Table of contents for No. 153 in AUTO & DESIGN

Today’s great fad for folding metal roofs knows no bounds. How long will it be before we even get a 4x4 that drops its lid at the press of a button? In the meantime, even MPVs are leaning towards this trend, the success of which is proven by the sales figures. You would have thought that MPVs were, by their very nature, the least suited of all to an operation which, to all intents and purposes, is the equivalent of turning a barrel into a dragonfly. So we should really take our hats off then, to anyone who pulls such a stunt off with apparent ease and with outstanding results, as is the case (the only case at the moment, but soon other major manufacturers will also be doing the…

This year saw the last edition of the Furniture Show to be held in Milan. From next year, it will be transferred to the recently inaugurated facilities designed by Fuksas at Pero-Rho. The city will presumably continue to host Fuori Salone, which continues to grow disproportionately (with over 300 events this year) and covers a richly varied spectrum of topics, although it has now become more of an occasion for partying and interaction than for real business. The figures for the show itself were reassuring, with 2,635 exhibitors and 192,425 visitors (over half of them non-Italian). It is, however, not as simple to assess the state of health of the Italian furniture industry, which is currently showing signs of uncertainty in reaction to radical changes in the market, in economic…

If faithfulness to the name and spirit of a car that has come a very long way over the years is a virtue, then Volkswagen is undeniably the champion in this respect (as the Beetle, Passat and Golf prove). The Polo, the German marque’s second most successful model, is another shining example of this: in thirty years of existence and four generations (the first dates back to January 1975, when it took over from the Audi version of the Polo, launched in 1970), 2,700,000 examples have been made. The fourth generation, introduced in January 2001, is now handing over the torch to the fifth, which, preserves both spirit and name: this change in generation has not just altered the looks, but also the substance of the car, to slot it…

This was one of the most admired concept cars at the 2005 Detroit Motor Show, and the production version, unveiled at this year’s NAIAS received an equally enthusiastic reception. The Range Stormer has now finally hit the tarmac (and dirt track!), providing concrete proof of the technical merits of the concept and its coherence with the design language of the rest of the Land Rover range, where it will be slotted between the Range Rover and the Discovery. The marque’s styling has evolved in this car, however, as can be seen in the smoothed surfaces and the slightly less angular design of the fastback roof which, as chief designer Richard Wolley notes, “inspires motion even when it is standing still”. The interior has evolved too, but without betraying the brand’s…

The Premios Nacionales de Diseño, an event organised and promoted by the Spanish Ministry for Industry, Tourism and Commerce and by the BCD Foundation (Barcelona Design Centre) has reached its fourteenth edition. The awards assigned every year by a jury of experts for the purpose of promoting the work of Spain-based designers and design-oriented companies, enjoy considerable popularity and are of growing importance in the world of Spanish design. This year’s edition, particularly the section dedicated to “Designers”, has focused attention on Graphic Design, and the prize was awarded ex-aequo to two artists with ten years experience in matters of advertising and poster design: Juan Gatti, author since 1988 of the posters for the films of Pedro Almodóvar, Art Director of Vogue Italy in 1992, creator of the poster illustrating…

After completing the project for Fiat, Giorgetto Giugiaro decided to further develop some of the prestige car aspects of the Croma, with a special version to be unveiled at his company’s stand at Geneva. While the production car was inspired by Gianni Agnelli’s approval for a tall, roomy architecture, the Croma 8V prototype by Giugiaro is expressly dedicated to the ‘Avvocato’ himself. “I wanted to enhance the car’s flagship saloon aspects, augmenting both visual character and performance, which are two of the values defining a prestige car” explains Giugiaro, reminiscing how Agnelli used to particularly enjoy driving his own special version of the Croma (the first series, of which over 450,000 were made from 1985 to 1994). Aesthetically, the Croma 8V differs from the production model by the lack of…

