Posted by cdnlive November 29th, 2012
If you were busy looking for brand new concept and production cars here in LA, you’d have probably left half way through the first morning. But just because there haven’t been dozens of new unveils, doesn’t mean we’ve not found some interesting details to pour over on the cars here in LA. So from the top, we offer you:
BMW i3 coupe floating centre screen
The i3 coupe interior is a delight pretty much everywhere you look. But we love how the wrapping leather element of the dash concludes to become the arm from which the (floating) centre screen is suspended.
Jaguar stand colour sculpture
Shown sideways here, just to accentuate its arty-ness, the colour sculpture ring on the Jaguar stands resembles one of those electricity pylon details.
Mazda CX-5 180 Concept lamp/grille detail
There are quite a few of these SEMA/custom-type SUVs at the show. Our favourite was this Mazda and the red pin-stripe grille element, which runs into the lamp and then is crossed by the red dash-dot graphic.
Hyundai Veloster C3 Roll top rear deck
We’ve already blogged about this concept and its fixie bike. But the bit we really like is the recycled bits of skateboard that make up the trunk deck floor lining. Reminds us of Freitag bags and feels very fresh and perhaps more importantly, non-corporate
Acura RLX Anodised starter-button
We’ll be honest, it’s completely out of place in the RLX. But this is the kind of start button that a sports car should have – red, and formed out of anodised aluminium
Range Rover lashing points
Good illustration of the Range Rover’s push-up market are these load lashing points, which are exquisitely detailed and give a real sense of perceived – and actual – quality
Lincoln MK-Z headlining rear reading lamps
It wasn’t perfectly executed (pressing the headlining’s a bit odd, and it felt a bit hollow/cheap) but hovering your finger against a little LED, and the reading lamp then illuminating as if from nowhere, is what you might term a nice ‘surprise and delight’ novelty
VW Beetle Cabrio hood/header intersection
So often, convertible soft tops mess up a car’s lines and just look like plain bad fits. We really like the fact that on the new Beetle Cabriolet’s hood, the A-pillar is visually continued by the soft top, forming an impression of a cant rail.
Porsche Cayman rear cubby hole cover
Porsche is really starting to get its detailing and PQ together – in the new Cayman, there are a pair of really neat, sliding lidded cubbyies either side of the rear load area.
by Joe Simpson
Tags: 2012, Acura RLX, BMW i3, colour, details, Hyundai Veloster, Jaguar, LA, Lincoln MKZ, Mazda CX-5, motor show, perceived quality, Photos, pictures, Porsche Cayman, Range Rover, trim, VW Beetle Cabriolet
Posted by cdnlive November 29th, 2012
It was a virtually untouchable pedestal-swivelling pre-production concept at the January 2012 Detroit show, and having personally missed its virtually ready production debut at New York in April, it was good to finally see the smart and well-proportioned new Lincoln MKZ in LA.
Hidden in a well-guarded show stand ante room on the first press day, with pride of place instead taken by some fantastic classic cars from Lincoln’s back catalogue, the second day of the LA show saw the Lincoln exhibition space taken over by the new MKZ in numerous colours, some with a large but slick-looking, darkened glass sliding sun roof.
But particularly smart – and apparently a Lincoln exclusive its sister Ford Fusion/Mondeo model won’t get – is a ‘now you see it, now you don’t’ touch-sensitive centre stack display. With the display off, the floating buttress-style stack helps create a very elegant ‘less is more’ cabin feel. But touch the stack when you need to alter aircon or the stereo and its control labels shine into life. It’s a great surprise and delight feature, which is just what Lincoln needs, as it tries to make its cars match the theatre and quality of its new show stands – I just wish at the bottom of the stack it didn’t say SYNC and Microsoft.
By Guy Bird
Tags: auto show, LA, lincoln, microsoft, mkz, motor show, sync
Posted by cdnlive November 29th, 2012
Arguably the most future-relevant concept at the LA show was the BMW i3 Coupe. For those starting to suffer fatigue waiting for the exciting electric i production cars to go on sale, scrutiny of the i3 Coupe reassures there is light at the end of the tunnel. BMW Group design boss Adrian van Hooydonk took time out for an exclusive chat with Car Design News and revealed that the Coupe – which shares almost exactly the same proportions as the previous five-door concept – is now 90 per cent of the production version due to launch at Frankfurt autumn 2012.
