Design language

Cadillac Sports Tourer at Pebble Beach

Chas Hallett — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 07:46:35 GMT

I was at Pebble Beach this weekend for, amongst other things, the unwrapping of the new Cadillac Sports Tourer. It went down really well with the mainly US audience and it deserved the praise: it’s a fine looking thing in the metal and a lot more handsome, somehow, than the saloon.

But I was probably more interested in the Evoq concept that Cadillac also wheeled out for us to have another look at.

Remember it? It’s a pretty, and muscular looking two-door coupe that Caddy unveiled here in Pebble Beach exactly ten years ago. I remember thinking then how radical and edgy it looked but it seems a lot more restrained now.

But the Evoq has turned out to be an important car, as it kickstarted the current Caddy look that is epitomised by this new estate.

Even more amazingly perhaps, the Evoq was styled by Brit Simon Cox and his team in the West Midlands. And the rather talented Mr Cox has played a key role in just about every Cadillac since.

So remember that when you finally see a new CTS on a British road. It may be an archetypal brash American saloon (albeit rather well executed) but it was born just outside of Birmingham.

Aston One-77: the work of a genius?

Steve Cropley — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 08:57:41 GMT

Given that Aston Martin chief Dr Ulrich Bez once spent many months of his life painstakingly developing and building making a small batch of ultra-lightweight racing bikes of his own design, you’d expect him to love the art component of great engineering.

Since taking the controls of Aston Martin in 2000, he has continued to talk fervently of cars as art, insisting that the Aston models he has created are appreciated for their fine detail, and photographed with loving care.

However, this new venture, the One-77, values the art component of a car more highly than anyone has ever done before. What he’s offering is, essentially, a beautiful and very expensive development of the cars Aston builds now – yes, with a new carbon chassis, hand-beaten aluminium panels and hugely powerful version of the well-known V12 - but he wants to charge six times as much for it as he does for a DBS.

On the face of it, that’s a rather poor deal for the squillionaire who can afford to take the proposition seriously, and I’ve always been told that rich people are that way because they’re rather better than the rest of us at judging what makes good value.

Aston promises its One-77 owners unprecedented input into their cars. If someone wants it to be a two-plus-two, he’ll get his car that way. If another wants it to be a convertible, that’ll be fine, sir. If the owner wants to take part in his own tyre tests or suspension development programme, he’s welcome.

It’s an enticing idea. The question is whether it’s worth all that extra money. And by the way, should Aston Martin choose this moment to appeal to the super-rich when many are affected adversely by the credit crunch and those who aren't are reluctant to flaunt their wealth? It’s also true that Aston dealers in the developed world are having a struggle to sell existing models, and to keep residual values firm, and could probably do with some better targeted help from mission control.

Whether One-77 works boils down to whether Bez understands wealthy people better than the rest of us. And whether this kind of ‘secret’ car is something they want. So far, his record has been immaculate. But if a product is so exclusive that ordinary people will never know enough about it to have an opinion about its quality, performance and specification, maybe it’s not as desirable as something everyone loves.

We won’t see a finished car until the year-end, and first production cars won’t be delivered until the end of 2009, so there’s plenty of time to cogitate. But if One-77 works, as far as I'm concerned it will take Bez’s reputation for making amazingly effective instinctive judgements about the car market right up to genius level.

Ka target audience - but I'm not convinced

Vicky Parrott — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 09:52:53 GMT

So we’ve seen pictures of the new Ford Ka, and I have to say I’m not sold on it yet.

Okay, so the gaping Ford face was always going to be an awkward addition to such a small car, and following in the footsteps of a phenomenon like the original Ka was also never going to be easy.

But am I the only one that thinks it looks like the stunted lovechild of a new Fiesta and a Vauxhall Corsa?

I’m particularly disappointed because I am almost exactly the target audience for the Ka. Twenty-something women such as myself should be rushing out and selling our handbag collections in order to raise the funds for a deposit right now. Frankly, I think I'll keep the handbags.

This is just my initial reaction, and there have been lots of recent cars that appeared dreadful in their first shots but then looked great on the road: both the Jag XF and Volkswagen Scirocco spring to mind.

