I am not an authority on this car everything i am saying is what I have been told. There were at least two of these cars made the one in the photo had it;s chassis lengthened the other was body, top and windshield mods. they were both done in period to 1931 Chrysler CG roadsters. very wild and cool things. the one in the photo above was eventually put back to factory specs a while ago. the cars have interesting history as they have been written as Lebaron cars - Derham cars - New York City Show cars - but on the rear of this photo is says Wall body they were out of Chestnut Hill/Philadelphia Pa. so the debate goes on.
Peter's Rant this week. He does miss the point that the designers design what senior management wants to see and ultimately approves. If the organization wants clean, cohesive designs then they need to be asking for that and choosing it for development. If that "management" says one thing but keeps selecting and developing more of the same then their actions prove what they really want. Interesting discussion about a return to sedans. Likely some truth to a generational change that the kids as they get older don't want what their parents had as they grew up. Similar in many ways to us now - no station wagons like our parents had (but a jacked up station wagon as an SUV/crossover is OK) OH, PENDULUM, WHERE ART THOU? Tuesday, November 5, 2019 at 08:47AM By Peter M. DeLorenzo Detroit. As we rush headlong into the unknown with this electrification thing, and the corrupt union management thing, and another round of the subprime loans thing, the thing that bothers me most right now is the degradation of design that continues to play out before our eyes. As I’ve said repeatedly in this column, as we go forward with similar electrified propulsion systems, design’s role as the Ultimate Initial Product Differentiator will become even more important. After all, if the whisper-jet power systems rely on artificially-tuned sounds, the only thing left to create brand character are the exterior designs themselves. Compelling, beautiful design lures people in; it’s what makes people look and want to see more, and ultimately buy. Which is why I am more than a little concerned with where we are today with design. A quick tour of the latest "electrified" designs coming from auto manufacturers is frankly scary. Why? Everything looks alike. And the vehicles making their way around the American landscape are too often predictable, boring and uninteresting. I get the fact that we’re living in an all-SUV-all-the-time world, but it’s getting ridiculous out there. Here are a few examples of what electrification has wrought: Image Unavailable, Please Login (Mercedes-Benz) The 2020 Mercedes-Benz EQC. It doesn't exactly scream "Mercedes," does it? Image Unavailable, Please Login (Audi) The 2020 Audi E-Tron. Q5-inspired? Ugh. Image Unavailable, Please Login (Infiniti) The Infiniti Q Inspiration and Qs Inspiration forecast the brand’s new design strategy. We Can Wait. Image Unavailable, Please Login (Nissan) The Nissan Ariya Concept. We Can Wait, Part II. Image Unavailable, Please Login (Ford) And Ford has teased its concept for a “Mustang-inspired” electrified SUV that has been dubbed Mach-E although everyone in the automotive world hopes that this is not the final name. (Please say it isn’t so, Ford.) And "Mustang-inspired"? It sounds more than a little depressing frankly, but we'll classify it as a giant "we'll see" for now and leave it at that. So, what the hell is going on out there? Even the future-look concepts are SUV/Crossover things that are as inspiring to look at as the cereal aisle at the grocery store. Check that, actually the cereal aisle has more vision and imagination in their box designs than I’m seeing in these rolling monuments to mediocrity. The easy explanation is that consumers are all the way gone for SUV/Crossovers. They’ve decided that they're more useful and more convenient to get in and out of, so, end of story. As in, why bother with anything else? And it’s clear that the design houses at the various automakers have pretty much given in to that reality. Or is it? There’s a growing trend among younger car buyers when it comes to cars – at least the ones who haven’t entered the “having kids” stage – that indicates that the desire for sedans is coming back. It’s the old “we’d rather not drive what our parents drove” chestnut rearing its head. Is it real? It’s too early to tell. (Full disclosure: a local couple took over the lease on my Alfa Romeo Stelvio. I am now driving a sedan.) The sameness of the SUV/Crossover Hell we’re living in right now is undeniable. The suburban slog around here is populated with massive pickup trucks and SUV/Crossovers. Audi? BMW? Cadillac? Mercedes-Benz? Porsche? Ford? Chevrolet? GMC? Buick? Does it really matter? They’re all variations on the same SUV/Crossover theme; they run together in a blur of alleged practicality – and hugeness – that has grown to be mind-numbing and relentlessly tedious. That’s why when a car like a Challenger or a Corvette rumbles by, or even a crisply executed sedan appears out of the blue, it’s almost a revelation. Will the pendulum ever swing back? I am out there looking for it right now, but given the projected designs I am seeing for the Electrification Age I am more than a little concerned. Designers around the globe appear to be stuck in neutral designing variations on the rolling box theme, shifting a line here, playing with the greenhouse there and coming up with basically the same damn thing. How uninspiring is that? And that’s the High-Octane Truth for this week.