The most obvious change is in the more production-feasible non-glass lower door area and in a refinement of the interior, but key signifiers like the teardrop style upper DLO with its dropped rear belt line will stay as will the sophisticated vision-enhancing slatted C-pillar. As Hooydonk reasons: “We like a bit of wedge and a rakish shape that makes the car look dynamic but often rear passengers are smaller, they are kids, and you can’t look out properly if you continue that belt line. So we felt for an urban vehicle, all-round visibility for all passengers was a good thing. The C-pillar design has no typical Hofmeister kink either, we didn’t think it was necessary to carry over all elements of BMW design for this car.”
According to Hooydonk the clean and spacious cabin with minimal IP will stay virtually intact for production too, so expect the gear selector on the steering wheel, twin free-standing iPad Mini-style screens and unusual materials all to stay. One particularly interesting material – made out of grass, dried and pressed – can be found as the structure and surface of the inner door panel. “Usually when car companies use this kind of material they cover it in three layers of plastic,” says Hooydonk, but we thought for a car like this, it would be more honest to show it. The whole look and feel of the material – with some fibres visible – reminded us of the first Eames fibreglass chairs. The material grows in nature very quickly so it’s sustainable. All this leads to an aesthetic we’re calling ‘next premium’ although there will still be wood and leather where you need it.”
Along with exposed carbon fibre on the door sills and elsewhere to remind the customer of the i3’s high-tech body structure and graphically clean and sparse all-LED red lights embedded behind the black glass tailgate, the new i3 looks set to stand out like no other electric car currently available.
As BMW wants this car to sell in decent numbers – and to hedge its bets on what technology may be most embraced by customers soonest – the car will initially be offered in both plug-in range extender and full EV options, with the firm expecting 80 per cent of sales to be of the former, less range-anxious model. The supercar i8 will launch in the first quarter of 2014 but there is no word yet whether a three-door i3 will follow.
By Guy Bird
Tags: auto show, bmw, concept, coupe, ev, i3, LA, motor show
Posted by cdnlive November 29th, 2012
Not one person we spoke to at the LA show had anything positive to say about the new Subaru Forester. Even next to the conceptually similar new Toyota RAV4 it looks poor. The previous version was inoffensive if wholly conventional where as this new model is both dull and ugly. Quite an achievement.
Like the RAV4, the Forester lost sight of its original raison d’être a few generations ago and is now just another compact SUV. Its interior is perhaps slightly preferable to the outside because it’s so soporific there is almost nothing to say about it. Yes it’s practical and no doubt hardy but then so are elasticated waistbands.
Subaru has always had a wholesome, engineering-led and slightly offbeat vibe backed up by neat, functional design. But in this instance the design actually detracts from the appeal. You’d never buy a Subaru for its design (SVX excluded) but this is perhaps the first time you wouldn’t buy one because of it.
By Owen Ready
Tags: auto show, forester, LA, motor show, subaru
Posted by cdnlive November 29th, 2012
When Car Design News got wind of Smart preparing a concept car with fashion designer Jeremy Scott just after the Paris show there was considerable concern. Known for his outrageous designs for a plethora of popstars – including Kanye West, Lady Gaga and Beyonce, as well as winged high-top sneakers for Adidas – it didn’t seem like Smart and Scott were exactly a perfect fit.
But we’re happy to be proved wrong and say the resulting concept actually has way more substance than we were expecting. Firstly, significant changes have been made to the exterior and interior – it’s far more than a few lazy tweaks to colour and trim with exterior decals added, as is so often the case with such collaborations. Secondly, the changes have been executed with skill and care. The predicted wing additions aren’t flimsy like their Adidas cousins but bristling with LEDs and properly worked into the design of the wider track rear fenders; the new dashboard air vents really do look like Madonna’s conical metal bra, as intended, and the overall quality of the quilted leather seat finish and real chrome-dipped interior parts does resemble the look and smell of a designer handbag, as Scott wanted.
