Design
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Since late October Ferrari has been running an exhibition at its official museum in Maranello, Italy dedicated to the late Sergio Pininfarina, a legendary designer responsible for the look of many of the automaker’s most significant cars of the past six decades. Though originally scheduled to close on January 7, Ferrari, in accordance with the Pininfarina family, has decided to prolong the exhibition until February 24. The exhibition has been experiencing record numbers of visitors since opening, including registering more than a 1,000 on a single day. It’s certainly worth a visit...
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Porsche Details The Development Of Its Panamera Sport Turismo: VideoPorsche’s latest video gives us a rare behind-the-scenes look at the development of one of its concept cars, in this case the Panamera Sport Turismo that turned out to be a surprise star of the 2012 Paris Auto Show. The video details the concept car’s gestation from initial drawings to...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Jay Leno And Ed Welburn Check Out Some Vintage ‘Vettes: VideoNext month, a brand new generation of the Chevrolet Corvette will be launched, the seventh generation of the iconic sports car, in fact. While we wait for the reveal of this new 2014 Corvette, a 'C7' if you’re a die-hard, let’s step back in time and look at some of the most famous...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
A Look Back At The Original Clay Models For The McLaren F1Next year will see the launch of the McLaren P1, the spiritual successor to a supercar that turned the performance car world on its head when it was launched more than two decades ago, and which to this day can lay claim to a land speed record. That car is, of course, the legendary McLaren F1...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Buckminster Fuller’s Dymaxion Heads Home Following Its RestorationIn terms of design, the early 1930s were a time of promise, when people weren’t afraid to dream big. Buckminster Fuller is a perfect example, and his “Dymaxion” brand promised Americans a better (and more stylish) quality of life. Though applied to everything from the Marshall...
Kurt Ernst -
Jay Leno Shows Us A Different Kind Of Vintage Lamborghini: VideoIf you know your Italian sports car history, you probably know that Lamborghini built farm tractors long before a falling out between Feruccio Lamborghini and Enzo Ferrari led to the creation of Lamborghini’s automobile business. In fact, Lamborghini’s tractor business began to take off...
Kurt Ernst -
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, it seemed like a future filled with flying cars was inevitable. Automotive designers and engineers weren’t afraid to push the boundaries of design, as evidenced by the gas turbine-powered Chrysler Turbine Car and the nuclear reactor-powered Ford Nucleon (which, thankfully, never progressed beyond a scale model). Another forward-thinking design, also from the Ford Motor Company, was the Ford Gyron, which used a pair of wheels mounted along the car’s centerline, stabilized by a gyroscope. Unlike the Nucleon, the Gyron actually progressed as far as...
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Rinspeed microMAX Concept Revealed Ahead Of 2013 Geneva Motor ShowEach year Swiss design firm Rinspeed unveils a wacky concept at the Geneva Motor Show in order to demonstrate its talents and preview its take on the future of automotive design. Next year will be no different, with Rinspeed this week revealing its new microMAX concept car, with which it hopes to...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Porsche Macan Being Redesigned To Look BolderPorsche’s upcoming Macan compact crossover, due for a reveal late next year ahead of a sales launch in 2014, will adopt a bold new look the automaker has no qualms of admitting was inspired by the aggressive lines of the Range Rover Evoque. As our earlier spy shots revealed, the new Macan was...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Subaru’s SHARC Wins L.A. Auto Show Design ChallengeIn the future, highway patrol vehicles are likely to look a lot different from the police cruisers of today. This year's Los Angeles Auto Show Design Challenge asked automakers to sketch what the ideal highway patrol vehicle of 2025 might look like, and top honors go to Subaru for its SHARC design...
Kurt Ernst -
Bodie Stroud Builds 'The Real Thing' 1969 Mustang: VideoWhen it comes to pro-touring cars, some enthusiasts love the idea of taking a vintage muscle car and bringing it up to modern performance standards. Others feel this is blasphemy, and that vintage iron should only be restored to original specifications; after all, a new Mustang offers a vintage...
Kurt Ernst -
2013 Honda Civic PreviewAutomotive critics, it seems, are a hard bunch to please. We look at things in a different light than most consumers, paying careful attention to details like the material used to cover a dashboard, or the quality of plastic used throughout the interior. While we’re quick to pan a car...
