Car Design Fetish

Our friends at Mercedes just shot us over this nice little video interview with Mark Fetherston, longtime Benz Designer and creator of the SLS AMG “supercar”.  In the clip, Fetherston cranks out a sketch of the car while chatting up his thought process, the role of form and function, and how it all fits in with Mercedes own Design process.

OEM Design Studios have been surprisingly candid as of late, showcasing their Designers and inner workings through social media like YouTube, Twitter, and dedicated websites.

Personally, it’s just refreshing to see a designer like Fetherston still working with pen on paper.

Watch the clip above, or visit Mercedes’ Facebook and Flickr pages for more AMG love.

I recently attended a car show and came a cross a 50′s Ford Pickup and while looking at the front end it hit me – It’s the new Ford Edge.  Many people are on the fence with this extravagant front end.  But you can see here that there is a history for it and it does look great on the road.  The new Edge just began arriving on Michigan lots last week.  Now you can tell people why the grill looks the way it does.

The AMC brand has been associated with some truly unique cars over the years.  While the AMX/3 may not be the most unique AMC ever, you can make a strong argument for it being the most beautiful.

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Local Motors is at it again with another great car design competition!  This time, the comp is a little different, but just as much fun.

Founded in 2007, the team at LM thought it might be a fun idea to see what LM vehicles would look like in the past.  That’s right: this is a retro design competition!

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The embargo is up, and Ford has revealed the new model year 2011 Explorer.  The new Explorer creates a firm break from current and past generations, styling-wise, taking a more car-like stance and incorporating the new Ford grille and body work.  Streaking, tapering lines define the surface, and a blacked-out A-pillar provides a sort of “360 degree” wrap-around look from the outside, a detail usually seen in the rear of a vehicle.

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You may recognize the Exide name from their line of batteries.  In this priceless National Archive photo, dated October 1973, Exide shows off its latest creation:  The Sundancer experimental vehicle.

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There is something nice about drawing on a white board.  No high quality expectations of line quality and always has a nice looseness to it.  What better table then to have at home to sit around and talk design.  Imagine the ideas that will appear and disappear over a few cocktails. Sweet as a Nut is a UK-based company that applies artwork to coffee and side table tops, from roses to tapes to whiteboards. You can choose from one of their designs or you can contact them to create your own.  This is a great high end look to an otherwise low end product.

[thanks to Design Milk for the find]

You have to love Photo Chops and all the questions they can conjure up.  The team over at Auto Express have illustrated a possible Mini Canyon Concept to compete against the newly unveiled Range Rover Evoque.  This doesn’t seem too far off.  Mini is expanding its lineup and they need to pay off the new Countryman.  Mini is also looking to get back into the World Rally Cup.  This vehicle would fit perfect.

It will be fun to watch who else gets inspired from the new Evoque.  It has been quite awhile since there was a sporty 2 door SUV.Could this be the return of the Chevy Blazer Extreme?  What other cool 2 door SUV’s would you want back?

Fast Company (approx 21 min B&W/Color)

This re-cap of the 1973 Grand Prix campaign shares many traits with another documentary we’ve reviewed, The Quick and the Dead. At 21 minutes long, Fast Company is obviously more compact and straight forward, but it does include some interesting bits that few will have seen before…

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