car design thread

Love gold on vintage cars. But sometimes they can be difficult to distinguish from photos alone.

Top down Mondial is Oro (gold) , while the other is Verde Tenue (green).


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"SAHARA brings timeless style together with today's luxury and ruggedness for a fashionably fierce finish."

Something tells me the auto manufacturers from Asia are going to jump all over this, especially for the Lexus.

Reading their Color Popularity Report, it doesn't mention anything about the source data, or what the "popularity" is based on.

http://www.axaltacs.com/content/dam/New Axalta Corporate Website/Documents/Brochures/Axalta 2017_ColorPopularityBrochure.pdf

 

When in was in the new home biz, we used to hire colorists. Their main job was to create streetscapes. (We built on a neighborhood scale.) Their other job was to predict future color trends. If people felt good, they wanted bright air colors. When people started worrying about the economy, they wanted darker earth colors. So this move to gold doesn’t come as a surprise.


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Not surprisingly, these colorists were based in Irvine, CA. They claimed color trends started with shoes. Then to clothing, to furniture, to cars, and then to housing. So when black gets hot in clothing, watch out.


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Ugh, the earth colors of the ‘60s and ‘70s were the worst. Why anyone thought baby puke looked good was beyond me.


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One of the first things you have to learn in the new home biz is you can’t build what you like. All that counts is what cash paying customers like.


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Chicken or egg? Are we buying white 'cause that's our fave, or because that's what's on the lot? Or because we're just 'buying a car'?

 

My wife and I agreed when we were car shopping that we weren't going get a white car. It was the first thing we both proposed.

Somehow bought a white car. That one didn't work out, and we were shopping again. Somehow bought another white car (2015 model year), which we are still enjoying today.

Even trying to avoid white, we couldn't. It's simply what was available.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

I love white on my sports cars.

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Part of this week's rant by Peter DeLoreno/Auto Extremist.

Something is wrong at GM Design. There seems to be a burgeoning crisis at GM Design, which is shocking as much as it is surprising. But there’s no mistaking the fact that although GM Design seems to be able to muster a good-looking front end on occasion, there has been a notable decline in the overall execution of its interior designs. I’m sure the denizens of GM Design will scoff at this, but it’s clear to me that GM has become a second-tier automaker when it comes to interior design, and there’s really no excuse for it. GM is just getting hammered by its competitors, both import and domestic. All you have to do is study the Lincoln interiors (vs. Cadillac) and the interiors in the new Ram pickup (vs. Chevrolet Silverado) to see that GM is not even in the game.

Do the bean counter overlords at GM really determine cost that much? That would be more palatable to me than thinking that GM Design has lost its mojo. But then again, the Corvette suffered from poor interior design for decades; it was as if the notion of putting $100.00 more in cost per car to elevate the interior was abhorrent to GM Purchasing. And it showed. Even now, with the Corvette being a fabulous car and its interior finally receiving some attention, it still feels less than great. This is a serious concern, too, because the way GM’s product cadence plays out it may leave its interiors unimproved for two to three years, short of an all-hands-on-deck emergency push to upgrade GM interiors across the board.

But that’s not all. GM Design hasn’t been exactly hitting it out of the park with its exterior designs either. The new Silverado is lacking, to put it charitably, and as I said last week, the overall design language of the XT6 leaves a lot to be desired. The XT6 is unfortunately consistent with the new, contemporary Cadillac design signature, meaning, the front end is somewhat interesting, and then it looks like the designers phoned it in the rest of the way, with nothing worth talking about from the other angles. Uninspired doesn't even begin to cover it. Let's just say that this three-row Cadillac SUV is a major design disappointment and leave it at that.

And there's more. The GMC Terrain starts okay in the front, but by the time you get to the sides and the rear, it looks like a different committee designed each section. The most urgent issue facing GM Design, however, is the Chevrolet Camaro. The design hasn’t worn well, at all. The Dodge Challenger may have retro overtones, but it has real presence on the road. And the Ford Mustang design still resonates as being clean and purposeful. But the Camaro is chunky and ungainly, and when the optional go-fast stuff is added it makes it even more so. That’s just not right. We’re talking the Camaro here, folks. It deserves better, much better.

