Posts Tagged "details"

The aventador has a likeable quality and is very well executed but there’s a sense that it lacks the shock, thrill and awe that a true Lamborghini ought to have. The company appear to have rectified that this year with the Aventador J – a ‘more than’ spider version of the Aventador, with the wildness turned up a notch. It works really rather well, the hooked scorpion’s tail, or ‘J’ motif consistently repeated throughout and the application of carbon teaching the tuner boys a thing or two. Welcome back raging bull.

  

Posted by Joe Simpson

Missed this one in Frankfurt. But, in further proof that the Fiat Panda will make you smile at any given opportunity, this is hiding on the inside of the bootlid, just by the hinges and the hose to the rear wash squirt.

Posted by Joe Simpson

Yesterday we reported on just how poor a reaction the Bentley Exp 9F concept was receiving here in Geneva. But everyone you speak to adds a caveat to their exterior loathing, reporting that “the interior’s rather nice though”. We’d agree – and when the split tailgate opens up, while it’s become a bit of a cliche in the luxury car space, we couldn’t help notice the rather nice picnic set.

The Germans must think the British spend the few days of summer we get on the grey and rainy island in a perpetual picnicking adventure. We can add the set in the 9 F to what Rolls-Royce showed in the Phantom a year and a half ago, and the series of ones that adorned a Mini Clubman concept or two that were shown in 2005/6. All ‘British’ brands, now under the direction of German firms. Now where did I put my Pimms and lemonade?

The Esflow polarised opinion in Geneva. It clearly has a lot of Nissan Z-car language in it, and appears to demonstrate an intention to build an electric sport car before too long. However, inside feels like a very different car to outside (we don’t mean that as a negative comment). We were grabbed by some of the details, such as the indicator stalks (below), bank of toggle switches that sit in the midst of the dual-hump of the IP, and billet-like gear selector (see bottom). Design review coming soon.

Joe Simpson

 

It’s easy to be completely engrossed by the cars at the motorshow. Clearly, they should be the number one priority but, increasingly, stand design is important too, not only influencing how the cars themselves are perceived, but as a way of communicating brand values. Here are a few of my favourites stand details from this year:

Joe Simpson

VW’s Bulli is an exceptionally well-executed piece of design, evoking a spirit of a by-gone era. It’s especially impressive to see VW’s modern twist on the petrol pump with this electric charging unit that stands alongside the car, topped with a vast VW roundel. The petrol pump and station has formed such a strong part of the automotive-inspired architecture of the last century that it’d be sad to think we will lose that with the onset of the electric car. VW shows it needn’t be so…

Continuing the propulsion theme, Porsche chose to show what (isn’t technically) their oldest car, but one that makes a good story all the same. The first hybrid vehicle ever built, stood proudly on Porsche’s stand next to the company’s newest hybrid, the Panamera. Though many observers seemed to prefer its looks to those of the more modern car…

Seat showed off a simple, eye-catching way to display their range of colours, in this circle of mirrors. It’s not a new idea, but the bright and bold Seat palette was more notable for being somewhat more visually arresting than the IBx concept that can be seen behind…

Volvo’s accessories and stand displays often impress, and Geneva 2011 proved no different. Showing the company’s exterior colour range as a display of ‘jeans cut-outs’ made for a sweet and original display in the corner of the Volvo booth…

Audi is a master of stand design. This is a detail shot from the accessory range for the A1. Is it just us or is that checker-pattern reminiscent of fashion brand Burberry?

Elsewhere, the company’s quattro ice-block might be familiar to those who’ve visited an Audi stand before, but that doesn’t make it any less impressive…

We thought one Vision ConnectedDrive concept would have been enough, but BMW brought two Geneva 2011, fixing one to the wall of their stand. The display features a screen that rolls open or shut, depending on what aspect of the car’s technological aspects is being demonstrated…

We featured it in a previous post, but couldn’t resist sneaking in that half of a Renault 4 display again

BMW’s Vision ConnectedDrive Concept is one of the real show stars in Geneva. BMW’s Director of Group Design, Adrian van Hooydonk talks more about the overall strategy behind the concept here. And Head of Interior Design at BMW, Marc Girard has talked us through the interior here and here.

This car had a tough act to follow in the form of the acclaimed Vision EfficientDynamics Concept shown at the IAA in Frankfurt in 2009. Based on pictures released some weeks before Geneva, some were also questioning whether this car would live up the high standards of design and originality set by that car. In photos, some of the resolution and surfacing made this car look a little slab-like. Yet in the flesh the car has a lithe, elegant form and a lightness of execution that belies its complex technology.

There is some surprisingly poor surfacing on show on other cars here in Geneva, but the BMW is not one of them . It might not have quite the level of originality the Vision EfficientDynamics Concept displayed, but it’s still an impressive piece of design in its own right and a logical evolution of a set of ideas. Along with the Mini Rocketman, it illustrates the depth of talent within design at BMW right now. Hidden throughout the concept are a series of incredibly complex, yet ultimately quite background technology features, which we’ll explore in greater depth in a longer design review. For now though, here are some of our favourite detail elements of the car, and our flickr photo gallery.

Joe Simpson

Adding to Andrew’s thoughts on the Bertone, it’s perhaps truthful to say that this is a well designed concept and indeed most designers we have spoken to have expressed a positive opinion about it. From my perspective however, it’s slightly strange to see Bertone doing this, when in many regards it echos a direction that Jaguar themselves were going in, some six or so years ago. And there-in lies the problem, the car feels to me like a concept that’s somewhat outdated, a sense that’s contributed to by the graphical execution.

There are however, some really nice details:  the dial needles (above), and the frankly stunning, jewellery-like treatment used around the grille (below). These are highly reminiscent of something we’ve seen before – the work of a female Jewellery designer from the RCA, who graduated in 2007 and whose work went on to be exhibited in the Victoria and Albert museum, and are applied in a stunning, if very subtle way…

Joe Simpson