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 [...]
Renault Modus and Wind, variations on a theme
Two very different concept cars that both hint at the future of the brand’s production models and cast light on its pure research operations, since both are excluded from immediate production plans. They dominated the [...]
Fioravanti Kite, led designed
Leonardo Fioravanti came to the Geneva Show with the Kite, a rear wheel drive coupé concept most notable for its LED lighting system and its “semi-transparent” roof. “ The Kite’s LED lighting system”, he explained, [...]
Fiat Trepiùno, innovazione evocativa
Piccola, tondeggiante, sbarazzina. La Trepiùno svelata a Ginevra ispira simpatia a prima vista e fa appello all’immaginario collettivo riproponendo le sembianze della minivettura italiana per eccellenza, la storica Fiat 500 del 1957. «La sfida era [...]
Chrysler ME Four-Twelve, sporting temptation
A Chrysler supercar with an aggressive line that makes it look as if it's hurtling along at 150 km/h even when it's standing still. The ME Four-Twelve introduced at the Detroit Show represents the American [...]
Nissan, Cultural Roots
The 2003 Tokyo Show and the design innovations on the Nissan stand both underlined the company's increasingly intensive search for a distinctively Japanese cultural basis for its automotive products under the aegis of Shiro Nakamura. [...]