There’s a particularly affectionate look in his eyes as Walter de’ Silva looks at the Léon, which has just been unveiled on the Seat stand. “This car, more than any other, proves that our design strategy has kept the promises that were made back with the Salsa – which, among all the cars I’ve designed, is probably the one that I’m fondest of”, explains the Audi Brand Group chief of design, reminiscing over the concept car presented at Geneva in 2000. At the time, de’ Silva had been head of design at Seat for little more than a year, and with the Salsa, he and his team had shown the world the new design direction that the Spanish marque was about to take. The Léon is practically a production version…

The 1958 project brief prepared by Harley Earl, then vice president of General Motors Styling Staff, to the design team he assembled for the Firebird III project was not conducive to a search for fine design. It was a vehicle to mark the end of Harley Earl’s mercurial career and symbolise his view of a future full of technological innovation and excitement. Earl said to his team he wanted a vehicle that you would imagine the astronauts to use to take them to the launch pad of their moon rocket. Furthermore, he said, “If you went to a Las Vegas stage show, you would not expect to see your wife on stage. You would expect to see a real floozy.” In other words this vehicle had to be about show…

Now in its seventh year after its successful revival, the Villa d’Este Concours d’Elégance can proudly proclaim its status as the most prestigious and best-known event in Europe. While in past years, the event was already an important affair, it had to share breathing space with the classic Parisian Bagatelle concours. Whether the event inaugurated by Louis Vuitton has been simply suspended or has disappeared for ever, Villa d’Este is now the only setting in Europe capable of competing with Pebble Beach in terms of classic merit, authenticity and the number of models that have shaped the history of the motor car, in an atmosphere of composed elegance conspicuous by its absence at its American counterpart. Year by year, after the rocky post war period when it almost failed to…

Asquare with rounded-off corners. This is a recurring theme in Nissan cars, decreed by design director Shiro Nakamura to clearly state their ties with Japanese aesthetics. It came as no surprise then, that Nissan chose the Tokyo Design Now (TDN) show, held in Milan together with other prestigious Japanese brands from April 13 to 17 this year at the Minguzzi Museum, as the venue to display the Cube, a twobox shape with a typically Japanese concept, architecture and surface treatment. Destined for the domestic market only, the Cube is a cornerless box that has received outstanding public acclaim in Japan, and with the younger market in particular. “It expresses their lifestyle perfectly and is an extension of their domestic space”, explained Nakamura at the show. Nakamura’s visit to Milan coincided…

Larger, more saloon-like but still bearing a deeply rooted sporting spirit, the Alfa 159 unveiled at Geneva in March will soon replace the 156, one of the most successful models in all of Alfa Romeo’s history. The exterior design was the work of Giorgetto Giugiaro, who created the Brera concept car in 2002. Before the decision to turn the Brera into a production coupé was made, the top brass at Arese had asked Giugiaro to transfer the prototype’s styling cues onto a mid-segment car that the Alfa Romeo Style Centre was developing at the time. The 159 therefore shares the aggressive face of the Brera (both the concept car and the imminent production coupé), defined by the prominent Alfa shield and the sheet metal of the bonnet, which extends in…

In spite of criticism that they are cumbersome, that they pollute, that they are completely unsuitable for city driving and that they are often used inappropriately – indeed, you’re more likely to see one on a motorway than on a dirt track – offroaders, and SUVs in particular are, notwithstanding the current crisis in the car industry, curiously selling remarkably well. The Korean brand Ssangyong has been around for years, but is only attracting public attention now with its Rexton, the product of a joint-venture with Italdesign. This is a large yet reasonably compact SUV, with an original shape characterised by an almost truncated rear and tail, generous glazing and a spacious, elegant cabin. The mechanicals are almost completely derived from Mercedes, with a 165 bhp, 2.7 litre turbodiesel driving…

Five thousand square metres of stand space with a prevailing theme of elliptical shapes and light maple wood, to showcase the entire Iveco range of transport vehicles, in the heart of the Hanover exhibition centre. Carma Design, the Turin-based architecture studio with strong links with the car industry, designed the stand for the Italian manufacturer, and coordinated its installation at the latest edition of the commercial vehicle show, held in Hanover, Germany at the end of 2004. This is Carma’s second project for Iveco. The first, in 1996, created the modular Iveco Exhibition system. Iveco and Carma worked closely together right from the start of this project to define a clear brief, to accentuate, in addition to the company’s capacity for commercial innovation, Iveco’s pioneering role in road transport that…