Thirdly, and perhaps most surprisingly, Smart is aiming to put the concept into small-scale production – maybe up to 200 – so not the usual cut-and-run one-off marketing ruse. Of course they’ll have to be some changes for safety and feasibility reasons, like 50 per cent smaller wings for a start, and a likely Brabus-sized circa £5000 price hike over the regular Smart fortwo, but still, there’s something solidly fun about this concept. And the fact that it’s already annoying traditional ‘car guys’ on internet chat forums makes it funnier still – and brave of Smart to follow through on.
As the normally conservative-with-a-small ‘c’ head of Mercedes Interior design, Hartmut Sinkwitz candidly told Car Design News: “When I saw his Adidas sports shoes I immediately thought we should use the wings. It has to be crazy enough to be provocative and more collaborative than just sponsoring fashion shows. A brand needs emotional highlights, it won’t be loved for reliability alone. This concept is about mixing the freedom of the fashion industry with the careful execution of the car industry.”
And done with conviction, fair play to that.
By Guy Bird
Tags: auto show, forjeremy, fortwo, jeremy scott, LA, motor show, smart
Posted by cdnlive November 29th, 2012
There’s a surprising amount to like about the new, full-size fancy Honda if nothing to truly dazzle except, that is, its lamps. Up front is a full complement of 20 projectors that gives a super-techy look to what is an otherwise sober proposition.
The light fantastic continues around the rear with a particularly well-executed light pipe that very slickly highlights the lamp graphic.
By Owen Ready
Tags: 2012, acura, auto show, LA, motor show, rlx
Posted by cdnlive November 29th, 2012
And it’s not even a proper dog.
By Owen Ready
Tags: auto show, dog, LA, motor show
Posted by cdnlive November 29th, 2012
It feels like we’ve seen the Toyota Avalon before, not only because it was previewed at the New York Auto Show earlier this year, but also because it incorporates so many industry-standard features.
It would be unkind to call it a clone of anything in particular and it actually manages to create its own personality, even if it is inoffensively handsome rather than truly memorable.
Toyota has wisely moved this car to the increasingly popular semi-coupe fastback end of the sedan spectrum and in doing so has infused it with shades of Audi A7 and a smidge of VW CC but has largely managed to make it all hang together in a way that many of its recent efforts have failed.
Some have criticized its DRG but actually the lower grille is less dominant at standing hight than the images suggest and it gives a genuinely distinctive nose. And while the proportions of the Avalon are hobbled by its FWD architecture, the surface resolution is very good – certainly better than any of the current Lexus models.
The interior is very similar in theme to the latest Lexus GS with a very strong horizontal orientation that is given driver focus not by wrapping the controls around him but by the creation of layers of controls all along the horizontal axis. Perceived quality is poor in parts with plenty of hard plastics but then its competitors are little better and are less inviting.
Overall it’s a surprisingly appealing package that feels more like a cut-price Lexus than a fancy Toyota.
By Owen Ready
Tags: auto show, avalon, fastback, LA, motor show, Toyota
Posted by cdnlive November 28th, 2012
The Hyundai Veloster C3 Roll Top ‘concept’ adds a couple of new strings to the asymmetric hunchback/coupe’s bow.
As the name suggests the Roll Top features a a fabric roof similar to that found on the Fiat 500C and Citroen DS3, leaving the bodysides and cant rails in place as the soft cover retracts. However while the European pair’s roofs simply fold back, the Veloster’s can also slide forward and drop its tailgate to create a kind of pick-up lifestyle wagon, perfect for all those non-existent active lifestyle clichés.
It’s actually a neat and no-doubt cost effective solution and, in the LA sun, the idea of cruising Highway 1 with a couple of surf boards in the back is no doubt giving the marketing team plenty to high-five each other about.
In order to demonstrate the Roll Top’s load-carry capacity a matching fixie has been loaded into the one here in LA, the Veloster doing its best dad at the disco impression by wearing lime green rear wheels to emulate the bike’s Aerospoke.
The color and trim work on the car is actually the highlight – Liz Curren’s billboard-style roof fabric and upcycled skate board trunk lining feel fresh. It’s a nice bike too.
Overall, nothing really new here but it adds a little more appeal to Hyundai’s college kid offering.
By Owen Ready
Tags: c3, fixie, hyundai, la auto show, motor show, new car, roll top, veloster
