Center artpiece: the new Mercedes-Benz CLS.

MANILA, Philippines — When he started dipping his hands in the world of car designing at the age of 30, he recalled that many raised their eyebrows.

No one then imagined that one day Winifredo “Wini” Camacho, a full-blooded Filipino, will be among the top designers of Mercedes-Benz automobiles where he is right now.

Clad in slim jeans, tucked out polo and loose sweat shirt, Camacho talked in a low-toned voice about his career path to success in designing for the reputable German automotive brand.

“One day I just realized that I wanted to design cars,” he said during a forum at the Ayala Museum in Makati City last Saturday.

From designing for a toy manufacturing company and other industrial firm, Wini one day bumped his head and realized that he wanted to draw four-wheeled machines that are based on the principle of “emotion” and “timelessness.”

Clicking some of his masterpieces before a crowd of art and graphic design students, Camacho aroused their feelings of finely-sculptured cars that speak of future automotive contour.

Starting with a motorcycle design inspired from an insect to a movable steering wheel configuration that can be driven either left or right hand format.

Also, he showed a next generation Callaway race car that will easily scare away Formula One cars with its super sleek design that speaks well of aerodynamics and functionality.

He also flashed a boxy, tough-looking four-wheel-drive monster that will make the present-day Hummer vehicle a sissy.

Another flashy sketch was that of a long luxury sports coupe that appeared like an angry rocket with wheels that are ready to defy gravity and speed limits.

A graduate of fine arts, major in industrial engineering (cum laude) at the University of Sto. Tomas in 1986, Wini admitted that moving up to the design career ladder was not easy.

He initially hopped from one design studio to another in Makati City before ending up in Kowloon Bay, Hong Kong working for a toy manufacturer.

One boring day, six years later, he thought of taking up transportation design at the Art Center College of Design in Switzerland which eventually provided him an armory of futuristic design concepts for automobiles.

In 1998, he started working as a car designer at the Mercedes-Benz Advanced Design Studio in Irvine, California and later on, was assigned in MB studios in Japan, United States and Italy.

Wini uttered the word “emotion” on his design piece a lot of times. When asked what usually fires up his “emotion” to make his hand do its work on the drawing board, he quickly replied: “My wife, Maricel.”

Aside from this, he confessed that he is also a car buff.

Now he talks about the tedious design process for automobiles – starting from a sketch to the production line – with authority.

Wini agreed that Filipinos will excel in the competitive world of car design. He called on government authorities to push for better design schools in the country.

“We should give emphasis to design education. We have lots of talents here and especially that the Philippines has yet to come up with its own car,” he pointed out.

Even within Mercedes-Benz, Camacho felt the intense but professional rivalry among in-house car designers with many of his creations ending up in shelves.

By nitty-gritty, Camacho’s design works found themselves on facelift models of MB like changes on a car’s fascia.

Finally, in 2009, Camacho’s full-size sketch of a new Mercedes-Benz E-Class was chosen to go into production.

And it will not take long before people around the globe will be driving or riding Camacho’s E-Class – a creation of a world-class Pinoy.