With all of the Camaro love lately, as well as our article on the evolution of the Batmobile, we thought it fitting to introduce the vehicles of another forthcoming film: Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen.  We know, the title totally sucks.

The great thing about Transformers is that they appeal so well to the kid in all of us (Designers).  The creations themselves are more product than vehicle, relying on their vehicle form to scoot around planet Earth unseen (sorta).  We decided to take a look at this GM-centric vehicle cast of TF2.  Reminder:  These are the KNOWN vehicles, and can be changed without notice by the TF2 production team.  We hear Director Michael Bay is playing his cards awfully close for TF2, possibly putting things in to the public eye to throw the spoilers off the scent.

Which of the vehicles/characters are you most looking forward to?

Autobots

Bumblebee: 2010 Chevy Camaro

While not the VW bug we all grew up to love, Bumblebee was well utilized in the first film.  We expect him to be just as cool in TF2.

Read on for more images

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What kind of car design blog would we be without our own slew of Camaro pics. We didn’t want to be the only ones left out, so we headed over to Royal Oak, MI where there was a rumor that the Camaro would be out for show after the official unveiling at the GM Tech Center. Sure enough there she was with a crowd of people drooling uttering the word, finally. This is one great looking car that America should be proud to show off. There couldn’t be a better time to boost morale with the way things are right now.

On the design side, the car is clean and fairly simple. No tricky flame surfacing here. The interior also has a fresh look to it. Simple lines creating a nice flow of surfaces combined with great details push this interior to the top of all GM cars. There is also great attention paid to the start-up experience. Ambient lighting reacts to the ignition when starting the vehicle. You can check out a demo of it here.

Pricing has not been announced, but if they can keep the entry level around 20 g’s the Mustang will have a lot to worry about. As for the Challenger, this is not the same buyer so there is not much of a comparison. Fat and bloated compared to athletic and taught usually doesn’t win over. We also appreciate a new design with an innovative interior rather than a reskinned, regurgitated design and a poor interior.

As tired as we are of hearing about this new ride it is one of the few bright spots in the industry. It will be fun to see how fast and well this car takes off. Check out all of the pics in the gallery.

Due to the summer being a typically lackluster time of year for new vehicle releases (unless you’re Chevrolet) design studios tend to branch out and, err, TRY a few things.  It is this time of year that we see all manner of products come from these studios, usually as a Design House in collaboration with some other product entity.

We’ve seen LaCie’s Porsche-designed hard drives, watches from Ducati, bobsleds from Lotus, and even foosball tables from Audi.  While this has been a regular part of the design world for decades, we are seeing the current crop become all the more “in our faces” as the automotive market remains in a lull and the studios look to work outside of the auto industry.

Which brings about a great question:  When is it too much?  Or, is it EVER too much?  Should auto industry studios be MORE involved in the rest of the design world, spreading their talents into areas where Design is sorely missed?

Let us know in the comments, and click the link for more images.

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So this weekend I had the privelage to drive a 2004 BMW M3 SMG which my brother had just purchased.  This M3 is pre flame design and some would say the last good looking Beemer.  Styling aside the real hoot with this car is the almost infinite settings to drive it.  Currently we are bombarded with NAV, radio, HVAC,…..settings to customize our driving experience.  But what about actually driving it?

Many cars now have the “automanual, or triptronic” transmissions to allow you to “shift” when you are in the mood.  The shifts are usually slow and better off just leaving it in D mode. Read more

This weeks WOTW (or should we just call it “WOW”?) is Yanko Design. One of the top design sites out there, I’m amazed that we haven’t really posted much about it in the past. Yanko is focused on Designers showcasing their own work. By sending an article, info about your design, or images over to the crew, Yanko posts it or posts about it. The fantastic thing about that is its constant influx of Design-related information: Yanko typically gets information about a product before anyone else.

Think of it as a way for Designers to pimp themselves. Get on Yank = instant notoriety for you or your product.