The point I’m making here is that GM Design used to have a focused consistency that was evident in its work across all of the GM divisions. In fact, the look of its mainstream cars used to be GM Design’s specialty, carrying over the tradition from the Bill Mitchell era. But now there are glaring holes and missteps, and it’s depressing to see, especially with the fantastic history that has been such a part of the enduring legacy of GM Design. Will the new Corvette be great? There’s no doubt, because the day the True Believers at GM Design can’t do a Corvette is the day they should just fold up their tent and go home.

One may also wish to read some of the comments to this on AutoExtremist too.

GM Design is but a shadow of its former self. It is easy to blame the designer in the studio but, as far as I am concerned, the problem is far deeper. As long as GM, and all the others, are unwilling to have a truly strong head of Design and then support that person through the political battles they will continue to get what they get. This support has to be at the highest level of the organization. Harley Earl could succeed because he was protected by Sloane and then other of the powerful that would ascend to the inner circle. Bill Mitchell inherited this as the hand picked successor but his power diminished by the end. After that there was the upward blip with CMJ but fundamentally the desired trait from the top leadership and board was compliance to the bureaucracy instead of the a fighter for the sanctity of design. CMJ talked of how "in the day" GM Design looked forward and knew where they were going; they were not looking over the shoulder trying to figure out the others. An asterisk may be deserved for the period when Bob Lutz was able to shield Design and get some good work produced.

GM Design is not the only one in trouble. Chrysler has had 2 worthy leaders in their history that were allowed to lead: Exner and Tom Gale. As for Ford, Jack Telnack was the only one worthy.

Will it change? Probably not as it will require an Executive Committee to give up their own power and a Board of Directors that demands a real leader - not just putting a "C" in front of the title.

Blame not those studio designers. Most are extremely talented. But they aren't making the real decisions. They draw and propose what others select and if the decision makers want crap then that is what comes out (see Nissan for a prime example).

 

Yes, what a mess. And those fake vents ... Supra was a legend!

 

John, you and I have talked about a lot of this. But Peter D's comments should be hitting home to a lot of industry people; not just GM or even just Detroit. I find this to be a time when there is no evident direction but along with that is no one stepping forward ready to be the leader. So, they wander around in the wilderness hoping that someone else comes up with something that can jump onto. My take is that too many of the Design heads have ascended because of being dutiful corporate cogs along with the "organization" wanting that as the desired attribute rather than ultimate design talent. Design leadership means having a strong viewpoint, willing to take chances in looking forward, and being forceful in leading that charge. But for any of that to work they have to be in a situation where they are allowed to be that way and not be worried about being knifed in the back. The finest talent cannot shine if they can't count on top level support.

I'd start by killing most of the clinics. They reduce inspiration to some algorithm that makes sameness a virtue. For GM, I would return to the days when the divisional heads were the gods. Make them live and die on their decisions plus have them compete for notoriety with the other division heads; might make them show who has the big balls to make home runs. It would also remove the political cover of the "organization decision" and make it an identifiable person.

QUESTION 1: Is there any company that the peer group is viewing as really having their stuff together?

QUESTION 2" Amongst the peer group, anyone identifying a true Design head with the "Right Stuff" at any of the companies?

 

What's wrong with design?
The "eyes on Design" awards went to the Infiniti Q.
question for the forum (especially John & Jeff); how do the designers choose the Q over the Nissan ISM and why?
For me the Nissan is miles ahead in emotion and style.

 

"Mind you, all the judges are practicing designers in the industry."

Which is why I ask "What's wrong with design?"
These are the people in charge of future product. The ISM is crisp and relatively well proportioned, the Q is an amorphous suppository.
What are they seeing that I don't?