BenQ
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<span style="font-size: 8pt"><span style="font-weight: bold">Original Topic…</span>
What is it that makes British cars so special?
This is the question that I will be developing into a proposal for my Automotive Design degree at Coventry University.
My aim is to design and develop a new British car (interior and exterior), that shows all major aspects of British automotive design, both new and old. This design will then go on to be presented to Rolls Royce, Bentley, and many other British manufacturers.
So my question to you, and I hope you can help me with it, is about trends and styles that you love about British cars, both new and old...
What does a British car have that others do not?
What makes a British car truly British?
What is it about British car styling that makes us so passionate?
Has anything been lost in current British cars that was evident in older designs?
Any opinions about any form of British car design would be appreciated, and hopefully we can start to get some ideas thrown about...</span>
<span style="font-size: 11pt"><span style="font-weight: bold">New Topic…</span>
What do you think...?
I’m grateful that some patterns are already starting to become clear from the other forum topic…
Everyone seems to have fallen in love with ‘the drive’ of the LBC’s: Their rattles, their squeaks, and their smells, everything that gives the vehicle some character. And I can relate. My car has a few ‘flaws’, parts that rattle and squeak while driving, but they do add character to the car, and I know I would miss them if they stopped. Sadly, as ‘Steve S’ said, these cannot be in the cars of today. There are too many regulations that prevent it. But there is nothing that prevents other aspects of ‘the drive’ being reinterpreted…
I really like ‘Bugimike’s description of ‘wearing’ the car, and how when you are in it, you are <span style="font-style: italic">one</span> with it, feeling what it feels. This could be developed into something interesting in my design. The idea of focusing the front of the car on the driver could allow a great link between man and machine, wrapping the controls around him, integrating the driver into the vehicle as opposed to placing him into the it. Allowing this more physical connection with the vehicle would hopefully be able to bring back some of the feelings that are lost within most current British cars, re-developing that long-lost ‘soul’…?
Another comment that has been on my mind was ‘Tony Barnhill’s’ about having ‘enough room to be comfortable, but not enough to be excessive’. The lead interior designer at Ford is quoted saying “Space is the greatest Luxury”, and that may be true in American automotive design where the cars are much larger, but maybe for a truly British design, this space should be better packaged, kept to the minimum that can be comfortable?
I love this idea of reinterpreting the driver experience, and I will hopefully be able to create a design that is visually British inside and out. With your love of some of the original British cars (and some of the new ones?), what do you think of some of these examples of current British car design…?
<span style="font-weight: bold">In my opinion, these 3 cars show good current British sport/luxury. I appreciate that this forum is mainly enthusiasts of LBC's, not the larger cars like these, but it is the love of <span style="font-style: italic">your </span>British cars that I hope to re-capture. Trends will hopefully be identified across the full range of British cars that will allow my design to look truly British. Form language on the classic LBC's is as valued as that on these cars. Hopefully comparisons can even be made... Your likes and dislikes would be really helpful to identify what trends affect a cars 'British' appearance…
Bentley Brooklands, 2008
- Brooklands Exterior
- Brooklands Interior
Aston Martin DB9, 2009
- DB9 Exterior
- DB9 Interior
And, showing the more radical side, Jaguar C-XF, 2007
(Does this still look 'British' to you?)
- C-XF Exterior
- C-XF Interior </span>
Thanks guys (and girls), the stuff up to now has been great, and highlighted many areas I would not have otherwise thought of.
Hopefully we can keep this going,
- Ben
(Sorry to those who read this post in my other window, it was lost among so many answers that it became hard to find. Hopefully this topic will be as enthusiastically answered...
Thanks Guys.)</span>
What is it that makes British cars so special?
This is the question that I will be developing into a proposal for my Automotive Design degree at Coventry University.
My aim is to design and develop a new British car (interior and exterior), that shows all major aspects of British automotive design, both new and old. This design will then go on to be presented to Rolls Royce, Bentley, and many other British manufacturers.
So my question to you, and I hope you can help me with it, is about trends and styles that you love about British cars, both new and old...
What does a British car have that others do not?
What makes a British car truly British?
What is it about British car styling that makes us so passionate?
Has anything been lost in current British cars that was evident in older designs?
Any opinions about any form of British car design would be appreciated, and hopefully we can start to get some ideas thrown about...</span>
<span style="font-size: 11pt"><span style="font-weight: bold">New Topic…</span>
What do you think...?
I’m grateful that some patterns are already starting to become clear from the other forum topic…
Everyone seems to have fallen in love with ‘the drive’ of the LBC’s: Their rattles, their squeaks, and their smells, everything that gives the vehicle some character. And I can relate. My car has a few ‘flaws’, parts that rattle and squeak while driving, but they do add character to the car, and I know I would miss them if they stopped. Sadly, as ‘Steve S’ said, these cannot be in the cars of today. There are too many regulations that prevent it. But there is nothing that prevents other aspects of ‘the drive’ being reinterpreted…
I really like ‘Bugimike’s description of ‘wearing’ the car, and how when you are in it, you are <span style="font-style: italic">one</span> with it, feeling what it feels. This could be developed into something interesting in my design. The idea of focusing the front of the car on the driver could allow a great link between man and machine, wrapping the controls around him, integrating the driver into the vehicle as opposed to placing him into the it. Allowing this more physical connection with the vehicle would hopefully be able to bring back some of the feelings that are lost within most current British cars, re-developing that long-lost ‘soul’…?
Another comment that has been on my mind was ‘Tony Barnhill’s’ about having ‘enough room to be comfortable, but not enough to be excessive’. The lead interior designer at Ford is quoted saying “Space is the greatest Luxury”, and that may be true in American automotive design where the cars are much larger, but maybe for a truly British design, this space should be better packaged, kept to the minimum that can be comfortable?
I love this idea of reinterpreting the driver experience, and I will hopefully be able to create a design that is visually British inside and out. With your love of some of the original British cars (and some of the new ones?), what do you think of some of these examples of current British car design…?
<span style="font-weight: bold">In my opinion, these 3 cars show good current British sport/luxury. I appreciate that this forum is mainly enthusiasts of LBC's, not the larger cars like these, but it is the love of <span style="font-style: italic">your </span>British cars that I hope to re-capture. Trends will hopefully be identified across the full range of British cars that will allow my design to look truly British. Form language on the classic LBC's is as valued as that on these cars. Hopefully comparisons can even be made... Your likes and dislikes would be really helpful to identify what trends affect a cars 'British' appearance…
Bentley Brooklands, 2008
- Brooklands Exterior
- Brooklands Interior
Aston Martin DB9, 2009
- DB9 Exterior
- DB9 Interior
And, showing the more radical side, Jaguar C-XF, 2007
(Does this still look 'British' to you?)
- C-XF Exterior
- C-XF Interior </span>
Thanks guys (and girls), the stuff up to now has been great, and highlighted many areas I would not have otherwise thought of.
Hopefully we can keep this going,
- Ben
(Sorry to those who read this post in my other window, it was lost among so many answers that it became hard to find. Hopefully this topic will be as enthusiastically answered...
Thanks Guys.)</span>