Table of contents for No. 163 in AUTO & DESIGN

The FR500C, the fifth generation of Ford’s legendary Mustang presented in 2005, is a relatively new and very successful model. It is a halo model for the marque and its very name epitomises the essence of the beloved US muscle car. There was certainly no need to redesign it then – not unless it is done as a deliberate challenge to stir interest in today’s design-aware market. This is precisely what led the Turin based Italdesign Giugiaro to reinterpret this American icon, in a project which made its European debut at the 2007 Geneva motor show. Style director Fabrizio Giugiaro explains: “90 percent of our work is for the international market, so it is only natural that our research is geared to attract foreign brands, as indeed has often been…

In global automotive design, one name stands out for the innovation and variety of its proposals and even for a certain degree of courage. That name is Mazda which, under the guidance of Laurens van den Acker – who took over from Moray Callum just less than a year ago – is turning out a rapid succession of extraordinary concepts to write a new design language founded on the idea of flows changing as they interact with nature. In keeping with the pioneering philosophy embodied by the Japanese marque’s ‘Zoom Zoom’ slogan, which last year had already produced three highly innovative concept cars (the Sassou, Senku and Kabura), elements of which are already filtering down into the brand’s production range, Van den Acker began his tenure by stepping up the…

With the Hakaze, the third instalment in Mazda’s new design language and awaiting the next gem that Atsushiro Yamada plans to unveil at the Tokyo motor show, the “Nagare philosophy” reaches maturity. Conceived at the brand’s European design centre in Frankfurt, you could call this an extreme crossover. It is a sports car, essentially a coupé but also a cabrio, it is an all wheel drive off-roader and it is also a road-dominating SUV. While for the time being it is just a concept, it is perhaps, of all the results of Mazda’s formal research inspired by nature and its flows, the nearest to the brand’s production reality. The concept car readied for the Geneva motor show, which we were lucky to see and even drive earlier at Barcelona, uses…

Some said that this year’s North American International Auto Show was a bit meagre in terms of artistic creativity. It may be true but for some exceptions, and Ford’s Airstream was certainly one of the convincing contenders. Even if its source of inspiration was retrospective, the execution and technical concept focused on the future. Or, as Ford‘s director of north American strategic design, Freeman Thomas, put it: “The minivan has gone, now the recreational crossover arrives. And that allows us to create inspirational transportation, a field in which pragmatism is important.” One year ago, at the 2006 NAIAS, Ford’s chief design and creative officer, J Mays, met with Bob Wheeler, CEO and president of Airstream Inc, makers of the traditional aluminium Airstream caravan trailer since 1931. Ford had been considering…

Over the past few years in particular, Italian design companies have strengthened their international leadership by increasingly employing the services of designers from all over the world. While this is only natural in what has now become a global industry, in some cases this penchant for foreign tastes (often attributable to misunderstood communication needs) has meant that the work of a new generation of Italian designers is being overlooked, in spite of the fact that they have recently made a well deserved return to the public eye. An exhibition dedicated to these designers has been organised at the Triennale to conclude a lengthy study conducted over the past few years by academics (such as Stefano Maffei, Virginio Briatore and Beppe Finessi) and cultural and publishing concerns (such as Opos, aedo-to…

Portugal’s spectacular Algarve region provided the backdrop for the presentation of the second generation Skoda Fabia to the international press. The new car is 47 mm taller (now 1498 mm) and 22 mm longer (3992 mm) than its predecessor, with a roomier cabin offering decent on board comfort. The face is defined by the strong, decisive traits already seen on the Roomster. The radiator grille is no longer a framed element and is now completely flush with the bodywork. The badge is both the focal point and the origin of the bonnet, with softened forms that continue throughout the entire car. The triple axis projector headlamps add a sophisticated touch to the well resolved front. The entire glasshouse echoes the cockpit theme introduced with the Roomster and offers significantly improved…

Two architecture degree thesis projects developed in conjunction with Fiat for two compact cars both destined primarily for the urban environment but with two distinctly different objectives. The first focuses on civic safety and facilitating the job of local police, while the second offers a possible solution to mobility problems. Patricia, a police vehicle designed specifically for use in the centres of small and large cities by Giuseppe Lacanna, was conceived with the Carabinieri in mind. The Alfa Romeo brand was chosen as it is traditionally associated with this corps. The car is agile and very compact and the exterior attractive and purposeful while the interior design, which was severely constrained by the functional requisites of a law enforcement vehicle, includes all the fittings and housings necessary for the audio…

