Table of contents for No. 160 in AUTO & DESIGN

The ‘American dream’ cover story of this edition is the Ferrari P4/5 designed and built by Pininfarina for a well heeled American collector. This venture rekindles the spirit of cars from the pre-war era and the prosperous 1950s, when owning a one-off represented the aspiration of many motorists and was the very essence of the coachbuilder’s art – an art that Pininfarina has brought back to life with this dream car. Silvia Baruffaldi has written an enthralling story, in which the dream of a true enthusiast and the mastery of a great coachbuilder have come together to define a new chapter in the history of Ferrari specials. Creativity features importantly elsewhere in this issue, with the ideas that won the Turin competition for young designers and the projects by the…

On September 13, Pininfarina announced that Ken Okuyama is no longer its design director, a role he has held since July 2, 2005 and which will be occupied provisionally by Andrea Pininfarina, chairman and managing director of the group. The three chief designers Guglielmo Cartia, Fabrizio Valentini and Lowie Vermeersch will answer directly to him. Gerry McGovern is Land Rover’s new director of design. He replaces Geoff Upex, who is retiring after 23 years of service for the British brand. La Pininfarina ha comunicato il 13 settembre scorso che Ken Okuyama non è più il suo Direttore Stile, incarico che ricopriva dal 2 luglio 2005 e che è stato assunto ad interim da Andrea Pininfarina, Presidente e Amministratore Delegato del Gruppo. A lui risponderanno direttamente i tre chief designer Guglielmo Cartia, Fabrizio Valentini…

It is quite misleading to suggest that before much longer, if they continue to lose character and individuality, cars will look like kitchen appliances. There is one expensive Japanese car which, when painted white, already looks like a refrigerator; there have been numerous American models in the past which did not even need to be painted white. Nevertheless, I can understand the concern recently expressed in this and other magazines about the tendency to convergence of design, to uniformity of engineering and stylistic expression, in the cars we see around us and, given some slight inkling of the near future, ahead of us. Nowhere on the motoring map is there a longitude without a platitude. If I understand these complainants, it is not because I forecast the problem myself, as…

Peugeot has announced the fourth edition of its web-based design competition entitled “P.L.E.A.S.E innovate” – standing for Pleasurable, Lively, Efficient, Accessible, Simple and Ecological. Participants are asked to start with a blank sheet of paper and imagine a new type of car that delivers pure driving pleasure with a lively character and efficient design while remaining accessible through conceptual simplicity and ecology. Interested surfers have until December 4 to submit their designs to www.peugeot-concours-design.com. The thirty best projects selected by a panel of judges will be displayed on the website from December 14 to 22 and voted upon by visitors to the site and journalists. The ten finalist projects will then be displayed online until January 2007, leading up to the announcement, in mid February, of the winner, who will…

One of the most curious and interesting automotive events in the world is the annual Concours d’Elégance at Pebble Beach, with hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of fabulous cars parked on the 18th green of California’s famed golf course. The first event was held in 1950, and consisted mostly of quickly wiped-off British sports cars that had raced earlier in the day on the narrow, winding roads in the Del Monte forest. The first race winner was future World Champion Phil Hill, driving a Jaguar XK-120, and Best of Show in the improvised Concours was the Edwards R-26 Special Sport Roadster, a California-built prototype based on a tubular chassis fitted with a 2508 cc Ford V-8. Standard Jaguars and an Austin-Healey won for the next four years, but in…

Throughout my career, young enthusiasts have often approached me for advice on how best to embark on a career as a car designer. The answer comes naturally: enrol at a good design school – that’s the surest path into the magical world of automotive design. Until only a few years ago, however, the answer was not so simple: while the English speaking world, Germany and Scandinavia offered industrial design courses, in many cases with specialisations in transport, this curriculum option was lacking in many Latin countries, and these were countries where the passion for design and the passion for cars were strongly felt. Italy was one of those countries. The most famous names, such as Scaglione, Michelotti, Giugiaro and Gandini all became automotive designers via different paths, on the strength…

With the 06 series, the Honda Accord is now in its seventh generation. Aesthetically, most of the changes have been made to the front: the front bumpers, grille, bonnet and the design of the xenon lights are all new. The work at the rear of the car is less evident but equally substantial, with changes to the bumper, which is now more enveloping, and the lights. Most of the changes for the new Accord, however, concern safety, such as the adoption of Honda’s new ACC (Adaptive Cruise Control) system, now offered as standard on saloon and Tourer versions of the Accord with the 2.4 DOHCi - VTEC 16V engine and automatic ‘box. The system uses a radar sensor mounted behind the grille and automatically adapts road speed by controlling the…