Great site, great product design focus, and great way to kill an entire Friday afternoon.  Check them out at www.YankoDesign.com

If the auto industry ever wanted a fresh start……I mean when the auto industry begins reinventing how they do business, Apple would definitely be a company to look into for guidance.  I can’t think of too many companies or products now a days (except for the Wii) that can form waiting lines for days to buy a product that has already been out for a year.  Imagine if cars were that sought after.  There’s a thought, get people to dare I say “Lust” after cars again.

Check out the article below from Advertising Age.  They do a great job of aligning the auto industry with Apple.  Let us know what you think after you read it.  Would it work?  It is a great article and a good end note to end the week.  What if the industry……..

What the Auto Industry Can Learn From Apple

IPhone Stampede Offers Lessons in Total Transformation

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“And here we…..GO!” With the Dark Knight movie exploding into theaters July 18, there is plenty buzz about how incredible this movie really is! The latest for the Caped Crusader throws him under the deranged claws of the maniacal, homicidal, psychopathic killer known as the JOKER!

I remember watching the campy 60’s movie starring Adam West and Burt Ward in “Batman” with my older brother for the first time. I was probably around 7 or 8. We would “surf” through the channels, all 13 of them, ripping through that sundial shaped channel knob on our state of the art Zenith TV. Suddenly!!! An out of shape middle aged man in tights and blue satin, dawning the prominent symbol of the bat, along with his panty hose wearing boy wonder side kick, Robin, were climbing the side of a fake Styrofoam brick building. My brother and I looked at each other in complete shock and awe, not because Batman had forgotten to take few laps around the track, but because we could not believe we were watching an actual Batman movie!! We had read the comic books, purchased the action figures, but never saw him in real life!! That was the coolest thing!
Ahhhh….those were the days. How things have evolved and progressed….or in some cases…digressed if looking at director Joel Schumacher’s movies. Recently resurrected from the grave in 2005 with the successful Batman Begins, the Batman Franchise has undergone numerous transformations through the years starting with the campy 60’s series (not to forget the early series in the 40’s as well) starring Adam West and Burt Ward in Batman. Twenty three years later, the world was given a true visual treat with Tim Burton’s perspective on a serious, dark, and gothic rendition of the Batman in 1989.

No matter how campy, serious, or ridiculous the script was; the creators and designers for the vehicles and props were always dedicated to providing the audience with the best they had to offer. Each batmobile had evolved to bring to the audience something new and exciting. Let’s take a look at these films.
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Baseball, apple pie and Chevrolet are all things you associate with the great U.S.  Another big one is our military.  When you think of weapons, tools for the military, what comes to mind…….Hummer.  In my opinion Hummer is one of the great American Icons and is a great way to tie our troops and their contributions to our everyday life.  You can not help but think of them whenever climbing in and out or looking out those squatty windows of a Hummer.

Just like we support our troops, why can’t we support our brands.  This whole talk of selling off Hummer really pisses me off.  I know this is now a global economy, but an American brand owned by a company from India…c’mon.  I guess we should get used to this kind of thing.  I just heard that Budweiser was sold and is now owned by a Belgium Company.  Sure the Belgiums make a better beer, but Bud, the King of Beers is as American as mullets.

Back to Hummer, GM has a gold mine waiting to happen.  Yes, I know about the whole gas thing but hear me out.  Read more

Welcome to a new tradition here on CDf.  We love car sketches as most car enthusiasts and designers do.  With that love comes a large collection of images from the web.  Sketches range from cool student work to OEM development which they do not share enough of.  Every week we will share a range of images from rough early sketch to highly detailed final rendering.

We know that we all learn and are inspired from each other, so we are trying to do our part to help.  Click after the jump to find out this weeks pics.  Hopefully no one minds us spreading their inspirational work.

Bring on the hotness! Read more

Not really. Mopar Enthusiast magazine did some fan service to its readers and mocked up a conceptual 2010 Plymouth Roadrunner concept. While probably-maybe-definitely not going to happen, it raised some great questions about what to do with the Challenger platform next, as soon as the Camaro and the next Stang hit the pavement.

Sketches looked great, and there are some nice design elements, but that rear end has to go (too boxy for our tastes).  The article explains that they took their inspiration from the early 70’s model years.  My dad would be proud.

Take a look at the latest issue of Mopar Enthusiast, and check out images at ChargerForumz.com