Robert has pursued parallel career paths for more than 50 years, first as a car designer, then as a writer specializing in design. The first car made to his sketches — a one-off known as the Parkinson Jaguar Special, which is still vintage-racing — was done when he was 15 years old. At 19, he was a General Motors designer, working chiefly on Corvettes, and he had been published in national magazines. From 1958 onward, he has been an independent designer, working for major car manufacturers in Europe and the U.S. and for small-volume specialists. He taught transportation design at the Art Center College of Design, is the editorialist for Italy’s Auto & Design magazine, and has written a popular car design column for Automobile Magazine for 25 years.