Design in footwear is interesting from at least two points of view: firstly, because it can resolve design problems, related to wearability and comfort – which are vital for a product that has such a direct relationship with the user – and secondly because it offers fertile ground for experimentation in form, an opportunity to try out new aesthetics and advanced, at times even pioneering, styling solutions. The sports shoe in particular, which is now an established fashion item in its own right and can be worn on any occasion, has become the subject of considerable attention from designers and substantial investments by many different sports brands. On the one hand this has led to the creation of a luxury product, even spawning limited designer editions, while on the other…

It was in the 1960s when the Marimekko brand, established in 1951, achieved international fame and success beyond the borders of its native Finland. In New York, during the heyday of pop art, garments with recognisable floral or geometric patterns in vivid colours became the intellectual’s uniform when Jacqueline Kennedy purchased these inexpensive printed cotton clothes, contributing in no small measure to the brand’s reputation. The history of Marimekko, which means “Mari’s dress”, is closely linked with that of the fabric designer Maija Isola, a leading light in Scandinavian design and, more broadly, textile design, who drew inspiration for her first creations from the patterns and colours of African art, proposing a reality that could not have been more distant from her Nordic homeland. The brand is extending into a…

The BCF studio founded by designer Marcello Cutino operates in two distinct areas: the first is the creation of “traditional” design projects in response to the specific design requests of client companies, whereas the second is strategic design, analysing future market scenarios through the development of concepts. The Progetto Cristallo for Franke belongs to the latter of these categories. This project for the kitchen has been developed with the intention of adding appeal to stainless steel, an elegant yet cold and, at times, unattractive material. To convey a sense of warmth – an impression of seduction to stimulate a relationship with the user – to products normally characterised by a purely technical image, the project has focused on the significance of transparency and light, expressed through combinations of glass and…

Recently I had the chance to examine and drive the latest Lexus, the top-of-range LS 460, in both the standard and long wheelbase versions. They are really excellent cars, fully as good as anything made in Europe, although I find their styling a bit too bland, conservative, and anonymous, despite the company’s public relations hype about the leading-edge L-Finesse styling philosophy it supposedly embodies. One of the many carefully wrought details did impress me a lot, though: the beautifully made hand-polished die-castings that surround the side windows. Let me quote Yo Hiruta, chief designer, on these expensive and impressive pieces: “What’s very important about it is that the piece’s width changes over its long span.” Hiruta stressed that the parts are not extruded or rolled in constant sections, as are…

After seven years, the Concours Bergerac is now in its sixth edition. Sixth because, as we all remember, the event was unceremoniously suspended between its third and fourth editions for economic difficulties that precluded its organisation and even raised concerns of a definitive cancellation. This is a constant underlying risk for all events of this kind, in spite of the efforts of those who promote them and put their hearts and souls into keeping them going. The Concours Bergerac has all the right attributes to appeal to the vintage car enthusiast. The most immediately apparent of these is the beauty of the region hosting the event, the Dordogne, steeped in centuries of history that has left behind beautiful mediaeval and renaissance castles, Romanesque churches, abbeys, fortresses, manors and – the…

The first centennial of the Bezalel Academy of the Arts in Jerusalem, Israel is a valuable opportunity to turn our attention towards a reality that is far removed from the European point of view yet equally rich in inspiration, creativity and innovation. Established in 1906 by the artist Boris Scahtz, the school is one of the major academic facilities in the Middle East in the field of design and applied art. The school owes its prestige to the great care it devotes to training its students and providing them with a variegated education based on subjects such as history, literature, philosophy, sociology, economics, culture, science and engineering. This multi-disciplinary approach is applied to all the courses offered, with the intention of giving its students sufficient knowledge to embark on a…

Design, digital graphics, prototyping and modelling. The young French company Estech, founded as an industrial design studio in 2001, has continued to grow and evolve in the five years since its inception, and has recently become an all-round consultancy, capable of developing a product from the paper to the functioning model, with its services extending even into the automotive sector (see A&D No. 155). Baptiste Hannebicque, design manager of the company now based in Guyancourt, in the outskirts of Paris, with two further operation centres strategically located in Sophia Antipolis, near Nice, and at Parthenay, in central-western France, proudly explains Estech’s recent expansion in terms of both services and size: “Our latest significant objective has been to acquire more space to work in, to offer a more comprehensive suite of…

Conservative styling with no surprises, targeted once again at a consumer more interested in content than aesthetics, packed with some of the most sophisticated and comprehensive technology in its category. The all-new Honda Legend, the Japanese marque’s flagship scheduled to reach the showrooms in September 2006, offers a smaller yet equally viable D-segment alternative to the more prestigiously badged European offerings. Comfort and driving pleasure are almost taken for granted in this nimble footed – despite a length of almost five metres – smooth, spacious and luxurious saloon. Split zone climate control, a Bose sound system, satellite navigation and voice activated controls are just some of the toys making this car a pleasant place to be in, although it is safety where the Legend truly excels. A first among today’s…

