^ thats when it was no longer fun for me.
Smart concept 1. I see a little mini cooper in it, I'm digging all the curves and smooth styling. Add a fifth seat, some door handles, and a b pillar. Remove the gold trim and flying saucer and it looks pretty much ready to hit the road. https://future.smart.com/en/concept1.html Image Unavailable, Please Login Grill lights up: Image Unavailable, Please Login Interior: Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
BMW just released these images of their BMW CirCular. And how about that interior? Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Concept EQS, Mercedes-Maybach Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
New at the Munich Auto Show formerly Frankfurt From John McElroy from Autoline.tv One of the coolest concepts at the IAA show in Munich. A modern, all-electric version of the Isetta. It's called the Microlino, from a company called Micro based in Switzerland. Target price: €12,500. Anyone remember the Isetta? Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Ford GT '05-'06 Found pic of four clay models probably taken around '03. I was wondering if the red short nose one was shown in a styling clinic where the opinion of those invited was "If it doesn't have the shape of the original Ford GT, forget it." I think the short nose looked too Audi 8. Also were the other designers miffed when Ford publicity credited only Camilo Pardo with the design? Image Unavailable, Please Login
Ice Sheet calves, crushes occupants, turns Bangle Butt blue - well at least there trying to explore skateboard options. What's MB' excuse?
And the sketches that go with the car Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
This week's autoextremist.com weighed in on MB Design, and it wasn't positive. In other news, the degradation of Mercedes-Benz Design has been an ongoing train wreck for several years now. Except for one spectacular concept presented four years ago – the Mercedes-Maybach 6 Cabriolet – Mercedes designers have been on a downward spiral that simply boggles the mind. Image Unavailable, Please Login (Mercedes-Benz) The Mercedes-Maybach 6 Cabriolet. In fact, no design group has done less with more than Mercedes-Benz Design. The company’s glittering legacy is being pathetically underserved. The latest evidence? Check out our “On The Table” column this week for a look at the latest EVs from M-B designers. The work is simply appalling, the G-Class concept in particular. Ugh. Memo to Mercedes-Benz honchos: Mediocrity isn’t bliss. If you don’t get a handle on what’s happening and reverse what appears to be an inexorable slide, then you will get what you deserve. (Then again, BMW’s big news from Frankfurt is two electric bikes and a concept for 2040 that left us chilly. As in, WTF? You can see them in “On The Table” as well. -WG.) Image Unavailable, Please Login (Mercedes-Benz) This is the Concept EQG, a "near-production" study of an all-electric model variant of its Mercedes-Benz G-Class. This is what the Mercedes PR minions have to say: "Visually, the concept car combines the unmistakably striking look of the G-Class with selected design elements typical of all-electric models from Mercedes as contrasting highlights. The 4x4 qualities of the "G," which have always set the highest standard, will not only find their way into the age of electric mobility, but will be developed even further in some areas. The Concept EQG thus offers a promising preview of what a Mercedes-Benz G-Class with battery-electric drive will be capable of." Editor-in-Chief's Note: This abomination should be subtitled, "How to Ruin an SUV icon in one fell swoop." The designers who had a hand in this disgraceful piece of crap should be rounded up and forced to design door handles and sun visors - permanently. What a joke. -PMD Image Unavailable, Please Login (Mercedes-Benz images) This is what Mercedes PR minions have to say about the Mercedes-Maybach Concept EQS: "With the Concept EQS, Mercedes-Maybach is providing a clear preview of the first fully electric series-production model for the tradition-steeped luxury brand... The near-production one-off shows identifying features that are characteristic of Maybach – such as the elaborate two-tone paint finish – but its innovative drive technology also takes a step towards a significantly more progressive way of presenting the brand. In the interior, the rear becomes a comfortable place to work or rest thanks to Executive seats and the Chauffeur Package. In addition to these features are exclusive details such as new door panels, armrests that are designed like high-quality sideboards and trim elements in white piano lacquer and materials in deep-sea blue, which create a feel-good atmosphere on board as if on an elegant yacht." Editor-in-Chief's Note: Somewhere, the Design Gods are not amused. Mercedes Design is going down a deep, dark hole that they won't to be able to extricate themselves from. -PMD Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login (Mercedes-Benz images) Mercedes is calling this executive sedan the EQE, and it is the second model to be based on the premium-class electric architecture (EVA2), following the luxury EQS sedan. The EQE will celebrate its world premiere at the IAA show and its staggered global launch will begin mid-2022. The EQE features "a sporty 'purpose design' with all the characteristic elements of Mercedes-EQ, one-bow lines and cab-forward design," according to Mercedes PR minions. They continue, unfortunately: "The overall design theme of Sensual Purity is reflected in generously modeled surfaces, reduced joints and seamless transitions. The overhangs and the front end are kept short, the rear provides the dynamic accent with a sharp rear spoiler. Flush with the outer edge of the body, the 19- to 21- inch wheels, together with a pronounced muscular shoulder section, give the EQE an athletic character." Editor-in-Chief's Note: Toyota Design called; they want their 2025 Camry designs back. Mercedes-Benz had a good run. Who could have ever imagined that they not only would go down the road of relentless mediocrity, but that instead of stopping to turn around once they saw they were headed in the wrong direction, would accelerate hard down The Path of Automotive Darkness? Next stop? Oblivion. -PMD
The Renault 5 returns as an electric vehicle. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
REVIEW OF TJAARDA BIO An American in Italy, Designed three Ferraris but is known most for the Pantera https://**********.com/2021/09/book-review-tom-tjaarda-master-of-proportion.html
Sorta how we might have a glance in the mirror before leaving the house and think "That's it!" ... and yet mileages vary ...
How I wish everyone had a full length mirror to see themselves BEFORE they leave the house! Taken a look at the sartorial splendor at the airport or shopping mall lately?
The Ghia Cobra, was it a Cobra 427 underneath? Every once in a while I see a picture of this car, which looks like a Giugiaro design, and Giugiaro was at Ghia in 1965,but he doesn't seem to include it on his resume. One site said "Somewhere around that time, a 427 coil spring frame was hijacked to Carrozzeria Ghia of Turin in Italy, run by the then fiery Alejandro De Tomaso, for a new body designed by none other than Giorgetto Giugiaro. The car also had a new interior but it wasn’t much better than A.C.’s, and it actually looked a bit handcrafted. It was painted in dark blue with a brown leather interior, the color of the goose beak, a sort of orange brown, had a roof height similar to the Maserati Ghibli, which he had made for the Ghia around the same time." On shots with the hardtop it looks like a Ghibli hardtop which makes me think it's a rebodied Ghibli spyder but then the dashboard appears one off, and crude. The car appeared to have disappeared after its brief time in the spotlight. It is said to have been shipped to Belgium where its only bodywork was removed and incorporated as a regular 427 Cobra. Maybe this was built on the 427 chassis that was under the Cobra that Ford's racing boss drove around Europe before he was demoted for producing GT40s that failed to win in '64. I heard there is even a different version with round headlights. The car is dark blue with a dark tan interior. The windshield seems very tall and upright, maybe from an early e-type? Image Unavailable, Please Login