A great trident set in the centre of an oval grille, a lean, sinuous body with boldly flared arches and tail view that is all new yet still consistent with the image of the brand. At first sight, there are many aspects of the new Maserati Granturismo that stand out and invite the observer to come closer and walk around the car to capture every detail of the perfectly balanced fusion of the innovative and the traditional with which Pininfarina has defined the style and character of this exclusive coupé. “The inspiration for the design came from the Birdcage prototype presented two years ago at Geneva to celebrate our 75th anniversary”, explains Andrea Pininfarina who, in addition to his existing roles as chairman and CEO of the company, also took…

Walter de’ Silva, admiring the Audi R10 TDI, which last year became the first diesel engined car ever to win Le Mans, admits freely that he played only a minor part in its creation. “We only did the colours”, he says, “this is basically a closed wheel Formula 1, and the design is dictated by engineering and technology. We at the design centre were asked simply to suggest the colour scheme and positioning of the sponsors’ stickers.” Wolfgang Ullrich, director of Audi Sport – which is already busy with the new car that this year will attempt to repeat last year’s victory at the famous French ‘24 Heures’ – concurs: “95 percent of the exterior shape is dictated by regulations and the wind tunnel.” According to Gérard Welter, director of…

There are objects that enjoy a second lease of life or which keep on going well beyond their expected lifespans. These act as a bridge between the past and the future and serve, to put it very simply, as a reminder of the importance of past design masters for the contemporary world. The companies Vitra and Cassina are two prime examples of just such a long distance dialogue, with catalogues proposing the creations of two exponents of the Modern Movement from the 1930s. While the two companies may have come to this decision for different reasons, in both instances it gives us an opportunity to reread the history of two great industrial designers. Jean Prouvé and Charlotte Perriand were both French and both active during the same period. The former…

It has taken seventeen years of evolution to come from a luxury saloon of exemplary quality, but uninspired design, to a car that finally matches state of the art technology with more distinctive looks. In short, this is the story of the new Lexus LS460, the progeny of the ‘L-Finesse’ philosophy defined by Toyota for its luxury division, which has already shaped the IS and GS, two models that have received much critical acclaim for their design. So similar cues appear on the fourth generation flagship, albeit suitably reinterpreted for a much larger yet svelte looking body measuring 5.03 metres in length, (with a wheelbase of 2.97 metres, 45 mm longer than the previous LS), 1.875 metres in width and 1.465 metres tall. A crease originates at the elongated headlamps,…

“While conceptual research is a priority in the development of a light commercial vehicle, aesthetics and form are also key factors, especially in terms of competing for market space with rivals. Quality, technology, comfort and style must be skilfully combined in order to create a successful product.” This was the comment by Professor Bernd Gottschalk, president of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), during the prize giving ceremony for the projects by the eight winning students of the VDA Design Award at the recent 61st IAA Commercial Vehicle Show. This competition, sponsored by VDA (Verband der Automobilindustrie) and organised at Frankfurt am Main by the German Design Council (Rat für Formgebung), gives students of schools dealing with all branches of design (industrial, product, visual and interior design, as…

This year’s seventh edition of the Michelin Design Challenge focused on road safety, dealing with both the safety of the actual occupants of the vehicle and safety in the dynamics of interaction with other vehicles and pedestrians. As always, the competition, intended to stimulate creativity and innovation in vehicle design, was open to participants all over the world, and this edition drew 260 proposals from 51 nations. A panel of experts, consisting of Stuart Reed, Greg Brew, Patrick Le Quément, Ruben Perfetti, Frank Saucedo, Anthony C. Stein, Freeman Thomas and Geoff Wardle, selected 34 projects for the final exhibition at NAIAS in Detroit this January, divided into the categories full scale models, reduced scale models and drawings. Giunto alla settima edizione, il Michelin Design Challenge era incentrato quest’anno sul tema…

In keeping with tradition, the 77th edition of the Geneva Motor Show will inaugurate the European season, the halls of the Palexpò centre setting the stage for research into style and technology, the strategic unveiling of new production models and the presentation of prototypes and models giving a glimpse of the future of the car. Design and technology in particular were aspects explored once again by Italian coachbuilders, who are no strangers to the limelight at the Swiss show. Their creations include studies in Italian style, such as Pininfarina’s Maserati Granturismo (see Design story, page 27), research into new dynamic products, such as the Fiat Panda based Barchetta by Bertone (page 33) and experiments with new architectures, such as the proposal by Leonardo Fioravanti, the Thalìa, or the extreme Vadho’…