^^^. That grill! Ugh! Looks like the engineers designed for too much air flow and somebody closed off half the frontal area with silver duct tape. Image Unavailable, Please Login
OH, PENDULUM, WHERE ART THOU? I planted my flag on this one a few years ago; I think the time is not far off that SUVs will succumb to the "minivan syndrome" and they will be viewed as adult/old people cars. When you can afford to have a car all to yourself and not have to share it with half the neighborhood, you will have made it. The only hitch I can foresee is the possible ascendancy of "autonomous" encroaching on this argument to some extent, but in the end I believe that most people want their own space. Bring on the sedans and coupes!
But when the change away from SUVs happens how much of the industry will be caught flat footed as they have product lineups of virtually all SUVs and cross overs? As for autonomous, when does that dream find the massive lawsuit from a few deaths?
Now Lexus is into ugly shoes. They claim there is a spindle grill on them (to make them ugly) but I don't see it. Those shoes are ugly enough already without their signature styling cue. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Hi Jeff, - well I think I dealt with the second part in my original post " the possible ascendancy of "autonomous"" I am shall we say somewhat skeptical about this being very wide spread for at least the next 15 years. Too expensive, too complex, and not very interface friendly... You first point is an interesting problem to look at from where the big companies are planning to be. Honda, Toyota, Mazda, VW, & the Korean twins all look to be maintaining pass cars in their planning. Ford is arguably the most extreme example of ex-car as it looks to be headed to Mustang & trucks near term. Oddly, I expect this to be pretty profitable for them over the next 12 - 18 months ( I am a recent shareholder) after that I think they're going to face some serious push back. GM seems just a little less convinced, but still going to drop a lot of their models. Interestingly, FCA looks to have a very good road ahead of them with the PSA merger. Pacifica, Ram, & Jeep for nice profit margins here and the potential to crib off some of the PSA car platforms in the future if needed. The big Pug is a very nice car. I'll be watching the FCA - PSA merger with great interest.
I'll never understand over-the-top concept cars; the practicability is non-existent. I understand they're launching pads for future releases but I'm guessing 95% of what you see never comes to fruition.
There are a multitude of reasons for doing concept cars that stretch the boundaries. It lets the internal design team stretch it's creative muscles. They can be great morale boosters. They can show the public 'what's possible'. Some small portions can be utilized on later production cars. It can demonstrate a new design direction and a different 'design vocabulary' Often times the Engineering organization would wring it's collective hands and make it clear that many concept ideas would never see the light of day.........it was a good way to force usually conservative left brained people that creativity was a good thing.
I have posters/snapshots of old (early '90's) Audi 'concept' cars which clearly show the direction and 'essence' of what became my 2008 Audi R8. So, maybe just more than 95%.....
Always thought these 3 cars were awesome. Particularly in the time frame they were created in. https://www.classicdriver.com/en/article/cars/how-bertones-batmobiles-became-holy-trinity-car-design?fbclid=IwAR3wbOX4Lz-2e5K5FBgfCD93NDWeP4EXCYrUmhBFkZ3lOEMxr3aN_FIj9co Image Unavailable, Please Login