I like having unique lighting cues to be able to identify cars at night. The halo lights from the E38 M5 were a great yet relatively subtle thing. I like the LED running lights on my 2015 Ford Edge, and its LED tail bar is both readily identifiable and an excellent safety feature in poor visibility. I don't like overly complex solutions, but I like readily identifiable ones. All the best, Andrew.
That they do. I love the designs of Cadillacs. I'm something of a slow adopter of new designs, so the good ones grow on me. I've really got into the modern angular Cadillac design nomenclature, they're great-looking cars. All the best, Andrew.
http://autodesignmagazine.com/en/2018/12/bertone-riparte-elettrica-con-dianche/?fbclid=IwAR3fu2D-X1BnpF3anHsHBW91pT5Z8PncwH-1ewR21f-xJMzORPP_SsIip0E
I like the battery swapping idea. Thats how it was done 100 years ago. But that idea of a little pod where you isolate yourself from the surroundings, and the driving leaves me cold. Perhaps that is colouring my view of the design. 100 years ago men turned away from the small electric drawing rooms on wheels, and they became lady's cars. Image Unavailable, Please Login This miniature Kei car is more my idea of an ideal city car. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Why would you want an open top car in the city? The exhilaration of bus exhaust running through your hair? To hear the hustle and bustle of irritated commuters? To feel the warm splatter of pigeon poop across your shoulder? All the best, Andrew.
As an aside what amazes me is how we've come full circle in 100 years. The mantra of 'longer, lower and wider' is going back to 'taller, narrower and shorter' Everything is changing so fast that the younger generation will have no idea of what came before, other than through books and stories and photos If we're talking city usage, smaller is better
Rain too, and snow, drunks throwing cans inside etc etc. Usually solved by putting the roof up. The Honda S660 measures 3,395 mm(133.7 in) in length and 1,475 mm (58.1 in) in total width in order to be within limitations for Japan's Kei car.
My old first generation SmartCars were a great size for the city. The only issues with it as a city car was that the city was potholed to such an extent that no Swiss designer or German engineer could have envisaged the SmartCar tackling such roads, so: Some potholes were so deep that the little wheels could get totally lost in it and it was possible to bottom out with your chassis. If you hit a smaller, more manageable pothole, the ride quality was so hard that everything in the car would make a crash sound and your spine would feel the horrible compression - much to your everlasting memory. Durability. The shock absorbers, springs, ball joints, CV joints, and wheel bearings were all fragile. Rebuild/replace joints every 18 months, shocks and wheel bearings every 2 years, and springs every 3 years, or limp along with broken suspension. The newer ones, I gather, are more durable, but they're also bigger cars that lack some of the charming usability and parking versatility of the first generation models. Speaking of lacking in charm... someone designed them to look like a Pokemon character. Ugh. All the best, Andrew.
I agree with you that the original Smart has charm, and the new one has lost it. The Smart came firmly from the driving age too. The Dianchè looks - from the artwork, as if it has one foot firmly in the autonomous age to come (perhaps). Projected info on all the windows, no steering wheel, or at least one that is trying hard not to look like one, old age pensioner doors etc. The Smart is very rational and likeable, and the Kei cars are only a little longer, and come in all sorts of basic shapes. I think a Kei car with a traditional soft top sports car design in a Japanese city, is ideal because you can always dream of the open road and occasionally go for a blast. However driving is not an ideal for many of the young and they don't make the same positive associations. The little Honda above is 1.5 inches less wide than the original Smart.
Here's a question; why do so many designers seem to go a but off the deep and as they age... Raymond Lowey Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Brooks Stevens Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login And I've seen some from Earl and Mitchell that were... erm... a bit odd, as well.
Having said that, I believe both Harley Earl and Bill Mitchell came off the rails towards the end of their careers, IMHO.
Don't know what age Lowey, Earl, and Mitchell were when they started producing bizarre designs, but there seems to be a peak ideal age for creative types such as painters, writers, composers, and others- Image Unavailable, Please Login
Yes, I just couldn't find any pics on the internet. Though, the '58 Oldsmobile is certainly... erm... different.
In my '70's. Bill Mitchell once told me: ' you don't get smart by being young!' maybe I should tell my class that
Reminds me of a saying from my Grandmother: "The young people think the old people are crazy; the old people KNOW the young people are crazy!"
… or otherwise known as a '57 Chevy on steroids! Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I wouldn't say Olds was following Chevy's lead here. The '58 follows the Olds trend started in '54... Image Unavailable, Please Login But it certainly wasn't an improvement over their '57 cars! Image Unavailable, Please Login
Attention Gearheads! I stumbled across this today while shopping for Christmas. Hallmark is starting a Legendary Concept Cars ornament series some of you might be interested in. If you can wait until after Christmas, they are usually half price. Wonder what next year's offering will be? Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
