Design
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Ferrari's F40 is without doubt an icon. Its wedge shape and pop-up lights perfectly encapsulate automotive design of the 1980s, when it was launched, and unlike many cars of the era, there's performance on hand to back up the looks. The F40 was also the last vehicle to earn the personal stamp of approval from Enzo Ferrari, and it's a high-water mark for all things supercar. This has inspired automotive designer Samir Sadikhov to pen an F40 for today, and the design is impressive even though some of the proportions could be worked on. The fins at the rear look a bit too tall, and the car looks...
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Aston Martin opens first design studio outside UKAston Martin design won't be purely British-born in the future. The automaker announced Wednesday that it has opened its first design studio outside of the United Kingdom. The newest studio resides in Shanghai, China and bears the title Aston Martin Lagonda Creative Lab. The studio is a partnership...
Sean Szymkowski -
Styling of BMW electric cars will be toned down as tech maturesFuture BMW electric cars won't exactly follow in the footsteps of the wildly futuristic i8 or bionic egg-shaped i3. Instead, the brand plans to tone things down as battery technology becomes more commonplace. BMW chief designer Adrian van Hooydonk told Autocar in report published last Tuesday that...
Sean Szymkowski -
Art students imagine Bentley of the futureWe won't know what the automotive world will look like more than thirty years from now, but Bentley asked students at London's Royal College of Art to give it their best shot. The Bentley design team provided curriculum tutelage and guidance for students, who then imagined what a luxury car will...
Sean Szymkowski -
Holden showcases design talents with Time Attack ConceptGeneral Motors' Australian division Holden may no longer be building its own cars, but it still has a world-class design team that regularly collaborates on projects for other GM brands. The Holden design team has now unveiled a wild concept to not only showcase the talents and technological...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Smart previews future look with ForEase speedster conceptSmart this year is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the start of sales of the original ForTwo, and part of the celebrations included the unveiling of the ForEase concept on Tuesday at the 2018 Paris auto show. The ForEase is based on the battery-powered Smart EQ ForTwo Cabrio but has been...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Longtime Ford designer J Mays has a new position at appliance maker Whirlpool. The veteran designer has been appointed vice president and chief design officer of Whirlpool Corporation, based in western Michigan. Whirlpool announced Mays' appointment on Monday. He'll be responsible for "translating consumer insights, needs and wants...into next-generation product design concepts," the company said. Mays became a distinguished automotive designer after starting his career as an exterior designer at Audi. He quickly moved to BMW and worked on the 5-Series and 8-Series lines in the early 1980s...
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Ex-Rolls-Royce design boss to pen models for Chinese luxury brand HongqiChinese automaker FAW Group is in the process of reviving historic brand Hongqi as China's premier automotive label and hired the former design chief of Rolls-Royce to pen the new models. FAW announced Friday that Giles Taylor, who led the design team at Rolls-Royce from 2012 to June of this year...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
65-year-old car design brought to life at 2018 Grand Basel showA never-before-seen car design has been brought to life...65 years after it was completed. Yes, it was 65 years ago that Italian architect and industrial designer Gio Ponti penned his Linea Diamante, or "Diamond Line," and now a completed mockup of the car has been revealed. The covers came off on...
Sean Szymkowski -
Radical speedster concept hints at future design, powertrains for InfinitiInfiniti will start switching over to an electrified lineup around 2021 when the first models based on a new modular platform are introduced. That date's a few years off but in the interim Infiniti is providing a glimpse into its future with concept cars. The Q Inspiration unveiled in January gave...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Opel GT X Experimental concept debuts new design languageOpel on Wednesday provided the first look at a new concept previewing the design destined for models arriving in the mid-2020s. The concept is called the GT X Experimental, and it's a compact crossover designed under the themes of “bold and pure,” the characteristics of Opel's new...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Porsche designed Mission E Cross Turismo with self-driving tech in mindPorsche's Mission E Cross Turismo concept was the big surprise of March's 2018 Geneva auto show. It previews a potential soft-roader version of Porsche's upcoming Taycan electric sedan, and Porsche has been dropping hints that the Cross Turismo could make it into production at some point. Not...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
To celebrate the Nissan GT-R and Italdesign's 50th birthday, the Italian design firm and Japanese automaker collaborated to birth the GT-R50. Described as a GT-R with no limits, both parties crafted a sculpted Japanese sports car with finesse only Italdesign is capable of. A new video from Nissan documents how the car actually came to life, and we now know Italdesign first approached Nissan to take on the project, Alonso Albaisa, senior vice president of Nissan global design, confirmed. Italdesign invited him to its booth at the 2017 Geneva auto show where it presented the proposition. From...
