The Cinquecento is back

Come Fourth of July, and we will see the rebirth of yet another iconic car, Nuova Fiat 500. Exactly half a century after the original was conceived by Dante Giacosa and launched by Fiat. The designer who is significant to Indians as being responsible for the Bombay taxis derived from the Fiat Millicento (1100).

No doubt the new Fiat 500 will be as important to the cycle of revival of Fiat as it was back then after the war. Like its ancestor the new 500 has been designed in-house. Fiat hinted on the remake of the 500 at Geneva three years back in the form of the ‘Trepiuno’ concept. The exterior of the production car may not vary much from the concept. But the interior is a far cry from Trepiuno’s use of translucent silicon surface (akin to an iPod). Instead we can expect beautifully balanced retro smells and colours in the detailing and style of the dashboard and other elements of the interior.

The car’s proportions and certain cues lend a pleasant form while also expressing the notion of solidity and sturdiness. While the ancestral version had the static solidity to counter its diminutive stature the present one seems to want to follow the same traits albeit with its distinctive sporting and dynamic exterior. Thanks mainly to the glasshouse, steeper rake angle at the rear window, forward stretching windscreen and diving profile. The wraparound type bonnet follows the feature line that loops around the car, recalling its forbearer, complete with the absence of a grille. Further nostalgic ingredients come in the form of its short bonnet, minimal overhang, compact size and optimum track dimensions. Almost every motif picked up from the past has been considered for a reason and is there to serve a particular function. In some cases reviewing its function in the original car and enhancing the feature on the new car. For instance the roof glazing makes an obvious nod at the short canvas roof of the later 500s.

With the new 500 Europe’s prominent post war quartet of small cars that were born more than half a century back, will all have a descendant that is proud of its parentage. The other members include the new beetle, BMW MINI and Pluriel (if we make ourselves believe it is a descendant of the Citroen 2CV). These cars marked the first wave of mass motorisation in Europe. The Fiat 500 is an original design, then, to convene a new post-modern consumer style that rephrases retro forms and style to satisfy contemporary needs. Not a novelty when one looks at music, furniture design, fashion, and lifestyle. Post-modernism; emerged at the very end of last century and has enthused designers worldwide. To create a blend of the past and future through an exclusive product that shifts from mass manufacture in terms of style and method of construction.

Fiat has even launched a website for the 500, where it encourages visitors to suggests new design options, perhaps to encourage and increase the 500 cult group, and make it a valuable brand. No doubt Fiat is on a mission to have this new addition to its line up of the graceful Punto and Bravo models.

The Nine Eleven

The Nine eleven is a classic shape that developed through faithful and consistent transformation. It was not one, which delved into new design themes. Yet has defined the way forward for sports cars to come at the time of its introduction. Reserving its berth as one of the most influential cars of the twentieth century.

On the outset Porsche was a driver’s car and change was inevitable when confronted with the question of survival, and numbers dictated. Along with it came distillation, meaning the car went exactly where the driver commanded it to, and accompanying the performance were cleaner less organic surfaces that were as predictable as its competition.

Porsche schemed to enter the 911 into the GT class soon after the introduction of the 996-generation in 98. This meant fostering a race car coupled with cultivating a road legal derivative, as necessitated by GT class homologation rules. Now a Porsche 911 is almost always an object of desire, a fast 911 even more. However take a virtually race-spec Porsche add a touch of nostalgia in the recipe. Like its forerunner, the 1973 911 Carrera RS and you are feasted with the GT3 RS.

What’s the point? Wasn’t the GT3 built with the intention of Motor Racing? Doesn’t it accord with most drivers’ view of perfection? And the GT3RS is only marginally faster but with a gross disparity of figures printed on individual price tags, for the same engine and gearbox!! But hey, welcome to the world inhabited by the fortunate few who are complete strangers to common sense. There's always a reason, despite the tawdry sticker near the doorsill (reminiscent of it’s 73 ancestor), the mammoth rear wing adorning vivid body colours. A few features that encroach into the frontier of being considered design crime on any other car but by virtue of being a Porsche its all fine. But how can we deny the day glow orange, or the viper green body colours with contrasting alloys as not making the statement that this car is all about. Works well. Complete with effervescent alphanumeric model designation in the Porsche 911 GT3 RS. It all adds up to be part of the abstruseness.

Porsche designers may have quite often been criticised as being the laziest in the industry when one looks at its styling, famously that of the last boxster in comparison to its former. But how easy is it to maintain the classic 911 shape at all times? Making a statement of pure refined sports car engineering just like the badge (and the elongated square Porsche graphics) that has barely changed since its inception.  The GT3RS body shape differs from its mechanical donor car (the GT3) with the beautiful bulging hip at the rear fender, the front lip and the carbon fibre rear wing. The last mentioned being a far cry from the famous 'ducktail' spoiler of the Carrera ancestor. Subtract the aerodynamic aids and peel of the colour and the muscular rear end makes evident the wider track that sharpens directional stability and ups the latent lateral grip on this two-seat coupe. The enamel Porsche shield on the boot lid replaces the earlier 996-based GT3 RS’s sticker; a tiny detail that symbolised its lightweight creed and respecting the back-to-basics formula, devoid of anything unnecessary in its pursuit for agility and speed.