And, of course, the new Ka will have all the stuff that the old one didn't manage, including modern engines, decent safety equipment and plenty of toys.

But the whole essence of the original Ka was to be great even in its most basic, student-friendly trim. It didn't matter than you had to wind your own windows, or that the engine was born sometime in the early 1950s. After thirty seconds on a twisty 'B' road, all that ceased to matter.

I just hope the new Ka hasn't become so concerned with fashion and toys that it loses it's most important selling point: the ability to offer fun, stylish and unpretentious bargain motoring.

Technorati Tags: Ford Ka Fiesta Vauxhall Corsa Jaguar XF Volkswagen Scirocco

Ferrari California in the flesh

Hilton Holloway — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 16:59:13 GMT

Modern cars are notoriously hard to judge from press pictures and, judging by the new car standing in front of me, the Ferrari California, is no different.

There are aspects of the car which are unusual – the rear deck is high and so the rear elevation is remarkably deep and aggressive.

You might say that it is at odds with the rather more delicate and classically elegant Ferrari nose, but then you can’t see the front and rear of the California simultaneously.

That extraordinary rout running down the car’s side that flips over onto the rear deck is also less shocking in the flesh, though it is more obvious when the roof is up.

Part of the idea of the feature is to reduce the visual height of boot lid (which has to cover the folding roof). The other job of the flourish is to define a haunch over the rear wheel, in the style of the original 1957 California.

Overall, this is a striking car. But Ferrari hasn’t taken the path of least visual resistance.

Disguised California prototypes are still running in and out of Ferrari’s factory as Autocar was photographing this pre-production example. But then the first Ferrari California deliveries are still six months away, and there’s much tweaking still to be done.

The company says this car is designed to deliver both ultimate supercar performance and drift-down-to-the-shopping-mall effortlessness in one package.

We won’t find out if it’s true until later this Autumn

Designing the car's future

Vicky Parrott — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 14:17:12 GMT

Luc Donckerwolke, boss of Seat design and before that the man behind Lamborghini, recently told me: “If we [designers] do our tasks, we can create a clean conscience for car buyers and change the way people live with cars.”

This was in reply to a question about how he thinks car designers will have to react to environmental pressures.

Donckerwolke’s response was an unexpected one, as I have always assumed that engineering was the main answer to the environmental questions. Yet, when you think about what makes a car sell, the only conclusion is that Seat’s design guru is right. As he says, “Designers are the ambassadors of a new era – a way of living.”

Engineering clearly paves a way for the essential new fuel solutions, but cars sell mainly because they are a practical means of transport that has become essential to modern lifestyles.

Creating a totally eco-friendly, efficient method of propulsion will do little for the world’s motoring industry if it’s only available in something that looks like a G-Wiz.

It’s the belief of many, myself included, that the motoring masses won’t give up the comforts of a modern car for the sake of the environment – even if a minority will. So the real challenge is to create a solution that doesn’t compromise this.

Is design the key? I’m convinced – this enlightenment came from the man that designed the Audi A2, after all, and that car was only flawed because it was ahead of its time.

The parting statement from Donckerwolke was: “You can only be happy about such pressure.”

I reckon he’s right. We should all be embracing the “new era,” and as long as we have this kind of foresight and energy behind the industry, there’s hope for us all.

Land Rover SVX - an extraordinary concept

Ed Keohane — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 10:18:53 GMT

Land Rover's latest incarnation of the Defender will certainly get heads turning... and quite possibly a few stomachs. I saw the SVX soft-top at the Geneva motor show and instantly felt that the Defender’s timeless concept - the flat panels, front and rear beam axles, minimal electrics and hose-clean interior – had been Islingtonised. It’s like finding your local pig farmer has taken to wearing high heels, a tiara and pearls.

Few Land Rover drivers would unflinchingly defend the standard seats and driving position from criticism, but if Recaro buckets are the answer, then I’d love to know what the question was. Yes, sat-nav and iPod connectivity are excellent cabin additions that will have wide appeal; similarly, a bit of damping refinement will be appreciated by anyone who drives in town, where the combination of speed bumps and poor road surfaces presents most 4x4s with their greatest challenge. But what is the point of putting an high-end sound system in a four-wheel-drive soft-top, where you’ll struggle to hear it above 30mph?

