Auto Design

Ferdinand Piëch on the Future of Car Design

Giancarlo Perini ©

The other day I was searching a story through my collection of Car Styling and I also noticed an interview with Ferninand Piëch, shortly after the introduction of the new Audi 100, the Car of the Year of the time. I found interesting to read again his words and check his visions with the development of Audi (and the entire Volkswagen group) some 27 years later.

Perhaps you too may like to read them and share your comments with other readers.

Status and Trends of Automotive Design Development.

Q: How would you describe the present status of automotive engineering in general?

A: Automotive engineering is currently in a state of tension between numerous influencing factors, some of them mutually contradictory. Increased awareness of environmental problems is taking effect in the form of statutory limits on exhaust emissions and noise, but is obliging us to design engines with unfavorable fuel-consumption characteristics and to increase body weight unnecessarily. However, rapidly rising fuel prices and the drop in our potential customers’ available incomes on almost all volume markets oblige us to devote top priority in our development work to reducing fuel consumption. All in all, therefore, automotive engineering is striving to achieve the optimum compromise between economical running and long-term durability, with increased safety and environmental acceptability thrown in at the same time. Considerable progress in the field of electronics and in the materials sector has resulted in technical features appearing on production vehicles which would have been considered impossible to achieve only a short time ago. Read the rest of this entry »

by Giancarlo Perini (c)

You can look back at the Paris Motor Show, the latest top-ranking of the season from many different perspectives: business as usual or new perspective, sexy style or strict functionality, economic status or talks between car-makers to discuss new alliance and even a show within the show. Indeed this is what tiny British carmaker Lotus has done in Paris. By presenting as many as 5 new concept-cars and mock-ups (Elise, Elan and Esprit, Elite and Eterne) the company has attracted a lot of attention from the media and caused a series of serious of questions now waiting for an answer.

Read the rest of this entry »

Those of you who read Car Styling magazine might have been puzzled by my report on the Geneva motor show published in the latest (and last?) issue of the magazine.
For some mysterious accident that are more common in the printed press than you can image my text was cut and mixed up. For a more accurate reading and for the records I am publishing here the original text. Just as a sign of respect for my readers.

Official statistics show that the latest and 80th Geneva Motor Show set a new record for “premieres”, with as many as eighty “new cars”, or so, unveiled for the first time there. Now, considering the space in the magazine is not growing with the number of new cars at motor shows, let’s go straight to the point and answer the usual questions: how was the show this year. What was relevant and worth recording for the years to come?

First I would say that I saw more irrelevant, disappointing or irritating cars (read designs) than interesting and attractive ones: be for their design or their lack of innovative ideas/concepts. A short list includes the Aston Martin Cygnet,  Renault Megane CC, Renault Wind and Toyota Auris.

Read the rest of this entry »

Clearly, Toyota designers have been thinking of endurance racing and not F1 for their Racing car for the year 2025 and this is very interesting, considering the Toyota also race in F1 and this years have been made some significant score.According to them, technological superiority and endurance makes for the ultimate racecar that never needs to stop. Not only is the racer powered by highly efficient hydrogen fuel cell electric motors but also each of its body panels is embedded with photovoltaic panels that supply electricity when extra energy is needed.The vehicle features two basic modes: High Speed Mode and Cornering Mode. In High Speed Mode, the body and wheels narrow, creating less drag and resistance to reach its highest speed of 350 mph. The Cornering Mode transforms the body to create a wide and stable stance with expanded wheels, establishing maximum contact and grip through tight turns.Electronics and futuristic development have been considered to support the driver in darkness or unreliable weather: the cockpit is a completely digital environment with a display enhanced by virtual reality, computer trajectory plotting, collision avoidance assistance and a robot co-pilot, which manages the on-board systems and repairs so that it can maintain full speed all the way to the finish. Sound impressive, doesn’t it?Designers:

·        President:
Kevin Hunter

·        Studio Design Manager:
Erwin Lui

·        Senior Creative Designer:
Craig Kember

Photo Gallery:       

Comes November 20^th and we will know the winner of the 5^th Design Challenge.

Nine Southern California design studios of the top carmakers have presented their own concept and design of what the Race Car of the future will be in 2025.

The Design Challenge is held within the frame of the Los Angeles Auto Show that opens its gate to the public on November 21^st.

This year theme for the challenge was to «Visualize Auto Racing in the Year 2025» along the following guidelines: «Today’s race cars have ground-breaking technology to improve speed, power, performance and safety but what a difference 17 years into the future can make. Imagine race cars that go beyond the expectations and challenges of racing today, such as never needing to stop for re-fuelling or collision avoidance assistance technology for enhanced safety».

According to Chuck Pelly, director of Design Los Angeles and partner in The Design Academy, Inc. «Automotive designers have always been fascinated with Motor Sports and this year’s Design Challenge has provided them with the opportunity to use their creative talent to look at these cars with new eyes, using innovative technologies and approaches”.

Works by Audi, BMW, GM, Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota and Volkswagen are pitted against each other to showcase their talents and further explore new ideas in automotive design.

<!–[if gte mso 9]&gt; Normal 0 14 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 &lt;![endif]–><!–[if gte mso 9]&gt; &lt;![endif]–><!–[if !mso]&gt; st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } &lt;![endif]–> <!–[if gte mso 10]&gt; /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:”Tabella normale”; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:”"; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} &lt;![endif]–>

Entries will be judged by Tom Matano of San Francisco’s Academy of Art University, Imre Molner of Detroit’s College for Creative Studies and Stewart Reed of Pasadena’s Art Center College of Design. Daniel Simon, an established car designer and founder of Cosmic Motors, is the special guest judge this year. Simon began his design career at Volkswagen and recently published his first book: Cosmic Motors-Spaceships, Cars and Pilots of Another Galaxy. His book seems to have suggested the theme of this year challenge and the flavour of some of the works presented, whereas other works have inspired themselves to the superlative illustration technique of Syd Mead.

Starting today I am sharing with you their works. One per day. And in alphabetic order. Go to AUDI R25.