What a great video from 1964; made by Ford explaining some of their recent concepts and ideas; including the pretty futuristic and influential (at the time) Ford Cougar II.
Tag Archives: styling
ad of the day. “styling so hairy….”
I think my Detroit roots are catching up with me these days—-as i’ve been thinking more and more about cars like the AMC Javelin. I’ve always found the design of the Javelin to be….well…..challenging. While there’s no denying that the Mark Donahue Trans-Am Javelins looked incredible….the street version has always been challenging! All in all though, i think it’s a tremendously unique design. Very appropriate for its era. Look at those wheel arch bulges!
You have to love a car whose ad calls its styling “hairy”!
src: hugo90
Maserati Granturismo: a grower.
when the Maserati Granturismo came out a couple of years ago—-i thought it was too big, too soft, and pretty much overshadowed by its Alfa brother–the 8c.
Fast forward a few years—-and the other day i was bumbling along on the freeway on my way home from work and a Granturismo went absolutely pounding past me with exhausts screaming in full force. A) i was impressed, B) i realised just how good it looked in speed and being driven with enthusiasm. I think the Granturismo is a pretty classically designed coupe; which will likely age quite nicely.
The Granturismo S is the latest variation of this car….and i absolutely love it with the black wheels and the spec’d out interior. Those blue gauges REALLY do it for me on the gauge cluster! wow.
src: newspress
How Kia gets it right, and Hyundai gets it wrong.
I’ve been driving A LOT these days for my new job—which means I get several hours a day on the road watching cars go by, getting stuck in traffic jams, and finding time to dissect automotive design and styling trends. It’s a great way to pass the time in a traffic jams! I find myself comparing competing brands side by side as they are stuck in traffic.
What has struck me lately is how 2 brands which are owned by the same parent company have such different philosophies and ideas about how to infiltrate the modern markets of the world. Kia has hired Peter Schreyer for their design team, which is a huge accomplishment. Hyundai has Phil Zak, who used to be at GM.
Hyundais are overstyled, overdone, and just frankly ugly from most angles. I’m not quite sure how Hyundai has captured more market gains in the US market—-considering they are (in general) more expensive, uglier, and have worse interiors than Kias do. “Hyundai” is also one of the worst names in the auto business, sort of reminding me of how in electronics there is a company called Sanyo which sort of vaguely sounds like Sony. Hyundai to Honda. “Kia” on the other hand, doesn’t evoke such weird connections, however through years of budget brand image—has its own share of problems.
But either way, both brands are winning new customers by the day in the US market. What is shocking to me is how if you didn’t tell me prices, market share, etc….and just showed me the pictures—–i would 1000% think that Kia is the brand that is succeeding much more. Such is not the case, however.
IEDEI TIP: don’t buy a Hyundai. they hurt my eyes when i’m stuck in traffic.
Comparisons of designs which are on the same Hyundai/Kia platform:
Kia Forte Koup:
Hyundai Veloster:
Kia Forte Sedan:
Kia Optima:
Hyundai Sonata:
Kia Optima interior:
Hyundai Sonata interior:
intro: 2012 VW Beetle.
I TOLD YOU all the blogs were wrong about the styling of the 2012 Beetle….funny how people argued that was how it was going to look….
It looks much better than I ever expected. I have never liked the Beetle—-never liked the original, never liked the ‘new’ Beetle of the late 90s. But they seem to have really thought this out well and have properly modernized an icon. I am sure it is going to sell like a free diamond.
more pics and info here:
http://www.vwvortex.com/artman/publish/article_2913.shtml
Panamera.
EDIT: THIS IS NOT AN APRIL FOOL’S JOKE!
Yes I will take the bold step—-against all the opinions which say it is ‘ugly’ i will come out and say that I think the styling of the Porsche Panamera has grown on me significantly, to the point where I really am digging the looks of it now. When i first saw it in test mule form, I was deeply disturbed. When the production version was introduced last year—-i thought Porsche missed the boat a bit, however after seeing it in person I thought it was an ‘interesting’ design albeit not entirely convincing. After some time and many more instances of exposure, I’ve had an epiphany; I think this is one of the most unique, compelling, and bold car designs in recent years. I think Porsche really made a bold step in designing it, and I can honestly say I love the way the Panamera looks in real life. I think pictures don’t do the car justice—-it has much more presence than pretty much ANY 4-door sedan on the road today. The interior, additionally—is one of the nicest interiors I have ever sat in.
Here is a wonderful Sportec-tuned SP560 Panamera. I think it is all types of hotness—-yes I know some of you will laugh at me—but i’m glad many deride it, so the resale value will fall dramatically! plan in effect….
the stranger next generation Porsche 911
I saw some photos of the ‘next’ 911 on Car Magazine‘s site earlier….and can’t help but find the new outline a little awkward. That front end looks very upright, and the whole car looks quite a bit longer than the outgoing 997. Whether this is simply an illusion doe to the way the photo was taken, or whether it’s real i’m not sure. But i am sure that i’m not too sure that i like it! We’ll have to wait til the camo comes off for the full view judgement.
The best looking production BMW today is…
yeah it’s the 1-series. I know plenty of people are going to disagree with me…..and i know that plenty of people hate the way the 1-series looks; however i have always loved the styling of it. It’s the only modern BMW that has an interesting design, aside from the strange 6-series which started to grow on me towards the end of its current life cycle.
There’s plenty of retro going on in the 1-series styling, some cues of the E30, some cues of older BMWs from the 70s liked the fabled 2002, even some NSU TT in there. One of my favourite Coupe designs since the MK1 TT, for sure.
I will have a 1-series one day! The question is when?
3 reasons why IEDEI does NOT like the VW Scirocco.
I’ve grown quite tired of people gushing over the “good looking” VW Scirocco. I’ve seen several in person and I find it to be quite an ugly little machine. A couple reasons why the Scirocco makes no sense to me:
1. It is a low budget, uglier, misproportioned, and german copy of the Alfa Romeo Brera. Sure the Brera may suck to drive, but who cares!!! It is drop dead gorgeous.
2. The MK2 Audi TT is a better car; better interior, better proportions, and much more interesting to look at. Of course I concede that the MK2 TT is a much uglier and nastier affair than the original MK1 TT which will go down as one of the 20th centuries landmark automotive designs; but the MK2 is close enough to the MK1 that it can carry at least a little bit of that over in legacy. The argument that the TT is a “squashed Beetle” is countered by the fact that the Scirocco is a “squashed Golf”.
3. The “new” Scirocco carries almost NONE of the passion the beautiful ORIGINAL Scirocco carried. The original had very unique proportions in its time, different to the other notchbacks of the time (Audi Quattro, Alfa GTV, etc). It was small and cool. The new Scirocco is bulkier than a Golf, worse proportioned than a Golf (i much prefer the looks of the MK6 Golf to the Scirocco), and doesn’t really perform any different than a Golf.
Mercedes-Benz and AMG launch SLS Configurator…
It’s not exactly a sophisticated configurator, it seems more likely to be for something playful like a Mini or something—however, it does show which colours will be offered on the SLS AMG Gullwing.
Check it out!
IEDEI 