on her at some point."

Meanwhile, despite worldwide interest, the Shelby GR-1 is unlikely to be mass produced - or at least not yet. So George is not expecting to be driving it to work anytime soon.

He says: "It’s just a show car to show which direction Ford might go in. It would be absolutely the best thing to happen ever if it went into production."

For now, however, he will keep driving his own car, a four-wheel-drive Volvo. While not a patch on the Shelby, he says it is handy in the harsh American winters where he admits his dream car would be "a complete waste of time".

But with more projects on the go, George could well be driving a supercar of his dreams the next time he’s visiting Edinburgh.

EDINBURGH AND THE MOTOR CAR

PERHAPS the Capital’s most famous motor tycoon, Sir Tom Farmer established the first of his Kwik-Fit tyre and exhaust centres in 1971, which grew into a 1 billion business by 1999 when it was purchased by the Ford Motor Company.

The Capital also boasts a former head of the Ford Motor Company in Sir Alex Trotman, who held the role from 1993 to 1998, following a long career with the motor giant. In West Lothian, Bathgate housed a major truck and tractor plant from the early 1960s until the mid 1980s - at one point employing more than 7000 people in West Lothian.

And Edinburgh has motoring ties that stretch back to the 19th century. One of the earliest car factories in Britain - the Madelvic factory in Granton - was built in 1899.

The plant was the birthplace of the Madelvic Electric Brougham, a carriage powered by a fifth wheel linked to a battery via an electric motor.