I’m delighted that the four-pot Transit engine has proved popular – rightly so – but how does losing a cylinder fit with installing the best part of £10,000 of upmarket kit? I suspect that under Tata’s ownership a ‘UN-spec’ Defender will soon appear. If it’s a soft-top with wind-up windows, I will be the first to rejoice. Even if it's only for overseas consumption.

Technorati Tags: land rover,defender,roll-bar,svx,geneva

Wing vents; yesterday's fashion?

Richard Bremner — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 11:29:05 GMT

Just been driving Renault’s latest Clio 197 Cup, in poverty specification but with black lacquered alloys, red brake calipers (both these signaling the Cup chassis) a tailgate wing that would be the envy of a model plane maker and some rather sexy extractor vents let into the front wings.

It’s painted white, too, which makes the wheels and vents look all the more dramatic - amazing how these detail changes like this get the car stared at by young blokes.

It’s the wing vents that got me into auto trivia mode though, as I found myself wondering when the trend for extracting air from the front wheel-arches kicked off. Probably at least half a century ago, in fact, with the 1958 Aston Martin DB4 wearing those now famous twin slots in its front wings, Aston sensibly persisting with this pretty individual trademark all the way to today.

The BMW Z3 and M3 have extractors too, as do assorted Corvettes, the Viper and various Ferraris, the vent forming part of a looping crease line along the flanks of these cars. Hyundai picked up on the Ferrari 456 GT’s treatment for its current coupe, while Land Rover introduced the elegant vertical vent into the front wings of the Range Rover at much the same time; an arrangement that has extended, a little unconvincingly, to its cousin the Jaguar XJ.

You’ll also find front wing vents on the Mazda RX-8, the MG SV and, a rare sight this, the facelifted version of the MG ZS, which seemed to have gills behind its front wheels.

And the new Mitsubishi Evo X has them too. So they’ve been around for a while, front wing vents - you’ll find a trio of baby ones on ‘50s Oldsmobiles in fact, as well as Maseratis - but right now they seem to be an essential visual flourish of any front-engined car with a hot engine under its bonnet. I like ‘em, too, but I wonder how long it will be before they become yesterday’s fashion.

Children; the real car designers

Hilton Holloway — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 15:44:33 GMT

I may be mercifully free of children, but that hasn't stopped them having a creeping influence on my territory. Stealthily, the 'opinions' of children are increasingly influencing car design. And the new Meriva is a high watermark for this trend.

One of the reasons the Renault Scenic was such a smash hit when it was launched over a decade ago, was that back bench, hyper-territorial children each got their own seat. And the occupants of the third row of seats in a new Discovery get their ownlidded cubbyhole and stereo controls. Both are understandable inclusions to try and keep the peace when the whole family is onboard.

But when Nissan was designing the UK-built Note MPV it carried out some of its 'customer' research in the primary schools of Milton Keynes. And what did the celebrity-addled little dears want? Tinted rear windows, just like they have on the telly.

But it's the new Meriva that really takes the turkey twizzler.

I've a horrible feeling that the rear-hinged rear doors are a direct nod to the child, which finds it easier to enter via the rear footwell, rather than trying to scramble straight up onto the rear seat. And the distinctive dip in the window line? That's so the cherubs can see out when snugly ISO-fixed into the rear seat.

Back in the 1970s I used to sit, unbelted and un-entertained, in the echoing rear space of an Austin 1800. And in the summer, you could hardly stand the searing heat from the vinyl upholstery on your exposed legs. But you can see where the carmakers are coming from.

I know one exceptionally successful character who went into a Nissan dealership to look at an X-Trail for his wife. His daughter took one look at it and said 'Daddy, that¹s disgusting. He ended up stumping up another £10K for a Murano.

Read all about the new Meriva by clicking here.

New Fiesta is looking good for showroom success

Steve Cropley — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 09:04:15 GMT

According to Ford’s big bosses, nearly as many people inside the company voted to drop the Fiesta name from the new supermini as wanted to keep it. In the end, the decision to stick with the Fiesta name — and apply it to all versions around the world — was taken because it was simply too valuable to chuck away. Research throughout the car’s 32-year life has consistently established that it has happy, positive associations. And it has appeared on some 12 million car since 1976, which is no mean achievement either.

