Interesting article about a Rolls Royce 2-seater Design basis is apparently the 1962 Thunderbird Sports Roadster and a one-off Pininfarina design. I found they are already offering it. No, not on the Phantom but the Dawn. Why? Because they need to move the average age of a Rolls buyer down a notch, say ten years. That way they can ensure future growth as they trade one in for another newer model. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Whoops! Forgot to post the link to today's main article. Sorry, advancing Old Timers Disease after getting back from Florida. http://**********.com/2018/04/rolls-royce-needs-two-seater.html
"Big Block Chevrolet V8" informs floorplan of Indonesian car dealership.......(you have to use a bit of imagination, but it's there........) maybe they meant the rare OHC version........ https://www.archdaily.com/891749/andalan-automotive-gallery-and-office-studio-sa-e-plus-sindhu-hadiprana-design-consultant?utm_medium=email&utm_source=ArchDaily%20List&kth=221 Image Unavailable, Please Login
With EPA/pollution regs, safety regs, aero design goals, global positioning of cars plus the simple fact that cars have been around for 120+ years means that the styling of cars will become more and more a commodity and become more or less homogeneous. The "proof" is -just look at what you can buy today! So the only place left is the interior of the car and the stuff you can offer as part of that package. We are fast (if not there) approaching the point where cars are no more than 4 wheel backpacks/family dens. With Autonomous vehicles and self driver vehicles coming down the road there will be less car ownership and more renting a car as needed, down to 1 hour in the morning and 1 hour at night for the commute, etc. And as this process continues (and it is how things will go) the exterior looks of the car will become less and less important and the internal features more and more important. We will move from cars being an object of desire and pride of ownership to a commodity for mobility. But on the plus side there will still be a small customer base of people who will still want their "own" car and want it to be of "style and performance". It may or may not even be legal for road use as some point in the future but will be like owning a boat or plane-more an expensive hobby/toy. And with increase in the technology of additive manufacturing there will be an opportunity for a more personalized vehicle for this type of customer. Of course I am talking 20+ years in the future. But we will see the start of this in about 10 years or so.
Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login I don't think these look the 'same'
LOL. I'll bet you by the time they hit the streets, they will all be the same and made by Toyota. It will be like Southwest Airlines only using 737s.
I disagree. The idea of autonomous is going to come with so many real world problems that it may turn into being the goa; that is rarely achieved. Makes me think of old GM Motorama displays from the 1950s with the utopian future. Who is dealing with system failure? We are already seeing when new cars have issues resulting in serious accidents. What happens when the car is 5 years old or road grime starts covering over sensors? Maybe the high density metro areas have a chance for autonomous to get a decent degree of penetration but how about the far larger portions of the country with low density? As for aesthetic design becoming a bunch of blandtastic appliances - don't think so. People will continue to want differentiation in the look and attributes of size/utility.
Jeff Kennedy You may be right but looking at demographics shows that the younger generation of adults do not have the same relationship/attachment to motor vehicles that "we" have. If you do not own a car and only use it to go from A to B then the "style" becomes irrelevant. And autonomy is coming-just a question of when. But there is no stopping it and low density/high density is a meaningless parameter with these cars. MAkes no difference to the utilization rates. The thing to understand is that your (and my) perception of cars is old, old,old. It will be replaced. Technology will allow it to happen, social pressure will make it happen, government pressure will make it happen, and all of the "problems" you speak about will be resolved over time. But none of this is "the end of the world". It is just the next progression in how humans will maintain, and improve individual mobility. It is going to happen-in some form or another. And yes people will still differentiate and choose one mobility platform over another. But it will not be based on the exterior styling anymore. It will be based on the options and convenience and capabilities that the platform offers within it's internal environment. We are already moving that way with cars now. What are the OEM's showing as differentiators now? Number of video screens in car, size of them, bluetooth connectivity, USB plugs, etc, etc. And what does a housewife with a child or two look for in a car? As above. Not what you and I want-(we are obsolete-more or less) and those woman are the number 1 customer the OEM's are targeting-as they actually are the dominant partner in car purchases, relative to the man.
