car design thread | Page 512 | FerrariChat

car design thread

Discussion in 'Creative Arts' started by jm2, Oct 19, 2012.

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  1. jm2

    jm2 F1 World Champ
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    The Bitter was done under Dave Holls direction. I don't remember if Chuck was involved, but Dave Holls & Dick Ruzzin were the main guys.

    Chuck was the main man for the Opel CD Showcar, an awesome design.
     
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  2. 330 4HL

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    man, that is really sweet. Super clean -
     
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  3. jm2

    jm2 F1 World Champ
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    A look at the 1969 Opel CD concept
    Posted on June 18, 2014 by RONAN GLON4 Comments


    Image Unavailable, Please Login Opel traveled to the 1969 edition of the Frankfurt Motor Show to unveil a state-of-the-art concept car dubbed CD, a name that stood for Coupe Diplomat. Billed as merely a design study, the CD was the work of a team led by American designer Chuck Jordan, the same man who designed the Opel GT as well as a number of well-known American cars like the 1963 Buick Electra and the 1967 Cadillac Eldorado.


    The CD featured a wedge-shaped body with a one-piece wraparound windshield that tilted forward in a Jetsons-like manner to provide access to the cabin. The body was designed using data gathered in a wind tunnel – a real novelty at the time – and the final product was crafted out of fiberglass in order to keep the coupe’s weight in check.

    Inside, the CD boasted a futuristic function-over-form cockpit with an aircraft-inspired instrument cluster, a two-spoke steering wheel and unusually wide power-adjustable pedals. A center console mounted over the transmission tunnel housed the car’s climate control and radio functions in addition to a telephone. Interior designers put a big emphasis on comfort and the coupe’s passengers traveled on generously-sized leather-upholstered seats.

    Power for the CD came from a 5.3-liter V8 engine sourced from the then-new Diplomat B. The engine sent 230 horsepower to the rear wheels via a three-speed push-button automatic transmission, though sources close to Opel have recently revealed the CD was not a functional concept.

    The CD unexpectedly stole the Frankfurt show in 1969, leaving show-goers and journalists in awe. Equally stunned, Opel tentatively asked Italian coachbuilder Frua to build a less futuristic version of the car with a toned-down exterior design and a more realistic interior. Opel insisted that the coupe had to retain the concept’s lightweight fiberglass body and the Diplomat-sourced V8.

    Frua built several prototypes for Opel but the project was ultimately canceled. Opel couldn’t build the CD in-house and it feared Frua’s relatively small workshop didn’t have the necessary production capacity to assemble even a low-volume car. Opel’s bean counters believed the automaker would lose money on the CD because it would be an expensive halo car that would appeal to a very small target audience, and GM executives in Detroit ultimate blocked the car on account that it could end up rivaling the Corvette.

    The CD story didn’t stop there. Erich Bitter saw a huge potential in the coupe and formed his own company in 1971 in order to build a modified version of the Frua-designed prototype. Dubbed simply Bitter CD (pictured below), the coupe was underpinned by a modified version of the Diplomat’s platform and it was powered by the same 5.3-liter V8 that was found in the original CD concept. Bitter built 395 examples of the CD between 1973 and 1979.

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    I believe Chuck had already left Opel to return to Warren,MI and Dave Holls took his place and directed the Bitter design.
     
  4. Jeff Kennedy

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    Can tell if it is the red paint or the photography but these pictures make it really hard to discern the amount of body side contouring. For its time it was something far different from normal.

    As for the nose treatment and especially the headlights the article shows what the original design had envisioned.

    Still, for its time, it was way ahead in design.
     
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  5. Jeff Kennedy

    Jeff Kennedy F1 Veteran
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    The author certainly got some of the story wrong and sort of missed an even bigger point on Jordan at Opel.

    The Opel GT was essentially done before Jordan's arrival at Opel under Claire McKechian. Jordan arrived in time to do some final refinements.

    The big point to make is that Opel under Jordan went from a backwater European operation to a leader. The Manta and the Ascona led with great design. I remember being told that Jordan was even on the tech boards having to show Opel engineers how to do things that they were already expected to be doing.

