car design thread

I remember seeing a cartoon many years ago (Stan Mott perhaps?) with a 'face' much like this. The joke is still funny!

Not bad from the windshield cowl back; a bit of a modern 300SL Gullwing vibe. Clean but not inspiring -

 

It looks like a car that the villain in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? would drive. (Not a compliment.)

I don't understand. Jaguar's Type 00 gets broadly ridiculed. So...Audi, Rolls and Mercedes all do their own riff on the same idea. Are regulations causing this? Is this the influence of Chinese design preferences? Did a generation of up and coming designers all share a bad batch of mushrooms?

 

Regulations? No.

 

I have seen it hypothesized that the brutal front ends (you may have a better adjective) and high belt lines may be driven in part by pedestrian safety laws in Europe. Yours is the most credible comment I've read, however.

 

Yes the Ped Pro regulations have driven front end design somewhat, but there are myriad ways to solve any requirements. Each mfg chooses the best design that fits their needs, costs and tastes. Give 10 different designers the same requirements and you'll probably get 10 different solutions.

But yes, the Ped Pro requirements have altered the way our vehicles look, not unlike the bumper requirements and rollover std do.

 

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https://www.hagerty.com/media/news/toyota-century-coupe-japan-mobility-show-2025-concepts/

Toyota is up to something...

All the best,
Andrew.

 

So odd this brutalist style is coming from so many manufacturers. Id love to see the market research showing this is what people want

 

I think all the mfg. are flying solo on this latest trend.

 

I assume creative social contagions exist in all of the arts. Back in my creature design days, If someone came up with a new idea, say the mandibles on the Predator, it seemed like every creature designer started putting mandibles on things. Even if it didnt fit it.

 

Exactly. With the net these days, every designer around the globe knows in real time what every other designer is doing.
In my day we had to wait for the monthly car magazines.

 

It feels like a lot of manufacturers are trying to advance the Rolls Royce Phantom exterior design language to try to associate new electric flagships with being premium rather than the image of being an electric appliance.

I'm not sure it's what the car-buying public wants either.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

No good, that's what they're up to.

 

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"We have lost our way."

Indeed.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

If this is what the front ends of all cars will look like going forward, I'm going to have to learn how to drive with my eyes closed. They are truly unpleasant to look at.

The back of the car isn't bad.

An aside: I am shocked that manufacturers don't realize that the bolt-on tablet looks incredibly cheap. The opposite of luxury.

 

I agree, the the interior just looks cheap. Clunky looking cloth seats and bolt-on tablet ruin the car.

The exterior is... different.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

Grey, minimalistic styled cars with minimalistic style interiors, for people with minimalistic faces living in minimalistic homes with minimalistic friends.

The future is an awful place to be.

 

This retro design is kind of SM/DS and Fuego combined. I always liked all of them, and 2 of them were designed by the same guy. I have to look up who designed the DS.

DS SM Tribute Is a Striking Two-Door Callback to the 1970s
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Wonder how he accomplished that?

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https://driventowrite.com/2025/10/17/klaatu-barada-nikto/#more-131333
https://driventowrite.com/2025/10/15/patrick-le-quement-my-goddess-ds19/#more-130817
https://driventowrite.com/2025/10/13/citroen-ds-at-70-the-decapotable/#more-133262
https://driventowrite.com/2025/10/11/citroen-ds-curvature-diagrams/#more-46992
https://driventowrite.com/2025/10/08/just-because-im-a-goddess-doesnt-mean-i-love-you/#more-129480
https://driventowrite.com/2025/10/06/ds-at-70/#more-128617

 

I've always admired Aston Design. This was at this morning's car gathering. Some serious $$ at $585K w/o tariff!
Mint green is the 'it' color these days. Aston design has been consistent over the years if nothing else. Loved this interior.



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Waiting for the assembled sages of this thread to wigh in on this:

https://www.classicdriver.com/en/article/cars/ferraris-new-one-sc40-a-space-age-homage-f40

 

Already weighed in on the thread where it was introduced.
How many SP cars so far?

 

You already show this??. I do like the lower clean 1980's nose, but the black patches could have been places better. Better that the F80 I think, but still needs a little more work. They are headed in the right direction finally again, since the SP1 and SP2 along with the Roma.

That side scoop needs some help. The nose is almost Colani

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