In the flesh, the car more than justifies its slightly prosaic name. Ford has literally built the highly rated Verve concept car it first showed at Frankfurt last year. The new three-door pictured (we’ll see the five-door in Geneva in a couple of weeks) is very close indeed to the concept, except that it now has doors with window-frames, plus a centre pillar for its body — and none the worse for that. Ford design boss Martin Smith (who was at Opel-Vauxhall during while the well-liked Corsa was created) says he has seen production cars disappoint at launch after their earlier concept studies were well received, and wanted to avoid such a thing with Fiesta.

Ford’s new supermini is almost the same in road area as the car it will replace late this year, though it is 2-3cm taller. It will offer a weight saving over its predecessor believed to be 20-40kg. The gain isn’t as spectacular as the 90-100kg saving claimed by Mazda with the similarly engineered Mazda 2 (a car whose interior lacks the feeling of completeness and materials quality of the Ford) mainly because the outgoing Mazda 2 was a heavy car, practically a small MPV. Ford has high hopes for Fiesta sales on grounds of its good looks alone, and at first sight they’re well and truly justified.

Technorati tags: Ford Fiesta, concept cars, Ford Verve, Cropley

Beauty is in the era of the beholder

Vicky Parrott — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 18:55:16 GMT

Are classic cars more beautiful than modern cars, or is it nostalgia that makes it seem that way?

Perhaps I should clarify myself at this point; I think there are plenty of cars being produced today that are great to look at. I would happily sit and stare at an Alfa Romeo 8C all day long whilst writing romantic poetry about lonely clouds and semi-monocoque chassis'. Or whenever I get to take our Audi A5 long-termer home I spend most of the evening walking past a front window so I can look at it. Yes, this means I should get out more, but that's a whole other blog.

We will soon be hosting 'Autocar's most beautiful car' survey online, which includes cars from all eras and which has me completely flummoxed because every car I want to win was built before I was born.

The Lamborghini Miura is just as much art as Michealangelo's David, and anyone who says otherwise has no soul. The E-Type is still influencing design today, as is the AC Cobra, and if the Merc 300SL Gullwing isn't then it should be.

I cannot look at these cars without thinking that something has been lost from modern car design.

It can't be nostalgia, because I wasn't around to experience the cars when they came out. Of course, I can still get all misty eyed about the good old days when men were men, women were women, and cars came with wicker picnic baskets as standard, but I'm an eighties child so in truth I have no idea what I missed.

Of course, way back when there was no legislation and car design was a blue sky industry free from most of the legislation we have today. Modern car design is bound by all manner of restraints, from production budgets and engineering to Euro NCAP, and that's no bad thing.

So is this all a result of rose-tinted glasses, or have we already experienced the most beautiful cars we'll ever see and that's that?

My highlight of 2008: return of the Scirocco

John McIlroy — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 08:00:22 GMT

Here's what I’m looking forward to in 2008 – VWs with style.

I could say I’m looking forward to a Civic Type R with suspension, or Fernando Alonso’s third F1 title – but frankly, I don’t think either is very likely in 2008. So I’ll settle for a Volkswagen with style.

It should come in the shape of the new Scirocco, which should turn up at one of 2008’s top motor shows with styling that bears more than a passing resemblance to the Iroc, first seen at Paris in 2006.

For too long VWs have been worthy on the road (particularly the Golf GTi, of course) but, well, a little on the dull side visually. I’ve fond memories of the Scirocco from my childhood, and even the stocky Corrado wasn’t a bad looker. So I’ve been frustrated at the lack of flair.

If Wolfsburg can finally match something that drives as well as a Golf GTi with something that actually looks sporty – and price it reasonably – then it could kick-start the small sports-coupé market all over again. And with entertaining dynamics at its core – isn’t that something worth waiting for?

Technorati tags: Volkswagen Scirocco, IROC concept, McIlroy

A Jag that's even more gorgeous than the adverts

Hilton Holloway — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 15:39:41 GMT

I did my bit as a media commentator last night, by appearing on Radio 5 Live, which was picking up on Jaguar's announcement that the first XF rolled off the production line yesterday.