Describing Bentley’s design language in only a few words is not easy with such a long sports heritage. But Dirk van Braeckel, director of design at Bentley Motors since 1999, understands the values of Bentley which are all about the slogan from the Thirties: the silent sportscar. Looking at the latest Continental GT and Flying Spur this slogan still seems to speak for itself. It is the understated presence of the cars, combined with British elegance. “Effortless speed and performance were typical for Bentley. So I wanted the sculptural form language to focus on the wheels,” Van Braeckel tries to explain. “If you see how this Bentley sits on the road, it seems to say: I know I can do it!” But six years ago, achieving this goal was not…

For over a quarter of a century, Auto & Design has given its readers news and insight into the world of automotive design, its personalities, its creations, its products and its industrial and cultural intrigues. With the inauguration of this new editorial, we hope to open up a new, more intimate perspective into the world of automotive design, beginning with a look at one of the most important figures in the history of car design. We’re starting off this new series with Flaminio Bertoni, also because this year marks the fiftieth anniversary of his masterpiece: the Citroën DS 19. Flaminio Lorenzo Isidoro Bertoni, the son of Carlo Bertoni and Angela Mazzola, was born on January 10, 1903 at Masnago, a town that is now part of Varese. He was drawn…

India is a land of mystery by definition. While the country is characterised by an all-pervading aura of wonder, in some cases it is closer to the truth to talk of a more self-effacing culture, which plays down the true potential of its industries. A typical example of this is Tata Motors, a member of India’s great Tata Group industrial corporation: today, the scope of the group, which was founded in 1860, includes engineering, materials, energy, chemicals, consumer products and information and communications services and systems. Tata Motors (founded in 1954), is the group’s largest component. It has three production plants and a research centre employing over 1800 technicians, it was responsible for India’s first entirely home-grown car, (the Indica), it sells products all over the world and is now…

Admirers of the rounded rear screen of the second generation Renault Clio, which will continue to be sold until 2006, will have to make do without it soon. The new version of the Regie’s B segment car, unveiled in Europe in mid-June and scheduled to hit the dealerships in the autumn, makes a definite break with the organically rounded lines of the outgoing model. While it is true that the third generation of Renault’s highly successful model needed a new look and had to be brought nearer to the rest of the range, in a policy to emphasise the brand’s identity as much as the model’s, another reason behind this design is a significant increase in size. Measuring 17 cm longer than the previous version, the new Clio is almost…

Innovation, Responsibility, Sustainability and Mobility. These are the four keywords for the course in Transportation Design at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. The Chair of the college was taken over by Stewart Reed this February, replacing Ken Okuyama, who went to direct Pininfarina’s creative division in May 2004. A former student of the school himself – having graduated from the ACCD in 1969 – Reed has worked for many companies, including Chrysler and Toyota, and founded his studio Stewart Reed Design in 1994. One of his more recent creations was the Cunningham C-7 prestige sports car unveiled at Detroit during NAIAS 2001. Reed’s right hand man in his new role is Geoff Wardle, Associate Chair of the Transportation Design department. The British born graduate of the Royal…

When design sets its mind to creating tools for our free time, it opens up limitless opportunities and gives designers free rein to express their inventiveness and personal perspectives. Additionally, the closer younger designers are to the start of their careers, the more likely they are to venture into the realms of unbridled imagination. Above all, rather than bothering about the everyday needs of the user – which have been amply discussed and consistently catered for by professional industrial designers – they prefer a more fun approach, with objects that are transformable and multifunctional. This was the strong common theme running through all the endof-course thesis projects by the students of the Fh-Joanneum design school in Graz, Austria. The ten students, with the support of thesis project supervisors Gerhard Heufler,…