    Jordan had gone to Opel as a banishment from Detroit and returned as a triumphant victor that had been instrument in turning around one of the international operations. Opel Design became known as a desirable "hot studio" that designers wanted to be part of.

    Style Auto did a feature on the CD that showed how Jordan had pushed the Opel design operation to create something different.
     
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  6. jm2

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  7. energy88

    energy88 Two Time F1 World Champ
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    IMHO, so far, it is slightly better looking than the average SUV.
     
  8. jm2

    jm2 F1 World Champ
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    Remember this is just a WAG.
    Production results may vary.;)
     
  9. energy88

    energy88 Two Time F1 World Champ
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  10. jm2

    jm2 F1 World Champ
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  11. VigorousZX

    VigorousZX Formula Junior

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    I think this is neat, Friedensreich Hundertwasser's design ideas on greener transportation infrastructure.
    twitter.com/NgoloTesla/status/1440649991987417092
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  12. jm2

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  14. jm2

    jm2 F1 World Champ
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    Apart from the heavy-handed chrome it's not bad IMO.
     
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  15. Tenney

    Tenney F1 Rookie
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    Thinking the three-pedal Shooting-Sceptre Nomad-V woulda been the one to have ...
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  16. Tenney

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    Grille by Norelco!
     
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  17. jm2

    jm2 F1 World Champ
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    Corporate Design Winners announced.
    https://www.eyesondesign.org/detroit-auto-show


    Polestar Precept Concept, Ford Bronco Win EyesOn Design Awards
    Watch the event and read more about the winners of the 2021 EyesOn Design Awards at Motor Bella. The Ford Bronco won the Best Production Vehicle Award, and the Polestar Precept Concept took home all 3 other awards — Best Concept Vehicle; Innovative Use of Color, Graphics or Materials; and Best Designed Interior.

    The Awards were determined by a panel of automaker design leaders and transportation design chairs of top art schools.
     
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  18. jm2

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  19. F1tommy

    F1tommy F1 World Champ
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    That was a good issue of Style Auto. Love the old issues of that magazine!! Looks like the car design show last weekend was a major success. Is that yearly?
     
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  20. jm2

    jm2 F1 World Champ
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    Yes, The Eyes on Design is a yearly show is a yearly event since the late 1980's. It is a fund raiser for the Detroit Ophthalmology/Eye Institute.
    The judges are currently working designers & retired designers. The show is judged strictly on design and beauty.
     
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  21. bitzman

    bitzman F1 Rookie
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    Why won't Giugiaro list this one off Cobra as one of his progeny?

    It is billed as the Ghia Cobra. Designed around 1965 about the time he was doing the Mangusta. And about the same time deTomaso and Shelby were cooling up the DeTomaso Can Am car (designed by Pete Brock). That has has re-emerged (more or less, I'm suspecting the origins of the chassis) but this front engine roadster is lost in the sands of time. I realize the nose and tail aren't worthy of Giugiaro but the side view is and even has his trademark fender vent.

    https://**********.com/2021/09/the-ghia-big-block-cobra.html

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  22. energy88

    energy88 Two Time F1 World Champ
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  23. 330 4HL

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    Interesting car that I quite liked as a 15 year old, and still do.
    At the time, I was under the impression that this was an effort by AC Cars to find a way forward for the company once the Shelby collaboration ended. It may be hard to imagine now, but at the time Carroll Shelby was having difficulty in shifting the cars he had on hand. This Ghia car was built and shown at Turin in '65 as was the Frua 428, and it was the latter that was put into production by AC as a convertible & fastback coupe. I've never read anything about AC being involved in the Giugiaro car, but it seems to stretch coincidence that the two cars were done at the same time on the 428 AC chassis by chance.
    I've never quite understood why we only have/see the same 4 or 5 photos of this car. Was there really only one photographer at the show who thought this of note? Also, one would expect that Ghia archives should have some photos of the body bucks, drawings, and the of the car itself.
    Quite the mystery --
     
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  24. Daryl

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  25. bitzman

    bitzman F1 Rookie
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    Ghia closed and I'd like to think the files went to Ford but Detroit has a short memory and might've tossed them. I've seen a close up of the interior in a dark blue version of the car so know we know what color it was.
     

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