site.btaAlex Alexiev: The Bulgarian Who Designed the Legendary Hypercar Speedtail

Some of the most iconic and innovative vehicles in the world have been created by teams led by a Bulgarian. As Principal Interior Designer at McLaren Automotive, Alex Alexiev, 38, has played a pivotal role in the development of cutting-edge hypercars that combine performance, aesthetics, and luxury.

BG VOICE, an Illinois, US, based news outlet for Bulgarians abroad, says that Alex is also Senior Designer at McLaren Special Operations. Among his projects was one of the fastest hypercars in the world, Speedtail. He contributed to Sony's video game Gran Turismo, for which he designed the Solus GT. It became so popular that McLaren decided to make it into a real-life racecar.

Alex was born in Sofia in 1987, and when he was nine, he and his family moved to the United States. They settled in Florida. There, Alex was fascinated by the reality TV series Overhaulin' starring automobile designer Chip Foose. He loved watching people breathe new life into old cars by changing their interior and exterior.

From a young age, he had two passions: drawing and cars. At 18, he went to California to study at the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena. He showed his sketches to the teachers and presented his vision about the car of the future. "Mini-projects are very important, they show a professional your thinking, your ideas, and how good you are at drawing, because the drawing sells the idea," Alex tells BG VOICE. He was happy that during his four years of study, he was able to take internships in California and Minnesota, at automaking companies BMW and Toyota.

Alex graduated from the college in Pasadena with honours in December 2012. He was one of two graduates invited to a McLaren auto review for VIP clients. "I knew that Frank Stephenson, the then director of design for McLaren, would be there. It was 6 PM, there was huge traffic congestion, and my fellow student apparently gave up on it. I just jumped into my car and drove like crazy because you don't get such an opportunity every day," Alex says.

"I had met Frank before. He had a soft spot for Bulgaria because his girlfriend was Bulgarian. He suggested that I should send him my portfolio, but I had it on me, I had brought it on a USB flash drive, so I just handed it to him. He was surprised that I was so organized. Later, he called to invite me to McLaren for a trial period as a designer in the summer of 2013. So, I packed my things in a large suitcase and went to London. And I've stayed here ever since," Alex says.

He explains that the process of designing a car starts with ordinary sketches made with a pencil or a marker on paper. Then, the sketches are uploaded to a computer and converted into digital sketches. They are modified to make the shape more aerodynamic and to ensure faster acceleration. Later, the engineers come, and sometimes they say it can't be made. "Sometimes we have conflicts with the technical crew. My job is to defend my ideas in the best way possible," he says.

Alex's maiden project for McLaren was the interior design of 720S, a high-performance supercar, after which they gave him a permanent job. He joined the Special Operations division, where he worked on several limited series, such as 688 HS.

The Bulgarian spent two years working on the legendary Speedtail. The hypercar was shown to the world in October 2018. Inspired by Formula 1, it is 5.137 metres long, which is longer than usual. The idea was to bring the air flowing over and under the car into a single current at the back, thus making the vehicle much more aerodynamic.

Speedtail uses a hybrid propulsion system with a 1,050 hp engine. It can accelerate from 0 to 300 km/h in 12.8 sec, which is 2 sec faster than the P1 sports car. The designers have put a speed limit of 400 km/h on Speedtail, knowing that existing roads are not suited for it to demonstrate its full potential.

There is room for three people in the car. For the driver, the interior feels like a Formula 1 single-seater cockpit. Speedtail may not be perfect for driving on racing tracks, particularly in curves, but it is great for accelerating on a straight course. People use it for routine driving too, Alex says.

It was made as a limited series of 106 units and costs USD 2.5 million per unit. Personalization changes can add up to USD 380,000 to the price.

"Speedtail was a very special project to me," the Bulgarian says. "When I was a child, I had a Formula 1 poster on the wall in my room. I couldn't even dream that before turning 30, I would be working on something like Speedtail that goes beyond Formula 1."

After Speedtail, Alex worked as principal designer for another model, Sabre. "It was a unique project which put out even fewer units, just 15 cars, and only in the US, offered at just one location and nowhere else," he tells BG VOICE. The unit price is USD 5.8 million, he adds.

Alex and his girlfriend live close to McLaren Automotive Headquarters in Woking, Surrey, near London. He travels to Bulgaria twice a year. He is interested in history and architecture and likes visiting such places as Valencia, Mallorca and Santorini.

"Am I successful? I would say I am happy that I have a job I couldn't even imagine as a child. I can't begin to describe how lucky I am," Alex says.