Kurt Ernst -
If all you know about Lincoln automobiles comes from what you’ve seen in its dealer showrooms over the past two decades, it would be easy to write the brand off as a pseudo-luxury automaker reselling badge-engineered Fords. The demise of the Mercury brand was supposed to clarify the line between mass-market vehicles, sold under Ford’s blue oval, and luxury vehicles, sold under the Lincoln marque. Today, however, nearly two years after the last Mercury was built, Lincoln still seems to be a brand looking to establish itself. At today’s Los Angeles Auto Show press preview...
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Mercedes-Benz Ener-G-Force Live Photos: 2012 L.A. Auto ShowFor its entry for the 2012 Los Angeles Auto Design Challenge, a contest that challenges the world’s top automotive designers to come up with the best concept car for a given theme, Mercedes-Benz developed the imposing Ener-G-Force SUV. However, rather than leave the vehicle just as a design...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Infiniti To Partner With Red Bull On New High Performance Model: ReportNow that luxury automaker Infiniti is a title sponsor of Red Bull Racing’s Formula One efforts, it makes perfect sense that the two will combine talents to produce a high-performance street car. Sure, Infiniti has already built the Sebastian Vettel Edition FX50, but that only left us...
Kurt Ernst -
Los Angeles Auto Show Design Challenge Entries RevealedEvery year, the Los Angeles Auto Show offers up its Design Challenge, meant to give attendees a look into the world of automotive design. Last year, the theme was “Hollywood’s Hottest New Movie Car,” and the award went to designers from Smart. This year’s theme was the...
Kurt Ernst -
Exhibit Honors 40 Years Of Porsche DesignFerdinand Alexander Porsche is best known as the designer of the iconic Porsche 911, but his artistic vision extended far beyond the world of the automobile. In 1972 F.A. Porsche founded the Porsche Design Studio, which would ultimately bring trend-setting style to the world of consumer goods...
Kurt Ernst -
2014 E63 AMG To Debut Affalterbach Tuner's Aggressive New LookAt January’s 2013 Detroit Auto Show, Mercedes-Benz will unveil its updated 2014 E Class range, which once again will include a high-performance E63 AMG variant. The reveal of the new E63 AMG, in particular, is very important as this will be the first time that we’ll be seeing the bold...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Part of Ferrari’s appeal as a supercar is that each model can be highly personalized to an individual customer’s preferences. For some, contrasting leather upholstery and a bit of carbon fiber trim is enough; for others, however, a complete redesign of an existing model is the only option. Those customers are few and far between, but Pininfarina and Ferrari stand at the ready to meet their needs. The first such car constructed by Ferrari’s One-Off Programme was James Glickenhaus’ P4/P5, last seen competing in the 2012 Nürburgring 24 Hour race. Rock star Eric...
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BMW and Local Motors Pick Urban Automotive Technology WinnersIn September, we told you that BMW was partnering with automotive crowdsourcing expert Local Motors for an urban automotive technology design contest. The idea was simple: use Local Motors’ Forge community to address challenges faced by urban drivers in the coming years. As The Forge has...
Kurt Ernst -
Sergio Pininfarina Exhibition Draws Record Crowds: VideoTo celebrate the lifelong contribution of Sergio Pininfarina, who passed away earlier this year at age 85, Ferrari is running an exhibition dedicated to the late designer at its museum in Maranello, Italy. The exhibition features examples of most of Pininfarina’s creations for the Prancing...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Future Audis To Show Greater Differentiation Between ModelsAudi is addressing the claim that its cars all look the same by taking its design in a bold new direction. The automaker plans to introduce greater differentiation between each of its model lines, with its future styling expected to reflect in greater detail the technical aspects behind the cars...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Dodge Launches New Blacktop Special Editions: VideoGoing for a “seriously sinister” look, Dodge is expanding its “Blacktop” models to include the Avenger and Challenger R/T in addition to the already-available Blacktop Charger R/T. Meant to give buyers a custom look right off the dealer showroom floor, the Blacktop package...
Kurt Ernst -
Jaguar Flaunts Design Skills With Speedboat ConceptJaguar is following Mercedes-Benz’s lead of expanding its design talents into other fields, by designing a new speedboat concept inspired by the svelte lines of its XF Sportbrake model sold overseas. According to Jaguar design boss Ian Callum, who was in charge of the project, the speedboat...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran