Table of contents for No. 192 in AUTO & DESIGN

Japan’s motor industry no longer rules the world. In fact, one could even say that the world itself — the natural world — now rules Japan. Natural disasters — earthquakes and tidal waves in Japan and devastating floods in Thailand — have damaged Japan and its industries, but have not brought the industry to its knees; the Japanese are far too resilient for that to happen, but they are suffering. And those multiple physical problems and the inexorable rise of Korean and Chinese manufacturers have had the effect of shaking the self-confidence of the automotive men who not long ago were masters of all they surveyed. Two years ago the motor show in Tokyo was a shocking embarrassment for Japan: vast empty spaces, and apart from Lotus and Harley-Davidson, Lilliputian…

They say that the Panda was created by Giorgetto Giugiaro during a sleepless night in the autumn of 1976. Fiat had to replace the 126 and Carlo De Benedetti, in the few months in which he headed the company, had called in Italdesign as external consultants. In one sense the specification was highly restrictive (the new car was not to weigh more than the 126, whose 2-cylinder engine it was to inherit, and it was to be no more expensive) but otherwise it allowed Giugiaro free rein for his creative flair: he could do whatever he liked providing he came up with a car that was as roomy and multifunctional as possible while raising the bar in quality terms compared to the 126. More than a styling exercise, Giugiaro was…

“We have opted for the middle way between evolution and revolution: a bold evolution”. This is how Gerry McGovern, head of Land Rover design but with a strategic development role, following the incorporation of the English manufacturer into the Ratan Tata stable, explains the DC 100 and the DC 100 Sport, the two concepts that presage the new Defender of 2015, presented first in Frankfurt and then, with a few modifications, in Los Angeles. Of the two, it is the DC 100 that most resembles today’s Defender in terms of basic concept and versatility. By contrast, the DC 100 Sport is an open vehicle, a kind of sophisticated dune buggy aimed at winning over adventure freaks. Both vehicles aim to explore the potential future direction of the iconic Defender. McGovern…

Could this be a mere opportunistic marketing ploy? Lancia design director Alberto Dilillo answers with an emphatic “No”. “It is the first brick in the fusion of two important brands.” What is certain, however, is that from an industrial and commercial perspective, transforming the Chrysler 300 into the Lancia Thema was a very sound move. Lancia did not have – or, rather, no longer had – a large luxury sedan, but it now found itself with one that simply needed dressing with a little Italian flair. The new car sits unequivocally in the E segment in Europe (the original Thema and the Kappa were both D segment models, and while the Thesis aimed for E segment, it did not entirely hit the mark), and targets the profitable company fleet market.…

The offerings of the motorcycle world for 2012 as they emerge from the EICMA, the traditional Milan motorcycle show, indicate that the sector is refinding its lost personality – or at least looking for new character with more diligence. We all know that the motorcycle embodies passion for mechanical ingenuity and the appeal of adventure. And often, it has also stood for a deliciously crazy, exciting and exhilarating irrationality. But for this to be true, a motorcycle – or, rather, all motorcycles – must express a unique personality that is as coherent as possible with the essence of the respective brand. This is exactly what had happened in the sector for many years: the brand of any given model could be recognised at first glance, or even with your eyes…

Four years of work, a major automotive group, a world class master’s degree and a great deal of satisfaction. This, in a nutshell, describes the four year collaboration between Politecnico di Milano and the Fiat Group in a Master’s course in Transportation & Automobile Design. The initiative was inaugurated with the project titled ‘Spiders for 2012’ for the 2008/2009 course, which was followed with the project ‘GTs for 2020’ for the Maserati brand in 2010/2011. This is a dynamic, well structured course for students all over the world which, in addition to providing the essential foundations for a design career – namely the history of car design, clay modelling (with sessions in a model laboratory with its own oven), studies in ergonomics, vehicle architecture, materials and manufacturing technologies, and virtual…

The Los Angeles Design Challenge is always much-awaited by the public as well as by the advanced designers involved, free for once in a while to give rein to their creativity without being shackled by industrial constraints. The main theme of the past edition was lightness, with all its implications in matters of energy saving and pollution. This year the direction was changed radically to address a much less demanding but decidedly more attractive theme: the relationship between car and cinema. This link, which is bound inescapably to a long line of successful films, led our designers to work on vehicles with special effects, out-of-the-way forms, sparkling liveries and revisited architectures designed for some film of the future. With these premises there was certainly no lack of ingredients to astonish.…