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New Mercedes-Benz A-Class sedan has lowest drag of any production carA car's ability to slip through the air without creating too much drag is critical when it comes to fuel economy, and no car in production right now does it better than the new Mercedes-Benz A-Class. The compact sedan, unveiled to the world in April at the 2018 Beijing auto show, has a coefficient...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Opel teases new “bold and pure” design languageOpel announced Wednesday plans to unveil a new concept car by the end of the year. The concept, previewed in a single teaser shot, will introduce Opel's new design language “bold and pure,” which the German brand will use to mark its new era away from the control of former parent...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Volvo gives glimpse into its future operationsVolvo has spent a good part of the past decade transforming itself into a luxury car brand on par with the German brands, a goal the automaker has well and truly achieved judging by its latest products. The next phase for Volvo will be an even more radical transformation. As outlined by CEO...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Hyundai previews its full-size SUV with Grandmaster conceptHyundai is working on a new full-size SUV and the Grandmaster concept unveiled Thursday at the 2018 Busan auto show gives us a good idea of what's to come. Code-named HDC-2, the big and bold SUV concept presents Hyundai's newest design language in production-bound form. The design language...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Rolls-Royce design chief steps downRolls-Royce on Wednesday announced the departure of its design chief Giles Taylor. In a statement, the automaker said Taylor had left Rolls-Royce and parent company BMW Group to pursue “alternative business interests.” A successor is yet to be named. Taylor took over the design reins at...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Chinese automakers are notorious for building replica models that closely resemble luxury vehicle designs. And now, it's the Lamborghini Urus' turn for a Chinese clone. Car News China reported on Thursday that Chinese automaker BAIC plans to introduce what you see here: the Huansu C60, or Hyosow. The Huansu brand is one of many that fall under BAIC's control, but it's unclear if the C60 or Hyosow name will grace the model. As for the design, it's a blatant ripoff of the Urus. The front fascia looks nearly identical with some minor changes, such as quad foglights that replace the vents found...
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FCA challenged students to design a 2030 Jeep Wrangler: here are the winnersFiat-Chrysler Automobiles has selected winners for its 2018 Drive For Design contest. The challenge this year was to pen what the 2030 Jeep Wrangler could look like, and three students took home the top prize. The first place sketch (shown above) is the work of Eduard Cret of Miami, Florida. Cret's...
Sean Szymkowski -
GM imagines real Transformers with shape-shifting car design patentsIn director Michael Bay's version of the "Transformers" franchise, the world of Decepticons and Autobots is heavily populated by General Motors products. Bumblebee used to be an old Volkswagen Beetle, but now it's a late-model Camaro. As reported by GM Inside News, GM has filed for patent...
Jeff Glucker -
Bugatti designer Tobias Sühlmann to style future Aston MartinsAston Martin is strengthening its design team as it prepares to more than double its lineup in the coming years. The automaker confirmed Friday the appointment of Volkswagen Group veteran designer Tobias Sühlmann as its new head of exterior design. He replaces Miles Nurnberger who has been...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
From concept to (virtual) reality: How the Genesis Essentia concept coupe came to beTwo months after the 2017 New York auto show, lead Genesis designer Luc Donckerwolke and his assembled team set to work. Their goal wasn’t to rest long after the success of the New York concept car that precipitated the Genesis G70, it was to pronounce to the rest of the world that Genesis...
Aaron Cole -
Jaguar I-Pace designer Burgess says I-Pace would've never followed traditionThe days of all long-hood, shapely Jaguar sedans and coupes may be numbered. The automaker’s 2019 Jaguar I-Pace electric car made its U.S. debut this week at the 2018 New York auto show and its designer Wayne Burgess said that drawing the I-Pace required him to skip what made his Aston Martin...
Aaron Cole