The GT3 RS belongs to that end of the market where one should not steer into arguments about value. Whichever way one looks at it.

Italian American

A car conceived by an Italian-American has in last month’s LA Auto show set an example of an Italian American collaboration. An iconic car, the brainchild of Lee Iacocca, Ford Mustang of ’65 has never really had a successor worthy of its guise until the current Mustang production car was born in 2005. It is no surprise then that it caught the eye of the Giugiaro family just like it did at the time of the Mark-1. Only this time round the Giuiario’s Mustang is more faithful to the production car’s design cues than in ’ 65 as Bertone Mustang.

Giugiaro’s interpretation of the Mustang back then was different from the present one. In that then he was simulating the beauty of an Alfa or any other Italian sports car onto the chassis of an Iconic American car of all time. It did not necessarily follow the Mustang cues like a new Golf would do of its predecessor! This is not to take away any credit for designing the new one. But to say that in essence the Corvette Moray of 2003 would exemplify better as an illustration of Italian statement of American metal. Right down to the wheels. Moray incidentally is a former Giugiaro stable inmate.

However in ‘Mustang by Giugiaro’ unveiled last month the car’s basic shape seems invincible even to the Italian’s 2H pencil on tracing paper. Though the clear crystal roof dome immediately reminds one of Giugiaro’s recent study on the Ferrari 612 Scaglietti. The GG50. All said and done it depicts Italy’s love affair with America, and their muscle cars. Accentuated by the vast difference in design language and culture between the two countries. Ensuing in the appreciation of each other’s diversity and uniqueness through this trans-Atlantic collaboration in car design. The bones of an American car with the muscles of Italian design language in form and enhanced by touches like the scissor doors and detailing of the lights.

Very often we realize elements of our own culture through the eyes of a foreigner. This may or may not be prejudiced. While these elements are not unknown to the inhabitant of the culture in question, it is usually taken for granted. And usually never given the status of importance it may perhaps deserve. The ‘Mustang by Giugiaro’ is a byproduct of the way an Italian sees an American muscle car of our times, arguably on similar lines. The cross-cultural dynamic is best displayed in the interior through the application of leather and chrome, complimented by orange-lit instrument clusters. Clusters that is part of a symmetrical dashboard, typical of American sports car.

The Mustang taillights are still distinguishable on the Giugiaro example. In spite of being separated and wrapped over the boot end lip in a diamond array synonymous to the louvers on the side windows. These louvers revoke the late 60’s sporty fastbacks while enhancing the side window which otherwise seems unadorned in the production car. Such subtle features that come with Italian scultura is what makes this car different from the original American design.

Ford (America) would do well to pick a handful of points from here or maybe its effect would be seen in models to come… the next Mustang perhaps?

London's Moving Monument

Consider this. One lands in a new city and is right away within the very element that constitutes the city's aesthetic. The black-yellow or blue-white Premier Padmini in Bombay, yellow amby in Calcutta or the yellow-black auto rickshaw in Madras.

A Graphic representation of London would cover besides the Big Ben, Tower Bridge, London eye and Red route master bus the London Taxi. The deregulation tide from Thatcher meant that London would no longer be the toy box we have come to know of it from picture books and old photographs. The red telephone boxes gave way to alternate cubicles of common designs from private phone companies. The red double decker buses now transformed to mobile commercial hoardings. Its livery now akin to glossy snack packets and its form a far cry from the route master's.

Seems like the London Taxi is the only moving reminiscent of the London of the past century. It is like the colour brown. Of bricks, bread, tea, beer, sauce and scotch eggs. This iconic Black Cab has been around for about half a century. By serving not only as a visual element that completes the London landscape. But contributing to English Language with its name Hackney Carriage. Touching on the horses, which pulled the original carriages consequently denoting "for hire".

The new TX4 is an evolution of past generations of LTI’s black cabs. Replacing the earlier model, which was part of the 'millennium products' chosen by the British Design council to celebrate the best of British design. Hinting at a bygone era, it is a retro styled car while being as modern as a taxi can possibly get. The distinctive styling it adorns absorbs the form of the original Black cab. Though its livery may no longer necessarily be black. There is no confusion with any other car or private hire vehicles. And that is a distinction in itself. Rendering the use of a 'London Taxi' in say Singapore a premium.

It is claimed that the new TX4 has undergone serious testing including visits to the wind tunnel at MIRA. As a Hackney carriage is expected to cover a million miles in a decade!

The British should be proud of the TX4 not as the most recognisable and well designed Taxi in the world but that it is the largest surviving British owned passenger car manufacturer. Having 50 golden cabs for the Queen's Golden Jubilee in 2002 is only an indication of what this car means to the English. The car has been conceived to serve every member of the public including the royalty. Complete with bright yellow handles, and entertaining wheel chair users.

Updating a mobile monument without losing the public's favoured cues of the original is a task in itself. But with development budgets much lower than a mass market car there is only so much class and integration that would be revealed in the detailing.

Arguably the unique London cab proportions and shape must make it equivalent to a yellow coloured car's as being the easiest to spot. For us foreigners the London taxi of today exemplifies 'Made in England' of the past, ‘exuberant yet sound’.

Twingo, the little star

In the early 90s Patrick Le Quément, Renault's design chief introduced the Twingo. Which could be hailed responsible for bursting the 'sub B segment' bubble in Europe in the recent past. The Twingo with its monospace shape has an increased interior space. Although it may be said that it was not the first time such an idea of a monvolume packaging was conceived for a car this size. But it was a first from a major manufacturer complete with its utilitarian values, and looks that seemed all right. It could have been a bigger success story had it been sold in Britain earlier on its life span. This was depicted by the success of a later entrant in the form of the Smart For Two.

For over a decade there has been no successor from the Renault stable for the Twingo other than 'facelifts'. The Modus would have shared a relation to a contemporary Twingo akin to that enjoyed by the Scenic with the Megane. However the benchmark set by the collaborative effort of Peugeot, Citroën and Toyota to produce a city car in the form of 107, C1 and Aygo may have alluded at the next Twingo from Renault. And so we have had a preview of the next Twingo in the form of 'Twingo concept' at Mondial de l'Automobile last month. ‘Concept' not translated from research of Design and function opportunities like the BMW Concept, Coupé Mille Miglia, but a projection of a design 'character'. This makes it appear as if Renault has taken the back seat in a segment it was the driver. To the extent that the car is no more a one box design. 

Renault has portrayed music and independence in the character of the car with its heavy bias on telecommunication and iPod culture. Spell that as youth culture. Step back and look again. It looks like a car close to production with sophisticated interiors and lighting et al. In a way Renault is to set the next Twingo as an active and an engaging car using trends and technology that is definitely aimed at youngsters. Replacing the previously suave and simple Twingo with a relatively aggressive and trenchant front face. While also made to feel much sportier with its down road graphic, emphasised in its volume and stance. Though like its predecessor the major surfaces have not been made busy, but kept simple while also incorporating cues from the former in the interior. 

Clearly as always Renault have tried to inject a soul into a machine, the car. Whose minimalist, less complicated interior is surrounded by hi-tech (in the form of blue tooth, internet, mood lighting) ambience. Ironical this, since the young urban culture it seems to be representing gets closer to the next generation of the machine world. So is the soul redefined? Perhaps this is an outcome of following the consumer patterns in other areas of design and labelling it as lifestyle. Nothing wrong when one considers that the modern lifestyle has been moulded by what is in offer from the 'Industrialised' world. Anything outside this regime may deem dated. 

Having established its capability to deliver innovative design, and develop a corporate visual identity. It remains to be seen how the third phase of design at Renault, known as 'touch design' is succeeded. Would the next Twingo be a prelude to the transition into that next design phase? 

Design by citroen

The idea was to put pen on paper on the 2007 MINI. Having sold 800,000 MINI-One in just 5 years for a car that definitely was not of the utilitarian kind is stupendous. Helped mainly by being faithful to the handling characteristics and the design essence of the iconic ‘59 classic. With a high brand value the MINI-One possesses today, BMW are up with a Mark 2 for Paris. But with a design change as little in difference as the Porsche 996 and 997 the Citroën C- Métisse made more writing sense. She is arguably the most beautiful concept car this century yet. 

Citroën called up images of the DS with its beautiful C6 production car. And over the last few years it has been a design revival with the C3, C2, C8, C4 and soon the new Picasso (worthy of the name unlike the present model). All thanks to the concept cars preceding the production models, the C-air lounge for one.

The C- Métisse carries a ‘station wagonish’ sedan body style, while musing a coupe. More akin to the ‘shooting brake’ type pioneered by coach built Aston martins in the 60s. Typified by a long bonnet and slim DLO (Day light opening or side window graphic). However the long bonnet is characteristically Citroën along with the absence of any rear overhang. Contemporarily complete with the trademark Citroën cheveron front grille, broken graphics, and queer DLO. Flowing rearwards to terminate sharply at the rear wheel arch bulge. But the eye travels onto the tail lamps, which perfectly compliment the headlamps. The low roofline, fast raked windscreen, crouching stance on a lengthy but well proportioned car has all the ingredients of leading the way in style. The design makes a stationary car seem dynamic, while actually pursuing for dynamic efficiency.  

Verily the C- Métisse has explored a different route in car design. A pair of front gull wing doors and rear scissors with their opposing arcs should be a spectacle in itself. The fabulous exterior is appreciated by an interior complete with the four seats attractively appointed in white leather and finished with impressive detailing through aluminium inserts. Not to mention the ambience created by lights as is typical in a Citroën show car. Suffice to say enough for a car designer to be awe inspired. Which is a welcome in the ever-challenging field to be different. 

Not only can we expect a higher standard in the styling of future Citroën production cars but also the technology packed from engine bay to the cabin of this Grand Tourer. On the one hand we have the Americans and Japanese inclined towards gas and electric on the other the Europeans seem to be emphasising on cleaner diesels. And the C- Métisse intends to marry both the ideas. "C-Métisse" literally translates to "cross-breed" or "hybrid" a design study is a diesel-electric hybrid. 

This is a car manufacturer that has always been ahead technologically since the 30s with their family car Traction Avant. Followed by the successful DS.  Perhaps this decade Citroën wants to prove its mettle once again. Featuring innovative technology and design in its concept cars and showing off its innovative pedigree. 

An automobile designed to lead, not follow. 

The Carrozzeria’s Ferrari

There is some man from Hollywood having a tubular frame chassis the origin of which is questionable in the world’s only Ferrari P3/4. This man, James Glickenhaus liked its shape as much as he did the Enzo’s mechanicals. What does he do next? Simple. He picked the Enzo and his 1967 Ferrari 330 P3/4 and flew to Turin. And a brief laid down to the creators of the Enzo - Pininfarina (who were keen to work with James on the P3/4 anyway). Design a car with the hard points of an Enzo and an exterior reminiscent of the P3/4.

Being ‘carrozzerias'(hand crafting specialised cars) for more than half of the last century, this was nothing new-fangled to the Italian design house.  They had only recently produced the Ferrari 612 Kappa for another rich American called Peter Kalikow. Oh! And god knows how many for the Sultan of Brunei and his brother to store in their secret cubbyhole. Not to be ever revealed to the rest of the world. Why? Well maybe it’s this attitude that separates a Sultan from us mortals. It is reckoned that Pininfarina have a department set up to cater to such clients! 

Fortunately however, Mr. Glickenhaus will proudly disclose his version of the revisited P3/4. In fact Ferrari has allowed it to be christened P4/5. It is quite unheard of from Pininfarina to recreate a Ferrari from the past. In that the P4/5 has remained faithful to the '67 P3/4 in its proportions. Attaining its design cues in the fenders, roofline, ducktail and side air intakes. However the added spice is the tail pipes of the exhaust previously seen in modern day F1 cars.

The original Ferrari P3/4s was not just a visual masterpiece; she reserved her place in the supercar folklore by trouncing the Ford GT40s for the world constructors’ sports car championship of ’67 at Daytona.  The GT40s were incidentally created to beat the Ferrari when Henry Ford could not buy out Ferrari.

The modern carozzeria that is Pininfarnia have not simply put a body atop an Enzo platform.  James has revealed that sufficient rubber has been burnt on the tarmac to ensure the Ferrari Dynamics, besides undertaking wind tunnel tests. Making the modern incarnation of the P3/4 aerodynamic unlike its beautiful original. After all the benchmark would have been the donor car, Enzo. It is claimed that some 200 custom parts were fabricated complete with a custom interior and hinges for the butterfly doors. So, would the P4/5 now claim to be one of the fastest, beautiful street legal cars of this era? Arguable, when compared to the original.

One thing is for sure. Since we know that the Sultan of Brunei lives in a planet yet to be traced by scientists, this project has spelt the resurgence of the custom-built Ferrari. Then days, Ferrari built racecars and was just beginning to be a brand to surmise. Chosen patrons would procure a racing chassis and get a carrozzeria to tailor a body around it. However this art saw its dusk in the seventies with extensive use of unit-body construction. Rendering any unique sculpture on wheels an expensive hobby (ever since) and their sighting even rare.

Now if you missed to catch a glimpse of the Ferrrari P4/5 in flesh at the Pebble Beach Concours this month, then not to worry. James is kind enough (unlike the Sultan) to display his car at the Paris Mondiale come September end.

It makes civic sense

With the new Civic, Honda may just have gained membership into the club visited by the likes of Citroen C4 and Renault Megane. The eighth edition of the European civic could have had this column a lot earlier, but attention is none the less. 

The Indian Civic’s attire is similar to the Hybrid Civic of UK that is alike in stance to its US cousin, but evidently different from the one driving out of Swindon, England factory. Unlike the Ford Focus it categorically looks newer than the model it replaces. Just as much as the first Focus looked relative to the Escort it replaced. But what’s notable is that unlike VW Golf it is not a banal conception! It’s not even a well-executed polished design like the last Opel astra. The Civic (read as European civic throughout) is a radical departure of its previous model, and eye-catching at that! The Civic is proportionately true unlike the City (with its cab forward MPVish stance). Instead the Civic is a fine balance of an MPV and a coupe. Detailing is not anything like a mass production Honda.  With a glazing on the nose that combines the lamp with the grille, and a complementing taillight graphic at the rear with the spoiler and two-piece glazing. Bridged by the forward sloping DLO. Surely the wrap around lamps and glazing must come at a production cost, which Honda has been conspicuously bold enough to retain from the concept Civic unveiled in Geneva last year.

One could be forgiven for mistaking it for a 3 door instead of a 5 door. This is thanks to the smaller rear door and its handles being sited within the window frames. It is claimed that the exterior design chief, Toshiyuki Okumoto spent much of his time in the Milanese Studio of Honda to be influenced and thus have a European character to the car. The Alfa Romeo’s way of concealing the rear door handle should not take away the credit for the rest of the car. Nor the Audi A2 influenced spoiler to rid the turbulent air from behind thus letting the Civic get away without a rear wiper by making the back screen water repellent. The new Civic has managed to confront the decree of road legislation over styling. Accomplished by shedding off some height and shortening herself in length from her forerunner. Yet have more room than its predecessor.

Bearing in mind the exterior, the interior designers have played their part equally well. Spacious and immodest about the electronic wizardry it incorporates. As is obvious right from the steering wheel to the cleverly thought of dual zone of instrumentation display and well-defined layout of the controls. All this leads to not just a distinctive heir for the previous Civic but an out of the ordinary car for the masses who presently drive cars whose muscles and bones seem to have been created so as to not be passed of as unaesthetic. Unlike the traditionally conservative Civic driver the potential one can be expected to be much younger in age, and happy to be different.  It may not be difficult to visualize Toyota designers flipping back to their sketchbooks for the Corolla replacement. After viewing the Civic’s launch.

Battling in the biggest segment in Europe, Honda Civic has altered the perception of an Asian mainstream car manufacturer’s styling capability. With the Honda name, anti-lock brakes, electric windows and mirrors, air bags all round, air conditioning, CD stereo and alloy wheels it is value for money. Goes to see if her Indian cousin does the same.

Design in the car businesses

Design is as essential for a van as it would be for a super car. Industrial Designer, Henry Dreyfuss’s Deere tractors designed during the first half of last century stands testimony that design is more than just surface treatments; it’s about establishing harmony between form and function and adding up the ‘emotional’ facet onto it. Automobile manufacturers who appreciate this naturally imbibe this non quantifiable element into their business process, simply because design translates its understanding of the human side onto the car and its constituents, and by exciting our senses it renders them into commercial gains. 

Given that Design creates desire and that in turn fuels business it is surprising then that our Automobile industry as a whole is yet to embrace it with open arms. Maybe the reason lies in the reservations that executives hold to talk about emotion, an unfamiliar term in the boardroom given that the benefits of Design would be difficult to put down figuratively, making corporate types that much alien to it.

Admittedly it’s not a one sided challenge. If the designer confines within the realm of art and craft then he would fall short of appealing to the other talents that are involved in rolling out the motor car, and produce work only so much as to meet the brief put forward to him by the management. To move a few notches higher he would have to be part of the diverse team involved in building a car from a drawing board. That said have company decisions ever been influenced by the residents of the design studio of companies that do have them like their counterparts from the finance department?

To have a design conduct of following a pattern is alluring for businesses, but at the cost of judgement and imagination. This is so because it does not seem ‘business sense’ to reinvent the wheel, so what do we end with? We are left with a choice of cars from different brands with the same level of equipment for a given price. It thus becomes tempting to incorporate a VCD player inside the car or providing variations in bumper colours or have an option of sticking a celebrity’s signature on the bonnet and try being an exclusive brand in a move to out manoeuvre risk. Rather than design changes.

In their emergent years companies like Ford were driven by innovation, but once established they tended to have decisions based on numbers from market analysts. This would only ruin a car manufacturer if not in a few years’ maybe decades. In order to make a mark in the market place we would have to make that fundamental change. The change would not involve the designer alone but demand those skills to think like chalk and cheese and the willingness to take risks. How else would India see its own edition of the Megane-scenic, Fiat 500 or the Escort Mk-1 in areas of family car, small car to rally cars? 

Perhaps if we looked around there is a car that could have only come from the subcontinent, which fulfils their vast majority’s demand best, a segment that is likely to come to light in India and China (for the many similarities in both cultures) and has yet to be revealed. Hold on Automotive historian there’s one more coming…

Audi from Germany

The proceedings at Brandenburg Gate, Berlin to commemorate “Germany – Land of Ideas” drew in “The Automobile” a giant car sculpture and featured the staging of the next Audi TT Coupe for the first time. 

Personally this event evokes the turnaround of perception of the automobile during the second half of the 1990s, educed more by auto design than auto technology. The Audi TT concept car in 1995 can be considered a design milestone with this regard. Since then Germany has provided a varied range of models and redefined the distinctive look of each make more actively than ever before through a visual master plan, branding each make with an inimitable appearance.

The comeback of the German car has been influenced largely by design be it model strategy, value addition or engineering as revealed by the A class, Boxster, and the new beetle. But the most outstanding image alteration during this period was Audi's.  The original TT can be credited in defining the Audi form language in its dawning years and has to be the most significant car designs of the last decade. Its styling is a defining moment in automotive design history for its novelty and daringness to depart from the principles laid by car styling text books of the time. The birth of the TT proved that the philosophy from the Bauhaus and Ulm school movements could indeed be incorporated into car design earlier deemed impossible and witnessed mostly in product design. That itself is an outstanding achievement leading Chief Designer Peter Schreyer to be merited with the German official distinction for design for his creation.

One cannot undermine the difficulty in distilling the simple design language of the TT’s characteristic rounded bodywork, absence of definite bumpers and clever application of bare aluminum, emblematic of a modernised industrialised world. Arguably the TT drove straight from the production line into the design museum. In the years to follow the TT's influence could be observed in design elements of cars that rolled out after her. In contemporary car design few cars possess such worldwide commendation or project an image that seems ahead of its time even a decade later!

Clear, unobtrusive elements define German Design and give it its excellent reputation; it works, is technically established and of high aesthetic quality. This is thanks to Bauhaus in the 1920's, and the Ulm School of Design in the 1950's and 60's, the formative institutions of modernism which involved a broad design of the product environment, considering product-people interface at a higher level to develop solutions for the socio-cultural changes in the industrial society. This sober form of German design is best exemplified by Dieter Ram's designs for Braun in the 1960's, shapes that respected basic geometry like circles, and rectangles. Schreyer’s Audi TT was a car which was fundamentally created from circular forms as if it was Bauhaus’s vision of the future.

Undoubtedly this clarity of German design has gone down well internationally, as displayed by a recent cult product, the Apple iPod. Designer Jonathan Ive’s form language is the modern incarnation of a Dieter Ram’s Braun product, with the pastel finish of the 60s yielding to the contemporary glossy finish. Which it seems is exactly what the New TT is set to do by retaining its predecessor’s motifs of circles and domes but made glossier in its dynamic stance with the tension in its panels.

Today Audi is specifically German in that like BMW or Mercedes it is a brand so strong that it shapes its own form. And the TT continues to play its role as the corporate form.

Reissuing the past

Citroen has been bolder than most of its counterparts in producing the C6, one that harks back at the CX of the early 70s. The CXs never basked in glory during its days as it was a complicated piece of equipment just as it was unreliable, and more significantly since it was a replacement of the legendary DS that was created in the mid fifties. As a big flagship car complete with remarkable interiors from the stables of Citroen, the C6 is quite fresh in design like some of its predecessors and evokes the typical Citroen quirkiness of the past.

However it is the C6’s fundamental nature that gives some nods to the CX. Thus C6 differs from the Mustang, the Challenger or the Camaro to name a few cars that have been re issued with design tenets taken from its proud elder sisters of the gone era. The mentioned cars and many like them have one thing in common; they are set to rouse our mind’s eye. The differences between the original and its derivative are blotted by the mind’s eye, failing which we discount them as a copy, like one would be inclined to in the case of say the Muira or the GT40. The recollection of one’s younger glorious days when breezed by the light summer wind is comparable to the emotion that arises out of admiring these ‘retro styled’ (if the term may be used) cars. Though most of us may never have had a first hand feel of the cars of the past, yet we perceived the essence of cars like the Dodge Challenger in the film ‘Vanishing Point’ or the portrayal of the Mini in ‘The Italian Job’. It is not surprising then that ‘The Italian Job’ was recreated based on the new Mini! A car that came to life in the beginning of the century with a stance arising out of short overhangs by having the wheels set to each corner producing the best case of commercial success from a classic car, in this case Sir Alec Issigonis’s creation and the lifestyle that developed around her. To the extent that BMW created a niche ‘mini’ market by tapping the lifestyle the old mini had! These solid built cars have since been designed into convertibles, stretched models, Estate versions and have for a while been making their presence felt in every major Auto show around the world, perhaps in an attempt to register the ‘Mini lifestyle’.

One may argue crafting a retro styled, irrefutably handsome car that is evocative comes at the cost of only so much innovation. Arguably a differed scale and cleaned up form lacks the oomph and emotive draw of the original match, however when only eighteen Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale were ever constructed (now extinct) one is pleased to be presented with its contemporary version in the ‘Diva’ concept at Geneva. The ’69 car was conceived from Alfa’s racing heritage, and though presently Alfa has no F1 presence the modern incarnation is chiseled with a more 'Formula One' edge for a comparable spirit. That’s to get the mind’s eye to take a different course. Yet another course would be like SAAB capitalising on its precedent, its aircraft beginnings, and the Aero X at Geneva with the adoption of a cockpit canopy resembling a jet aircraft does just that. 

It’s only fair then to allow designers to make use of a rich heritage to explore potential cues for the next in the product portfolio. At least it would make up for those of us who never had the opportunity to be in the era when ‘those’ beautiful cars existed.

When the boardroom turns emotional

Industrial Designer, Henry Dreyfuss’s Deere tractors designed during the first half of last century stands testimony that design is more than just surface treatments; it’s about establishing harmony between form and function and adding up the ‘emotional’ facet onto it. Design is as essential for a van as it would be for a super car. Automobile manufacturers who appreciate this naturally imbibe this non quantifiable element into their business process, simply because design translates its understanding of the human side onto the car and its constituents, and by exciting our senses it renders them into commercial gains. 

Given that Design creates desire and that in turn fuels business it is surprising then that our Automobile industry as a whole is yet to embrace it with open arms. Maybe the reason lies in the reservations that executives hold to talk about emotion, an unfamiliar term in the boardroom given that the benefits of Design would be difficult to put down figuratively, making corporate types that much alien to it.

Admittedly it’s not a one sided challenge. If the designer confines within the realm of art and craft then he would fall short of appealing to the other talents that are involved in rolling out the motor car, and produce work only so much as to meet the brief put forward to him by the management. To move a few notches higher he would have to be part of the diverse team involved in building a car from a drawing board. That said, have company decisions ever been influenced by the residents of the design studio of companies that do have them like their counterparts from the finance department?

To have a design conduct of following a pattern is alluring for businesses, but at the cost of judgement and imagination. This is so because it does not seem ‘business sense’ to reinvent the wheel, so what do we end with? We are left with a choice of cars from different brands with the same level of equipment for a given price. And instead of using design to get ahead of competition the manufacturer tries to lure the customer by say incorporating a VCD player inside the car or providing variations in bumper colours or have an option of sticking a celebrity’s signature on the bonnet and try being an exclusive brand in a move to out manoeuvre risk.

In their emergent years companies like Ford were driven by innovation, but once established they tended to have decisions based on numbers from market analysts. This would only ruin a car manufacturer if not in a few years’ maybe decades. In order to make a mark in the market place before the foreigners arrive with their arms and ammunition, some of our automotive companies may have to make that fundamental change. The change would not involve the designer alone but demand those skills to think like chalk and cheese and the willingness to take risks. How else would India see its own edition of the Megane-scenic, Fiat 500 or the Escort Mk-1 in areas of family car, small car to rally cars? 

Perhaps if we looked around there is a car that could have only come from the subcontinent, which fulfils their vast majority’s demand best, a segment that is likely to come to light in India and China (for the many similarities in both cultures) and has yet to be revealed. Hold on Automotive historian there’s one more coming…

Inside a Car

Most of us would see eye to eye that as a motorcyclist, one could summon up the complete vehicle, while as a car driver it's the interior, which flashes back, perhaps since that is where we spend most of the time. Previously, exteriors may have been the principal appeal for consumers, but interior designers argue that it's their division of the car of late that makes or breaks customer satisfaction, even influencing repeat buying decisions. 

It’s why the homogenous insides of the cars to come are about to revolutionise. While cars have become safer than ever before, one still has to take life in their own hands to change a radio station, or inadvertently have the windscreen wiped when intending to indicate a turn ahead. The S class and the 7 series with their high levels of sophistication still swank knobs and switches that demand a catalogue the size of 'Atlas Shrugged', the book. Perhaps value engineering must be tackling the 'subjective' car interiors first than say the axle or other mechanical rudiments, which leaves us to wonder where we can dispose the can for which the can holder was provided in the first place! The package limitations are so unyielding and decisive on interiors, the most underestimated component of the design process due to the complexity and its stipulation in terms of the overall design ergonomics.

It is only a matter of time before communication technology envelops car interior design. The unchanged interior of a steering wheel, gauges and buttons since the development of cars from horse driven carriages are yet to offer the levels of sophistication and perception of the interface design in the mobile phone world. Nevertheless a slow but sure change is on the cards considering the traditionalist nature of what the car manufacturers want people to sit behind. It won't stop with transparent head up displays but go beyond the extent of cars being part of a network integrated by communication technology. Enabling downloading and storage of a personalised drive in a memory stick to make ones own simple and clear interface, like one would their desktop. One of the advantages of this bespoke interface design besides the clarity of the information channel is that it can give the feel of a particular automotive brand presently an attribute used in differentiating mobile phones through their interface design. 

It would be up to the various brands to differentiate the influx of new technologies and advances in composites, metals, lighting and glazing. Exploiting them to make the interior less claustrophobic with deliberation on ergonomics (in the sensory way) and relaxing the inhabitants in the ever so worsening traffic, further helped by making interiors swappable and customisable. Keeping this in mind, if the designer attends to the needs of the elderly and the impaired, it would mean everyone benefits in the long run. Wouldn't sloping edges to side walks instead of perpendicular dropping kerbs intended for wheel chairs be welcomed by people wheeling luggage? Focusing on this group makes a lot business sense as well considering the expanding ageing population and the fact that they have the most purchasing power. This target audience gets larger when considering able people with temporary injury. Thus opportunities exist from high contrast gauges under glare and sunlight to seats that swivel and slide for easy entry/egress. These features could be publicised as improvements for everyone than callously portraying them as enhancements to serve the elderly or the disabled.

In the next couple of years car interior improvements would imply much more than entertainment systems and cup holders.    

Leisure Fulfilment

It’s a pity that Auto Expo didn’t try being a hyperbole that characterises any Motor Show worldwide. But it is like a car that is only as good as its tyres (besides the countless other things) just like the show and its participants and the politics and so on and so forth, which include the name of the show itself. Presumably the organisers are portraying it as a ground for networking and showcasing new offerings of vehicles and components, and the opportunity for exhibition designers to make merry with this wonderful object with a motor and wheels.

Being still in its formative years when compared to Paris, or the others, one could be forgiven to be happy to stretch the meaning of the word "concept" that extra bit than it would permit. As, at the end of the day the cars designed by and for the major makers serve up to boost sales and sales only like the very reason an exotic programme like Formula 1 racing would find its place in those companies chief’s diary and linked by name alone to their production models.

The overseas constructors would generally present a car or two that is almost identical or part of a family to a model that would arrive in showrooms within a couple of years, the key objective being to familiarise the new design language of the manufacturer to prospective customers. Most of us are happy to see cars different from the ones we drive or see on the road, which even if they are nothing but makeovers of production models finished long before they go into production, is novel to us all the same. Thus us car fans (pun intended) would substitute ‘leisure fulfilment’ to the ‘trade show’ title of this event at Pragati Maidan where we can collect mugs, pens, note pads, umbrellas, T-shirts, hats, glossy polyethene bags and product literature (that would have been discarded before we’ve exited onto Mathura road).

In the neighbourhood of Pudong, the last Shanghai Auto Show had the makings to be an influential and a large-scale international show, with local auto makers not only stepping up their presentation quality but also exhibiting the development of Chinese conceptual auto design, admittedly with the stretched meaning of ‘concept’. But that alone is a big start from one of the two emerging superpowers of the east, which is why as the second one even an exaggerated expression about vehicles that are pure styling exercises and categorically not conceptual watersheds would only benefit our own car makers and their vendors. Consequently Indian Design emerges as the biggest gainer by establishing an identity that is resolved around our environment and us. Important this, when we realise that we are approaching a stage where design would be the prime differentiator and not one of the ingredients of the success formula for the car makers, the other ingredients are quantitative in nature and will soon be arrived at.

Surely the people who make the decisions in Pune and other motoring cities will demonstrate that intellectual honesty sooner or later and acknowledge the prospect of moulding the Indian Automotive Design. It is to see how and when those who know what needs to be done and how to go about it will make it happen, when presently conscienceless careerists who are not concerned with what rolls out from the assembly line outnumber them.

The New Delhi Auto Expo would be thought provoking in this and many other ways. The coming years of this biennial will demand rephrasing of certain key words in columns like this one.

Of cars to come

Design treads the territory of art and science. The reason it is very subjective is since it is as much intuition as intellect. The addition of certain elements through enthusiasm and realizing when subtraction is the best course to take, through common sense, is the difference between success and failure. Design excellence can be defined in terms of timelessness. Will the car you buy look outdated in a few years? Not if it was copied or following conventional fashion picked up from elsewhere, nor if it is crafted to not waver from certain ideals. 

The Americans and the Europeans have a car history to have these ideals in place, followed by Japan. The Chinese seem to enjoy the “spot at least one difference” game; paths previously tread by the Japs themselves. The Automotive Design business caters to a global market founded by national markets of the past and from experiences in their journey to the present trends. Today however, for any modern market research formula to predict what would be the preference of the public of China or India regarding the private car (which is still not too common a sight) given the demographic vastness and diversity of these countries would be difficult. No doubt that Chinese manufacturers are operating in a state of chaos but they seem all set to design cars, and have Auto shows of international significance. Admittedly their designs may not seek candidature for a design museum but the price tag attached to them will intimidate not just us across the border, but even the western world. Thus for the emerging Chinese Auto Industry it makes little difference at this stage whether a car resembles some traditional artifact of its past or if the headlight detail was inspired by some historical motif or if the bonnet adorned The Great Wall as its badge! What matters is that irrespective of the segment it does not seem underprivileged and archaic, on the contrary the passengers appear to be well off and more contemporary than they really are!

During the first half of last century airplanes began to take on the familiar shape of a tube with wings and automobiles of a box on a box. But by the mid century the Italians where in a league of their own in comparison to their foreign colleagues who steadily caught up, even if not completely. Today’s car design influences are universal and mutual with the lack of an identity that distinguishes itself with exception of a few like the French ness of Renault. Which signifies that the car (a synonym to everything modern!) could be the best medium for an existing local culture to express itself as it did in the past through various mediums of the time. Thus rather than churning out cars from salvaged moulds from long abandoned designs of the ‘Industrial world’, there are reasons to believe that design schools of their own are being developed by the emerging manufacturing nations.  Their car designers could be expected to use the safe tried and tested paths of designing beautiful and elegant cars, which would still reflect their local culture and perhaps even suit other markets cost wise or otherwise. This would imply that designers and engineers of countries that developed and perfected motorcars in the first place would be under the threat to find alternate ways of making more desirable cars.

Whatever maybe the case we are assured of exciting cars in the coming decades, either through the appearance of the cars from their country of origin or from the innovative materials and unconventional way in which they were built, or both!