Radio 5's questions were revealing of the state that Jaguar has got itself into. The first one was "is it a good car?". I find it interesting that, in 2007, the metropolitan media think that a car-maker may actually turn out a bad, or even uncompetitive, car.

The second question was more depressing, suggesting that Jaguars are still really cars for football managers and the like. This shows just how much Jag's 1970s image has managed to stick around. I suppose the TV series Minder didn't help, and the phrase "the Jag belt" (describing an area that is both affluent but very conservative and middle brow) is still occasionally heard.

Of course it was that image problem that the "New Jag Generation" ad campaign, followed by the much-copied "Gorgeous" series, aimed to dispel.

The problem was that Jaguar's advertising was well ahead of its products. Just what was appealing to younger drivers about the X-type, S-type or XJ?

It's been a long, hard struggle for design boss Ian Callum, but the 1960's XJ mould has finally been smashed with the XF. I spent two hours talking to Callum in Tokyo last month, and another 30 minutes while standing around a real XF at the Autocar Awards the other week, and it's clear just how much effort has been expended on pushing the styling into a new century.

One of the things that will sell this car to sceptics is the view you get following it down the motorway. The rear three-quarter angle is just outstanding, especially as it reveals the car's pronounced barrel sides. The XF is destined to stand out on wet day on the M40.

However, even before the XF rolls into the showroom, Jaguar and Land Rover will be sold, probably into foreign ownership. Newspaper reports say that the Trades Unions are backing the bid by Indian car-maker Tata, and I'd join them on that. And with The Fiat Group waiting in the wings "to offer assistance," there could finally be a large light at the end of the tunnel.

Will the next-generation Maserati Quattroporte be based on the aluminium XJ chassis? Stranger things have happened.

Technorati tags: Jaguar, Tata Motors, XF, Holloway

XF in the metal

Ed Keohane — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 10:53:00 GMT

I had a chance to see the Jaguar XF for real at our awards on Monday. I've also seen about 40 photos of it so far, and not a single one of them does it justice.

You might spend a whole day in Florence taking happy snaps of Michelangelo's David, and not get one that sums the whole thing. Well, the same is true of this car.

Best of all, when I sat in the back of it there was plenty of room. And yes, there were people in the front at the same time.

Inside Nissan's 'imagination factory'

Hilton Holloway — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 18:07:00 GMT

It’s not often that we get to see the inside of a modern design centre, but Nissan threw open the doors of its ‘Imagination Factory’ to journalists the day before the Tokyo motor show.

Nissan’s Advanced Technology Centre is located in a semi-rural area, nearly two hours drive from Tokyo, and looks like any ultra-modern building should. Inside, its airy spaces are trying to meld advanced engineering and advanced design into one synchronised stream of new ideas.

Running the length of the main building is a wide, wooden floored area, which is called the 'info-street'. Here there are exhibitions of ‘hot trends’ in product design, exhibitions of new Nissan technology, displays of ‘high-profile’ rival cars and magazines and books to peruse.

Nissan also dismantles rival cars into individual parts and puts them on display. It seemed quite happy for us to examine the guts of a Lexus GS hybrid that it had laid out (left).

Nearby is the brand new design centre which features design studios as well as large halls for full-scale clay modelling and full-size mock-ups to be built. The designers have their own well-stocked library (above), which looks like a Scandanvian primary school; it's called the ‘info-kitchen’.

Technorati tags: Nissan, design centre Tokyo, car designer, Holloway

Audi LED running lights? No thanks

Rory Lumsdon — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 14:27:00 GMT

I'm going out on a limb here at Autocar, because I think I'm pretty much the only one in the office who doesn't like Audi's new LED daytime running lights, as found on the R8, A5 and posher versions of the new A4.

I'm all for the notion of having some lights on during daylight hours (especially given the increasing number of people who seem to forget to put lights on even at night), but these things are vulgar, plain and simple.

They are the expensive equivalent of the inappropriately-used foglights beloved of Saxo VTS drivers in baseball caps.

And yes, I know that makes me sound snobbish, but seriously, what is the point of these lights? If there were also rear daytime lights then it would make a lot more sense, but there aren't.

Of course, there is a solution - deep within Audi's rather effective MMI system, there's an option to switch the lights off.