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Today the jobs are getting bigger, and to match those demands, IAD has constantly updated and uprated its facilities to the point where it can now tackle a complete design job, from first concept through to production engineering and testing of prototypes.”
IAD had also started designing and exhibiting its own concepts, so as to “present a more public front to its hard-working and hard-selling background”.
Notable among them was the Alien, unveiled at the 1986 Turin motor show, where it was “radical enough to draw some of the attention away from equally daring concepts” by Italdesign, Zagato and Pininfarina – Shute’s own heroes – and “while expensive to do, paid for itself several times over in terms of interest and new business attracted directly by it”.
We returned to Worthing in 1988, as IAD revealed the suave Royale saloon and fun Hunter off-roader, with its turnover soaring to £40m and it having been quality-approved by the Ministry of Defence.
“There is no one reason for IAD’s success and continued expansion, though it has certainly been largely reliant on the imagination and vigour of its chairman,” we said.
“Shute himself believes it has been due in part to doing a quality job and maintaining a strong relationship with each client.”
