car design thread

In reality, it seems like a higher level manager would have to be secure in his position and extremely confident in his team in order to fully empower the designers over the final product.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

But can they be so secure that they empower Design? The battles are all over the place with the brand managers, engineering, production, cost calculations and sales projections.

The stories are that Earl and Mitchell were strong enough in personality and secure in their political world that they could dictate to others above them that "X" was the answer. But look what happened afterwards - the inner circle wanted compliant, dutiful types. Chuck Jordan was in the mold of Earl and Mitchell but by the time Rybicki retired and then ultimately the influx of P&G in the boardroom even he couldn't overcome the sea change that had already occurred.

The best leader of Design has to push the system. But to be able to do that they have to have an allies at the very highest level to give them political protection from all the toes that are going to get stepped on. To get a sense of the opposite read about how George Walker played the corporate design game at Ford. Find a way to appease all the corporate powerful by incorporating something from each ones input. A fine way to build a camel and it showed.

Design is different. The designer is asked to envision that which does not exist but will in X number of years into the future. Sometimes it is easy to project where the trends will be and at other times it has to be done as an act of pure faith. Combine that with the corporation putting billions on the table as a bet hoping that they got it right. Too far and one risks lack of acceptance. Too conservative and that billion dollars bought what most people seeing as only a md cycle refresh.

 

Perhaps the biggest GM failure in design is the 50th Anniversary Corvette. It's not a bad looking car; but come on, the 50th Anniversary! They could have done a really cool limited edition resto mod. Oh well.

 

I just had to pass this along. I think it's real. An Indian motorcycle lawnmower. Even if it's not, cool design.

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My compliments to whoever picked out the color schemes for those cars. Really hits the spot!

 

After that mess of a design on the 812SF they needed to change direction.

In fact I find the Monza designs to be very much in the tradition of the sublime original and creative Pininfarina concept designs. I see these as modern versions of the '78 Jag XJ Spider with a hint of the Chronos interior, especially the leather finish on the silver Monza.

 

New 3-series.

Front 3/4 view showing overwrought front end and hint of Merc banana-shaped beltline. Rear seems OK:

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Look even more like the Giulia now. So Alfa copied the BMW and now BMW is copying the Alfa. Maybe they should share body stampings and just stick their BIG grill on the front of the same body

 

The front doesn't seem to match the rest of the car, particularly the big intakes just ahead of the front wheels.

Not keen on the sides. I'm not a fan of these scooped out, concave doors that so many cars seem to have. Is it just an awkward aesthetic or can we blame the wind tunnel on that feature?

The rear looks tidy. I like the rear. However, it looks like it came off a completely different car.

The interior doesn't look like a cozy place to be. I much prefer the older sculpted, wrapped dashboards of the e39.

This was BMW at its very best! See pictures.

All the best,
Andrew.

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It is refreshing to see that Ferrari can still do a classically beautiful car if they try.

I've seen a few 812s up close now and it's a nope for me. The swooping curve from the skirt to the c-pillar looks off to me. I prefer the f12/tdf.

 

You're a generation too new...

BMW's best 5 series was the E34

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Ah, darn. What is it then? I just don't like the concave sides everyone seems to put on everything these days.

Ok John, here's the plan for the fall classes: "Making your car whole: no dents in the doors" We'll tackle the problem early and rescue the next 40 years of automotive design.

Almost as good.

The e39 was introduced just as I became of age to drive and my parents had one that I very, very, very rarely, when I was particularly good, got to borrow. What a great car.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

What's funny, when I was a teen (back in early E34 days I really didn't like BMWs. Now? Well, this is the second E34 I've owned.

 

Does this thing levitate?

 

LOL! How do they do it? I would love to listen in to a focus group on these 'things'........

 

BOOGITY !

 

What is that? The RAV-4 derivative?