“The up! is a genuine Volkswagen” said VW Group design chief Walter de Silva during the press presentation of the new A-segment model in Rome, where journalists were allowed to test drive the car. Its measure-ments of 3540 mm in length, 1641 in width and 1487 in height are typical for the segment, while in the interior, the traditional concepts of the brand have been blended with personal touches and an impressive attention to detail. “My goal – explains de Silva – has always been to create simple and easily understand-able cars; in the case of the up!, we also wanted to convey a bold new message of friendliness and elegance”. On the road, the car has remarkable visual impact. This is a car that breaks away from the traditions…

While more grown up, evolved and contemporary, and larger with more generous features, it is still unmistakeably Panda. Both the original generation launched in 1980 and its successor from 2003 exuded such a powerful personality that they refused to be pigeonholed simply as ‘A-segment cars’. “It’s a model in a class of its own”, says Roberto Giolito, Fiat design director and the manager of the team in charge of Project 139 – the codename for the Panda III. “It has always been a car for everyone – not just in terms of percentiles, but also in its attitude. The brief effectively created itself, as it was a product of the very mission of the car as the ‘perfect tool’ that goes beyond the city car concept to cater for the…

“It’s as much of an icon as the Vespa was in its time. We were looking to avoid automotive clichés so as to make a different, modern product. The truth is that when you design something like this, you seek your inspiration from objects like the iPod rather than from a traditional car”. This is how Thomas Ingenlath, head of Volkswagen’s advanced design centre at Potsdam at the time of the project, presented the Nils concept at Frankfurt: an electric city single-seater that brings together the dream of zero emissions, basic practicality for commuter use, and the taste for a sporty drive. We should say immediately that at Wolfsburg no one is thinking of producing this in the near future; but, as Walter de Silva, design chief for the whole…

An almost horizontal visual line joining the front and rear, essential superstructures and a succession of sharp edges and empty spaces, all of which showcase the 900 cc engine and frame in a genuinely fascinating combination of purposeful aggression and lightness. This is the Nuda, the bike taking the originally Swedish brand Husqvarna – a part of the BMW Group since 2007 – into the street bike sector after years of motorsports and sales successes in the off-road and supermoto genres. In reality, this is more of a return to the brand’s origins than a debut: as Husqvarna built road bikes from its inception in 1903 up until the 1950s, and also distinguished itself in numerous races disputed on asphalt, including the infamous Tourist Trophy. Husqvarna first ventured into the…

The Mercedes Unimog celebrates its sixtieth birthday with the ‘Concept’-a fully functioning show truck conceived to emphasise the legendary vehicle’s essentiality, robustness and ability to work in even the toughest conditions. Since the first example rolled out of the Gaggenau factory in June 1951 (an even earlier series was in fact produced in 1948 by the truck builder Boehringer, which was subsequently bought by Mercedes) the Unimog has earned a reputation as an unstoppable all-purpose machine in every possible field – including the military. Indeed, the name ‘Unimog’ comes from the German ‘UNIversal-MOtor-Gerät’, or ‘universal motor tool’. The Concept was developed on the basis of the U 5000 version by the MBS (Mercedes-Benz Special Trucks) team in collaboration with the designers of the Van & Trucks division. “Even though we…

A year after the launch of the fifth generation Swift unveiled at Paris in the Autumn of 2010, Suzuki presents the Swift Sport, a feistier version of its compact B-segment model, powered by a 1.6 litre engine producing 136 bhp at 6900 rpm and a peak torque of 160 Nm at 4400 rpm and mated to a six speed manual ‘box. To fulfil the sporty aspirations of this version, the entire project has been revised, giving the car a stiffer chassis and a lower ride height than the standard model. Even the length has changed – growing by 40 mm to 3890 mm as a result of the specific bumpers created for the Sport. A number of other elements also contribute to giving the car a more exuberant and dynamic…

To anyone wondering whether it is possible to make a car even more attractive and feistier than today’s Juke, Nissan responds with the Juke-R, the super-crossover that world-premiered at Malaga last October. Among other highlights, Nissan’s pan-European brand event also showed the latest novelties involving the crossover range, the Qashqai, Juke and Murano. With its design as extreme as its performance and with the engine of the super-sporty GT-R shoe-horned into the body of the Juke, the Juke-R comes to market as the highest performing crossover ever. The result is a car in which output and compactness are well represented by the 480 bhp and a singularly bold design, evident in the flared wings and the massive 20” alloy Ray wheels, as well as two prominent rear spoilers. The Juke-derived…