Giugiaro Design has ventured into the video game accessory market with the AG-E (Atomic Giugiaro Entertainment) product range designed for Atomic Accessories, a leading manufacturer of peripherals and accessories for consoles and the PC. Giugiaro has designed a protective case for the PSP, a number of different joypads and steering wheels for gaming consoles, portable speaker and amplifier sets, a directional console bracket for the car, a mouse and a variety of bags, containers and supports. These include the AG-E Pad Bag PSP, a multifunctional case for the PSP® with a hinged, replaceable lid to shield the screen from glare which, when closed, protects the device during transport. In the four models of joypad and the AG-E analogue steering wheel too, a great deal of attention has gone into ergonomics…

It has been almost ten years since Prada first ventured into the world of sailing and also since the inception of Prada Sport, the new division of the brand established to act as a research lab for new forms and materials, whose most iconic product has been the famous Linea Rossa training shoe. Inspired by the sports world and as a result of collaboration between athletes and designers, five new sunglasses have been developed, extending the Linea Rossa lifestyle collection. Soft forms define both the wrap-around models and the models designed specially for the Luna Rossa sailing team – the SPS02G – a larger and more markedly curved version offering maximum protection from the sun, wind and water. Other models, such as the SPS01G, are more flattened and angular around…

Engineers take to the circuit at the Fiat Auto testing grounds at Balocco (Vercelli). This captures the essence of the Formula ATA 2006 international technical and sporting event held from September 7 to 10 by the Tecnica dell’Automobile (automobile engineering) association. The initiative has been devised to promote and reward enthusiasm and creativity among engineering students who – organised into teams – became designers, constructors and drivers during an intense four day event held at a facility that is a genuine shrine to experimentation and testing. The competition was divided into two categories: Formula SAE, for conventional open wheel racers, and Formula TECH for two, three or four wheeled low environmental impact vehicles. The entire initiative was backed by significant international automotive and tech companies such as Fiat Auto, Alfa…

It is now a full year since we lost our great good friend and cherished contributor, L.J.K. Setright, and we have chosen to commemorate his more than twenty-year collaboration with Auto & Design by presenting again some of his unique thoughtprovoking work. An Englishman born to Australian parents of Polish extraction, Leonard Setright was an extraordinary man, erudite, creative, master of many skills — few knew that he was an exceptional cook, even if many knew that the languages he mastered included Latin and classical Greek. He was the consummate gentleman, gracious to ladies and generous to men: he always treated everyone he met as an equal, even if it were clear to both parties that this was far from true; that very few could measure up to his standards…

With still approximately a year to go before its launch in 2007, the new Fiat 500 (derived from the Trepiùno concept car and to be built in Poland on the platform of the new Panda) is already stirring the dreams and creativity of an ever increasing number of would be owners. Until then, however, enthusiasts can visit the website www.Fiat500.com to create their own personalised interpretation of the car. The website, in English and Italian, is one of the most popular in the automotive world at the moment, scoring approximately 1,800,000 hits (and almost 10 million viewed pages) between May 2 and mid-September, and counting over 20,500 registered users. The site features a virtual Concept lab where users can select their preferred colours and accessories, which are displayed in real…

At the beginning of June, and eight years since its debut, the Bibendum Challenge created by Michelin to celebrate its centenary returned to its original home in France. At the first edition of the challenge in 1998, a varied motorcade of vehicles, cars, prototypes, motor-cycles and other modes of transport set off from Clermond Ferrand, the historical home of the tyre factory established by the resourceful Michelin brothers, to conclude after a journey across France in the celebrated Avenue des Champs-Élysées in the heart of Paris. The route included a stage at the Magny Cours circuit, for technical trials, and another at the historical track of Montléry. While this was in appearance a rally, it was in fact an authentic challenge to promote clean drivetrain technologies for the future and…

Gym equipment is often characterised by a distinct lack of design, maintaining the generally unattractive appearance of complicated machinery. However, the growing use of these products in a non-specialised setting, such as hotel rooms or private homes, has led designers to turn their attentions to the aesthetics of these instruments. This has been the case with the Kinesis Personal wall system presented at the latest edition of the furniture show, a new product by the renowned gym equipment maker Technogym designed with the involvement of Antonio Citterio (with Toan Nguyen). The project, based on internationally patented fullgravity technology for traditional body movements, can be used to carry out over two hundred different exercises – or, more precisely, “movements” – in less than one square metre of floorspace. The system is…