In light of the recent conversations regarding what the future of vehicle design does or does not have in store, I thought I'd post this article from a close friend about the 'facelessness' of design. Brian is a former designer at GM Design and now teaching at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit. He's asking for input to his theory, which he recently posted on LinkedIn. "Eyes without a face" Billy Idol 1983 Published on April 10, 2018 Brian Baker Executive Design Consultant,and Speaker So the Eighties song by Billy Idol offers "Such a human waste, your eyes without a face" Throughout the history of the Automobile, Designers have made efforts to reduce the clutter on the front of Vehicles. Ransom Olds used the inspiration of a sleigh's curved dash board to sell the first successful mass produced car in the U.S. ( More than 7 thousand sold 1901-1907). Soon the Detroit Electric and others crafted smooth faces without the ungainly radiator opening that was unnecessary for their vehicles. As streamlining took hold in the 30's, the Chrysler Airflow and countless Dick Tracy comic book cars and children's toys, including early Batmobiles appeared to have no radiator opening. These cars just looked "cleaner" in eras of ornamentation. Ramond Lowey and Clark Kellogg shook the styling world with their 1963 Studebaker Avanti that had no air opening above the bumper. Lets not forget the Porsche 911's lack of facial features other than those beautiful eyes. More recently Pontiac went faceless with the 1979 Pontiac Firebird and the 85' Fiero GT with it's "boxing glove" front Our friends at Tesla, Google and other "new age Manufactures are testing the water for faceless autos. This time it seems different to me. When I'm opposite a model S at a stoplight, I don't think "clean". It looks a bit like someone left a part off on the assembly line. I hope Franz Von Holzhausen and his team remedy this soon. Please don't misunderstand. As a professional designer, I love the idea of less is more". Customers have always shown that the first place they look to identify a vehicle is the front of a car in research clinics. If the shapes of our vehicles become formless, we will be missing the opportunity to make our vehicles distinctive. In the age of autonomy there seems to be a natural pull toward our vehicle becoming "Transport Boxes". I do get it. We may not need old fashioned radiator openings but we still need fresh air to enter the cabin. I for one do not intend to ride through the middle of the 21st century without being able to enjoy the physical sensation of speed with air. Vehicles must have personalities. If they are austere, so be it but please give them a persona. The face is the place to do that first, Would Marilyn have been as pretty without her mole? Would the Rolls Royce be as dignified without it's vestige "temple" at the front? Surely our design community can propose technical solutions to this issue. Lighting, texture and form come to mind immediately. Lets ignite the 21st century with a generation of vehicles that command attention. Do not accept the gravity to make the vehicle into simply another product. For more than a century the automobile has been our companion for mobility. As it gains the ability to anticipate our needs and indeed interact with us in a very human way ( they are already talking to us). Why would we dehumanize them? They deserve a face to go with their personalities. Just as a great fashion designer constructs the dress or jacket to flatter their clients build, Auto designers must understand ways to make their client look their best. Decades of consumer market research that I have attended have shown us that the first place the consumer looks at is the grille to determine the expected cost of a vehicle. There are two other places they look (often unconsciously). I'd love to meet with you and share these observations and lessons of the past that are still relevant to the future of vehicle design. Please reach out to me at [email protected]
To my way of thinking there are two culprits when it comes to the new 'faceless' design. First is the bean counters who shoot down many good ideas simply because of the added cost to produce them. Does 'pretty' really cost more than 'ugly' to build? Stray too far from conventional thinking and the market will shun your product. The second is the aero engineers who want to shave as much off the front end and elsewhere to in a never ending battle for efficiency. This air management also dictates the engineering solutions for all the cooling requirements of a vehicle as well. All these design restraints from financial cost to meeting stifling regulations leave little room for individuality now...
Speaking of ‘faces’ and front ends, Chevrolet showed the face lifted ‘19 Camaro recently Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I disagree on the who and why. The design VPs are selected for their ability to be good corporate soldiers. This is the exact opposite of what leadership in design is about - the greats lead with a vision for the future. "Corporate Management" wants to feel supremely safe so they love to find ways to put design evaluations into numerical values and clinic studies. If the market hates it they can bring out reams of paper to save their sorry a$$ and then blame in on the innocent. Think of them as the ball-less wonders who hold the power to override Design. Design does not exist in a vacuum. To flourish it has to have the most senior C-suite support so it can prevail in the inevitable battles. The leader of Design has to be a sort that is driving their organization forward without fear from the inside organization and the external market. There is an old saying about automotive living and dying on 10 day sales figures while it is working on products that won't be out for 3-5 years. As John keeps reminding, any car that hits the road, no matter how bad it may look, got approved to look that way. If you hate the looks try not to blame the poor designers "on the boards" - figure that just about every one of them is a talented designer. The problem is that they have to respond to what design leadership and corporate management are dictating (either overtly stated or by the demonstration of choices made between the available options). Unfortunately, Design rarely gets to sit at the "big boy" table when it comes to the ultimate sign offs - there are some stories of sign-offs being made without Design even concurring.
Jeff, while I agree with you, I've always believed that the Studio & the Chief Designer also play a very crucial role in the process.' Don't propose something you don't believe in'. Senior management, whether design, or corporate don't come up with the solutions.........the design team does. It's always easier to get along/go along with the prevailing winds rather than take a stand and stating your position. It's a very fine line that has to be walked to bring a car to production. I can imagine Toyota/Lexus Senior management telling the team to 'go farther' than you dare. Well someone is coming up with their designs lately, and I'm sure it's not Mr. Toyoda himself. Damned if you do and damned if you don't. Most want to keep their jobs i believe. Do I really want to tell the bosses they're wrong, to which they'll probably replace me with someone that does the bosses bidding.
Its a step back in my opinion. The current face fits the form better. But I know they have to keep updating it to keep customers interested.
What I see: the bow tie has been lowered to the middle of the grill (like a Toyota Camry) and the little red model badge (on the right) has been moved up to the top near the headlight. IMHO, this is the way the outgoing version should have looked to begin with. I doubt the public will notice these "refinements."
Buick Enspire for the Beijing Auto Show Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