Take an outrageously powerful engine, a low slung body, state of the art technology and a cabin packed with every possible luxury and convenience. With these elements – and the consequent colossal investments necessary – it’s relatively easy to create a successful sports car. It’s much more difficult, on the other hand, to take an everyday car – better still, an economy car – and turn it into something else, something that not only astounds for its content and shape but also because, under the skin, it is ‘just’ a Panda. Nuccio Bertone always believed in surprising with apparently simple – yet extremely imaginative – ideas. It was in deference to this philosophy, in an age when meaningless style and blasé technology often mask a lack of creativity, that led…

The Ryuga concept, presented by Mazda at Detroit this January, is a logical sequel to the Nagare. “Its twin brother” remarks Mazda design director Laurens van den Acker, but then goes on to say: “This time, however, it was not lava but karesansui – the Japanese raked gardens – which provided the inspiration for our frozen image of nature.” The Ryuga actually started life together with the Nagare at the Californian design centre in Irvine, from a sketch by Carlos Salaff which was then realised as a 2:5 scale model. It was only in June 2006 that further development began in Japan, under the guidance of Yasushi Nakamuta (creator of the latest version of the MX-5) in collaboration with Salaff himself and Yasutake Tsuchida. “The Ryuga concept”, remarks Van den…

The Chevrolet ‘Volt’ is a further example of the design vitality at GM. This is especially pleasing for me since many on the ‘Volt’ design team are alumni of the College for Creative Studies, Detroit. The diversity of the ‘Volt’ team is impressive and demonstrates an important explanation for the creative vitality of the United States. At the top is Ed Welburn, the first African American Executive Vice President of Design. Reporting to Welburn is Anne Asensio, Executive Director of GM Advanced Design. Ann is French; she made her mark in the US during a year’s postgraduate work at CCS. Bob Boniface, Director of Advanced Design, is an American with a passion for his Italian roots (his CCS thesis was a road-ready Ferrari in the spirit of a Group C…

The nickname “Baby Range Rover” is now more justified than ever: the revised Freelander replaces an outgoing model that sold 600,000 units, and now inherits not just the successful exterior styling cues and interior versatility of the marque’s flagship, but also its ability to reconcile category-leading on-road performance with unflappable off-road ability. And I mean proper off-roading, on the sort of terrain where you would normally never dream of taking an SUV – which, officially at least, is what the Freelander is. In reality, however, this car is much more than that. As we saw for ourselves during our test drive in the Dolomites, the Freelander takes long motorway journeys in its stride with the driveability, performance and comfort of a luxury saloon, yet is perfectly capable of tackling rough…

The scene is a dinner in Japan with a designer and the members of the local Lancia Thema Club, a group of automobile enthusiasts with a great passion for the Turin marque. The date is October 2005 and it was around this very table that the idea was conceived to celebrate the centenary of Lancia, in 2006, with the creation of a concept car. The designer is Turin-born Enrico Fumia, who was celebrating a number of important anniversaries of his own in 2006: such as forty years since he won the “Grifo d’Oro Bertone” Juniores award, twenty five years since the presentation of his first show car, the Audi Quartz, and ten years since he won the “Car Design Award - Turin Piedmont”. To cap it all, the Ferrari F90…

Eight multifunctional proposals reflecting the characteristics of modern society and embodying pluralism and complexity yet also simplicity and versatility, that are not just attractive but also, and most importantly, respond to the differing necessities of users through simple usability. These concepts were developed by the students in the eighth semester of the Industrial Design course at FH-Joanneum as part of their thesis projects, under the guidance of the teachers and lecturers Gerhard Heufler, Kurt Hilgart, Lutz Kucher, Bernd Stelzer, Andreas Wolfsgruber (design), Georg Wagener (engineering), Werner Kleissner and Walter Lach (model building). Industrial design is one of the broadest and most varied of all subjects as it embraces very different sectors. This very interdisciplinary nature offers opportunities for the exploration of infinite design solutions and the study of their relative…

“History and design from 1886 to the present day” reads the subheading of this book, which documents the history of the motor vehicle, from its origins to all of its subsequent ramifications, providing a panorama of the subject in an enjoyable and easy to read style. Vehicles such as the Daimler Reitrad, the world’s first motorcycle, patented in 1885, and the Peugeot Vis à vis from 1892 occupy the first pages of the book and introduce the reader to its most distinctive characteristic. The authors have left ample space for images which, emphasised by the graphic layout of the book, page by page describe the history of the automobiles, motorcycles, buses and trucks that have plied the world’s roads over the past 120 years. Space is also given to projects…