car design thread

Mystery midengine: the Fiero-shaped clay nobody seems to know about | Hemmings Daily

Know anything about this one jm2?

 

yes, but lately automotive advertising appears to be bereft of any creativity or meaningful stories except maybe what Suburu has been trying with telling a story of sorts

 

definitely looks like a 'job-shop' project done here in SE Michigan
highly doubt it was a GM project though
could be someone's goal to rebody Fiero's
someone spent the $$ to get it professionally done it would appear
I should ask my peeps that were in charge of the Fiero at the time.....they may know

 

Opel reinvents the Opel GT for theGeneva Show

New Car: Opel GT concept - Car Design News
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That might be nice if they had not thrown a generic rear end on the car. Why not use the original round style GM family tail lights since it is a retro?? Looks like someone who knows nothing about GM history did the car from photos someone handed him/her and made a Opel/BMW GT?? And do they also work for Benetton/Pirelli . I am really supprised no one has done more colored sidewall tires in this day and age of Tuner look at me custom cars. Roll over headlights would have also been cool......

 

just spoke with the Fiero Chief Designer and he sent Hemmings a response that said he was unaware of the model in the photos.
as I suspected it was some individual's project, not GM's
now we all know

 

the colored sidewalls are a surprise for me as well
the 2 tone scheme still has me perplexed, but I need top see the actual car to make any judgements
hidden headlamps are probably a throwback to the '60's and they chose not to do that
the rear however is another story

 

That makes me think of a BMW Z-something concept.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

rear
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I liked this one better

from almost fifty years ago...

the leading edge on the new one is kind of interesting as it gets rid of one break line.
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^ Cheetah!

 

Vauxhall...

 

yep! It says so right there on the plate Vauxhaul Motors Limited...
XVR

 

Always liked the treatment on the engine and front covers on this Lamboghini prototype. It does not seem like a good idea but it sort of works. Also the Canguro. They could have put a Kamm tail on that Opel sort of like this(made out of plastic with a added blended bumper and 4 round tail lights) and it would have looked great. Now the new Opel GT is just a ok design. And that Opel GT passenger door design will not work in a production car.
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Love those 2 cars, and they're at opposite ends of the design spectrum.
One soft beautifully sculpted, the other.......the 'folded paper school of design'
Lovem' both!

 

meant cheetah like
which came first?

 

good question......can't remember which was 1st

if Wikipedia is to be believed, maybe the Cheetah car came 1st: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Thomas_Cheetah
GM was involved as they were with Chaparral, so there may have been some 'influence' on the Cheetah at the time
but I'd have to ask the Vauxhall guys when that clay model was done

 

Vauxhall and Opel were more 'separate' then, weren't they?

 

yes they each had their own production and design facilities till the mid/late '70's
then everything merged with Opel to save $$

 

the Vauxhall showed up on Facebook today
1966 Vauxhall XVR Three cars were built, one in steel and two in glassfibre. The metal car was the one built for Geneva. Its bodywork was shaped by Motor Panels in Coventry, working from a solid glassfibre model that we painted a dark gloss. The show car was finished in a very dark green, like a British Racing Green. After the show, the metal car was registered HXD929D and was shown to the press on Vauxhall’s own test track.
The fiberglass cars were only mockups. It is one of these that survives after being discovered in the roof of the Vauxhall styling studio. The completely functional Geneva show car was destroyed


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CWtWjzVXS0
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Well that rear wheel arch works on this car pretty well but not on the Henrik Fiskar Viper. Mainly due to the Fiskar's heavy looking tail and thick side profile. And look at those cool Opel GT headlights!!

 

Chris bangle (of BMW fame) talks about his 'Design Rules)

Design Philosophy -- Rules of Thumb

 

How The New Ford GT Came To Be: The Inside Story - Pursuitist

Silly website, but once in a while an interesting story......
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cool article,thanks!
I'd love to see them win @ LeMans......and this coming from Ferrari junkie!

 

He seems to be speaking in a vague nomenclature that isn't intuitive for me, so I've no idea what he's saying in that interview. Can anyone translate for the layman?

I initially recoiled from his BMW designs when they first came out, but now I really like the look of his 6-series. I just had to get used to them, as it was quite the jump from the old BMW designs prior to his revolution of the design. It's a very good-looking car.

All the best,
Andrew.
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