Tesla has hired Chris Porritt, Aston Martin's Chief Engineer of Vehicle Engineering, to be its Vice President of Vehicle Engineers, the electric car company announced this afternoon.
Porritt is the man who designed the Aston Martin One-77 supercar, which has been called the best car the luxury mark ever produced.
Porritt led the team that also created the Aston Martin DB9 and V12 Vantage, both gorgeous vehicles.
So far, Tesla has produced two well-made and good-looking cars, the Roadster and Model S. With Porritt at the helm of its engineering team, upcoming cars, including the Model X and the so far unnamed model to follow it, should live up to their predecessors.
"This is an incredible opportunity to bring technologies normally reserved for supercars to the high volume market," Porritt said in a press release.
The new Tesla hire joined Aston Martin in 1997, and spent 10 years working at Land Rover before that.
Aston Martin PR and Brand Communications Manager Matt Clarke told Business Insider Porritt made "a great contribution" to the company. "We wish him all the best," he said.
John Voelcker at Green Car Reports notes Tesla has hired a big-name engineer from Aston Martin before. Henrik Fisker made the move in 2006, and worked on the car that became the Tesla Model S, before leaving to create his own — now collapsed — car company.
After announcing today's news, Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted:
Anyone interested in doing ultra hardcore vehicle engineering at Tesla, please apply!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 6, 2013
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