Award Judges

Ed Welburn is the former General Motors Vice President of Design, only the sixth person to hold that position, and the first to lead it globally.  Since retirement in 2016, Ed has been inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame, received the Eyes On Design Lifetime Achievement Award, had a wing of the Detroit Institute of Art named in his honor, and received an Honorary Doctorate Of Fine Arts from the College for Creative Studies.  Ed Welburn is also the only automobile designer who’s archives are in the Smithsonian Museum.  Today, in addition to judging classic cars, Ed has formed Welburn Media Productions and is Executive Producer of an exciting movie under development.  The primary residence for Ed and his wife Jessie, is in the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania.

Anne Asensio joined Dassault Systèmes (3DS) in 2008 as Vice President of Design Experience. She created the Design Studio, bringing together a multidisciplinary team with the mission to define innovation strategies by the design (Design Experience). Prior to 3DS, Anne held influential and executive roles at General Motors and Renault. In 2001, Fortune magazine distinguished her in their annual ranking of the most influential young people in business, “40 under 40”. Automotive News named her “Woman of the year” in 1997, and ranked her afterwards in 2000 and 2005 among the list of 100 leading women in the North American Auto Industry.

Peter Brock is best known for his design of the XP87 Corvette Sting Ray Prototype (which later became the 1963 Corvette Sting Ray) and Carroll Shelby’s World GT Championship winning Daytona Cobra Coupes. Brock also penned the iconic lines used to create Shelby’s famed, twin-striped GT350 Mustangs in 1965. In the late ‘70s, Brock’s team of innovative UP (Ultralight Products) flex-wing gliders set numerous cross-country distance and altitude records while winning several prestigious championships in the world of ultra-light flight in Europe, South America and the USA.

Luc Donckerwolke started his design career in 1990 at Peugeot. During his career, he spent time with Škoda where he contributed to the 1996 Škoda Octavia and 1999 Škoda Fabia, Audi where was responsible for designing the Audi A2 concept and production car which was known at the time for being innovative and ahead of its time like most of his designs, Lamborghini where he was responsible for the 2001 Lamborghini Diablo VT 6.0, 2002 Lamborghini Murciélago and 2004 Lamborghini Gallardo, winning the 'Red Dot Award' in 2003 in recognition for his work on them, SEAT and Bentley. In November 2015, Luc joined Hyundai Motor Group to lead its Genesis luxury brand.

Fabio Filippini is an Italian Car Designer with a 30-year international career that brought him to work for Italian, Japanese, French and German car companies. He is best known for his work as Chief Creative Officer at Pininfarina Spa. Under his leadership, Pininfarina Design has created many remarkable and award-winning concept cars, including Pininfarina Cambiano, Pininfarina Sergio, BMW Pininfarina Gran Lusso Coupé and Pininfarina H2 Speed. He has also been involved in designing many production cars for major OEMs, as well as other transportation projects (buses, trucks, industrial vehicles, trains).

Laurence Graff is the founder of one of the preeminent jewellery houses in the world, headquartered in London’s Mayfair. Involved in every stage of a stone’s remarkable journey, Laurence Graff oversees the design and craftsmanship of each unique jewel. In June 2013, he was awarded an OBE for his services to jewellery. An avid collector of modern and contemporary art, Graff sits on the committees and boards of several art institutions, including the Guggenheim in New York and London’s Tate Modern. The Graff family is also known for their collection of classic cars, with Graff crediting his son, François, for first igniting his interest in this area.

Peter Marino, FAIA, is the principal of Peter Marino Architect PLLC, the 160-person, New York–based architecture firm he founded in 1978. Marino’s work includes award-winning residential, cultural, hospitality and luxury retail projects worldwide.  Marino is also widely regarded for his cultural contributions and was recently named an Officer de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the French Ministry of Culture.  In 2016, Phaidon published Peter Marino Art Architecture documenting the more than 250 site-specific contemporary art works Marino has commissioned, giving him the often used title, ‘The Art Architect’.

Managing director of Retromobile, the leading and well attended classic car show in Paris, François Melcion developed a passion for cars very early on. He bought his first car (a 1932 Citroen which he still owns) at the age of 15.  Involved with Retromobile since the beginnings in 1976, François loves cars from any decade, his preference going to authentic and preserved cars. His great pleasure is to find lost or forgotten cars of special interest.  For him, a car must be driven and he puts his money where his mouth is: he has driven no less than 60,000 miles in his Bugatti Type 37, participating in events such as the Mille Miglia, Le Mans Classic and many others.

Shiro Nakamura is the former Chief Creative Officer of Nissan Motor Corporation. He joined Nissan in 1999, serving as Senior Vice President until 2017. Shiro was central to the turnaround of the company in his vitalizing the Design of Nissan and Infiniti. He is a graduate of Art Center College of Design, and prior to Nissan he worked for Isuzu Motor Company and also General Motors.  One of his most distinctive creation at Isuzu was VehiCROSS.  At Nissan Shiro was responsible for a whole range of products, including  Nissan GTR, 350Z, CUBE, and the Infiniti line up.

Jean Todt was born on February 25, 1946 in Pierrefort (Cantal, France). Co-driver of rallies from 1966 to 1981, he won the team world championship that year with Peugeot. ln 1982 he founded Peugeot-Talbot sports, which he managed until 1993. During these years he won 4 world rally championship titles as a team manager with the Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 (drivers and manufacturers in 1985 and 1986), 4 Paris-Dakar (from 1987 to 1990) and twice the 24 hours of Le Mans with the Peugeot 905 (1992 and 1993).

Gorden Wagener is Chief Design Officer Mercedes-Benz and all brands of Daimler AG. Since mid-2008 Gorden Wagener is heading the worldwide operating design unit of Mercedes-Benz and all brands of the Daimler AG. With effect from November 2016 he has been appointed as Chief Design Officer Daimler AG. For him, design defines products, brands and digital, therefore a holistic approach and experience is essential. Under his leadership, the design philosophy of "Sensual Purity" was created. It defines modern luxury and expresses an essential aspect of the brand - the bipolarity of intelligence and emotion.

Ed Welburn is the former General Motors Vice President of Design, only the sixth person to hold that position, and the first to lead it globally.  Since retirement in 2016, Ed has been inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame, received the Eyes On Design Lifetime Achievement Award, had a wing of the Detroit Institute of Art named in his honor, and received an Honorary Doctorate Of Fine Arts from the College for Creative Studies.  Ed Welburn is also the only automobile designer who’s archives are in the Smithsonian Museum.  Today, in addition to judging classic cars, Ed has formed Welburn Media Productions and is Executive Producer of an exciting movie under development.  The primary residence for Ed and his wife Jessie, is in the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania.