Volvo C70, a meeting of energies
“Buyers will get two cars for the price of one”, stated Chairman Hans-Olov Olsson confidently at the Frankfurt Show as he presented the new Volvo C70. The car could prove to be a trump card [...]
Maybach Exelero, rebirth of an icon
Take the free spirit of young future designers, add the evocative power of a trademark that has re-emerged from history to renew its splendour, mix with the savoir faire of designers responsible for some of [...]
Citroën-Peugeot-Toyota, three aces
Here we have three sisters that promise to burst onto the international stage together, each destined to win its own slice of fame. Four years from the announcement of cooperation between the PSA Peugeot Citroën [...]
Renault Zoé, originality inside
The little Zoé, on the Renault stand at Geneva is – and this is not often seen in a research prototype – one of those combinations of avant-garde showcar and concrete solutions that are so [...]
Pininfarina Birdcage 75th, sensual fluidity
“To celebrate our 75th anniversary our intention was to make a strong, clearly focused statement: to create a dream-evoking car that would recover a role that has always been a foundation stone of a company [...]
The ambiguities of beauty
The Opinion column in this Issue no. 152 of Auto & Design, signed by Serge Bellu, is a reflection on the concept of beauty as applied to the situation in international car design today. Starting [...]
GM Sequel, fuel-cell: una questione di packaging
La Sequel, concept car della General Motors presentata allo scorso Motor Show di Detroit, si basa su due precedenti tentativi della casa americana di mettere a punto un sistema di propulsione fuel-cell per applicazioni automobilistiche: [...]
Renault Radiance, radical evolution
"An ideas accelerator that allows us to develop a unique and attractive design vocabulary without betraying the brand’s established image”. Those, briefly, are the words used by the Top Management of Renault Trucks to describe [...]
Ford Focus, change of direction
There are always radical choices to be made when you’re charged with creating the second generation of a well-designed car. Do you stay with the original formula or do you opt for totally different styling? [...]
Hyundai E³, born from the dunes
E for Europe. That could have been enough, as a name for the first concept car to come out of Korean manufacturer Hyundai’s new European Design Center in Rüsselsheim, Germany. But its designers wanted to [...]