Jan 30
What a Waste
Concept cars are like Pop Stars. Hot one minute, gone the next. Just like the press puts a spin on what we know about a celebrity, concept cars to reveal only a small part of themselves. There is so much time and thought put into a concept car and all that gets talked about is the big rims, suicide doors and fancy paint. Okay, so I am exaggerating, but there is a lot of features and great design never shown or talked about.
For how much money is spent (over a million per car) why don’t they showcase every aspect of the design? As a designer I am always looking for any more in depth review (hopefully from the designer) of a design. I am not trying to get to any kind of answer here, but I do know that with car styling not wowing anyone right now, maybe showing their sense of design detail will help retain value in the product.
Here is an example of a vehicle with more thought put into then was ever shown.
The Land Rover LRX was a great looker, but that was all that was shown If it wasn’t for the released sketches there might as well not have been an interior at all. Check out the sketches below for some great product design and there is even more info over at carbodydesign.
This interior is not revolutionary but there are some interesting things going on. My question is…the seat back comes forward to make room but can it recline? That question leads to another topic for another day, design for purely show. Is it a waste if it doesn’t function?
If anyone comes across some info on other concept cars that isn’t the ordinary, please share it with us. Like a fetish, we always want more.
4 Comments so far
Leave a comment
the Toyota ABAT has a bunch of hidden compartments and interesting play in the interior also…im not sure if this has already known info though.
I remember years ago attending the L.A. Auto show, and being disappointed because they didn’t have a concept car that they said they would have. At closing, walking back to the parking lot, they would driving it in (it had been repaired), and I got to experience the interior. It had a touch strip on the interior A-pillar that worked the power window: touch a point on it, and the window went up or down to that point. This clever bit of enginuity was not written up in the newspapers, nor in CarStyling.
were driving it in. (I should proof read.)
While I can understand why these concepts are not given over for the public to crawl over and inevitably break, why not at least let people inside the industry and the press take a closer look? I attended NAIAS on Industry Preview day this year, and some of the most innovative concepts were well beyond reach for all to experience. There were several cases where you couldn’t even see much of the interior of a concept, where it was arguably the better part of the car! Why not open it up and let people experience it like they would any other car? Sure things may break, but you pay so much for a deck model, what is one more SLA replacement part here and there compared with that, or with the value of everyone seeing how truly innovative some of these cars are?