The Panda is not just meant to be driven, it is – above all – a car to be used. It is also a car to be discovered, with many small and large details conceived “to tell the story of the car, day after day”, explain its designers. Once inside, the roomier interior is immediately noticeable. This is a direct consequence of the increased exterior dimensions of the car – the Panda III measures 3653 mm in length (+114 mm), 1643 mm in width (+60 mm) and is 1551 mm tall (+11 mm) – but is also a result of space-saving door panels and seats that are thinner than before but no less comfortable. The driving position retains the ergonomically excellent dash-mounted gear lever, while the most interesting innovation is…

Almost 20 years have passed since Volvo took the daring step of abandoning the characteristic boxy Jan Wilsgard type of design with the ECC (environmental concept car) study. It was a package of new shapes, volumes and graphics which would characterise all Volvo passenger cars from the first generation S80 up, and including today’s S60. But the time is now ripe for a new definition of cool Scandinavian design. “We wanted to go back to surfaces rather than lines,” Peter Horbury, Volvo’s head of design for almost two decades, who will be coordinating the Geely group design activities, explained. With a new platform available – called SPA (scalable product architecture)-and a new owner since Ford sold the iconic Swedish brand to the Chinese company Geely, all signals were go for reconsidering…

Looking a little like a cross between the future and the 1930s, with a style reminiscent of the Auto Union race cars of that era, the Urban Concept is an unusual looking vehicle for Audi. But it is not so strange when you consider the commitment of the four-ringed marque to researching new forms of urban mobility intended for clearly defined future scenarios, such as the architectural projects competing in the biennial Audi Urban Future Awards. This is a way to imagine how new technologies, and electric drive and multimedia interconnectivity in particular, will change car design. The idea for this two-seater, powered by two electric motors in the rear wheels producing 20 bhp (15 kW) and with batteries charged wirelessly by induction, was conceived a couple of years ago…

The dream of countless fans is about to become reality: Vespa and Lambretta will once again be pitched against one another on the streets. Since the late 1940s, the scooter from Pontedera designed by Corradino D’Ascanio and inspired by the aeronautical world, and the scooter from Lambrate, developed by Ferdinando Innocenti drawing from concepts used for military motorcycles, have divided opinion to create two amicably opposed rival factions: not unlike the fans of Gilera and Moto Guzzi, Coppi and Bartali or the characters Don Camillo and Peppone. These two scooters wrote unforgettable chapters in history until, in the early 1970s, Lambretta’s operations were transferred to India when the brand was acquired by the country’s state-owned SIL (Lambrettas were in fact produced in India until 1997). The Vespa, now alone in…

Designing the interior of a boat demands an ability to synthesise and great attention to the practical, together with a taste for detail and refined materials so that the multitude of feelings typical of a home can be contained in a small space. To achieve these skills and combine innovative design with the consolidated techniques of naval engineering, the Rome Ied proposes a master course in Interior Yacht Design, an annual course for students graduating or already graduated in architecture and engineering, students coming out of technical schools with a naval orientation and interior designers. The lessons in design target the rationalisation and management of spaces that are limited as regards square metres but packed with fittings and accessories. The nautical environment is hybrid by definition and it is experienced…

Subaru is changing direction with the new XV compact crossover (4.5 metres in length), which unmistakeably plays the style and personality card while remaining true to the marque’s highly acclaimed mechanical configuration, with a 4-cylinder horizontally opposed engine and four wheel drive. In the past, certain models from the Japanese brand “struggled to appeal to the public”. “But with the XV – explains the design director responsible for the style of the car, Masahiko Kobayashi – we wanted to focus much more on visual impact, emotion and an immediately recognisable road presence, while also maximising functionality.” The goal, as revealed by the “Urban Adventure” concept, was to create a vehicle that would be equally at home in any situation, and was capable – to put it one way – of…

‘Energy and vitality’ are the two core concepts inspiring Honda’s new Civic, the ninth generation of a model originally launched in 1972. Offered as a five-door hatchback with a choice of a 1.4 or 1.8 litre i-VTEC petrol or a 2.2 litre i-DTEC diesel, the new Civic is derived from the 2006 model and was developed specifically for Europe by the team headed by “Large Project Leader” Mitsuru Kariya. The four-year project focussed heavily on the exterior design, which, right from the very earliest sketches, drew inspiration from the aeronautical world and swimwear. The result is a sleek body with excellent aerodynamics (aerodynamic efficiency has been improved by 12.6%, due in part to the flat undertray) that combines a spacious interior with sporty looks. Contributing to this latter impression are…