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 AMX/3 made its debut at the 1970 Chicago Auto Show.  As we say in the business, this car was not “a runner” — just a pretty fiberglass shell.  However, AMC did make plans to build the car, and sent the body molds to Italian sports car maker Bizzarrini.  The resulting steel-bodied prototypes featured AMC’s 6.4 liter V8 engine married to an Italian 4-speed transaxle.  BMW drove the AMX/3 and said it was the most neutral handling car they had ever tested!  Unfortunately, like so many other installments of Cool Cars You’ve Never Heard Of, this one has an anti-climactic ending.  AMC decided to cancel the program after only five cars were built  (“AMC AMX”).

Speaking as a designer, I find this car very striking.  The character line obviously sets it apart from, say, a Corvette or a Ferrari.  The proportions are befitting of the Italian workmanship, looking like a cross between a De Tomaso Pantera and Mangusta.  One small point: I would love to see this car in a warm silver; I get the feeling that the yellow paint is not doing this shape complete justice…

“AMC AMX.”  Wikipedia. 21 Jul. 2010.  Web.  28 Jul. 2010.

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!

The time period: 1927-1932.  Americans were just getting out of a depression, and a war was looming around the corner.  Immigrants were once again coming to the country looking for opportunity.  Cities like Chicago, Detroit, and Los Angeles began to boom.  Automobiles were experiencing a Renaissance in design.

And you?  You could design the next great American car… and win some great prizes along the way!

Deadline Schedule:
Submission Start: Weds. 7/28, 00:00 (EST, -4 UTC)
Submission Deadline: Tues. 8/10, 23:59 (EST, -4 UTC)
Vote Deadline: Tuesday, 8/17, 23:59 (EST, -4 UTC)

Prizes:
1st Place: Wacom Cintiq 12wx 12″ Pen display
2nd Place: Wacom Intuos 4 Large
3rd Place: Wacom Intuos Small.

All winners will also recieve a copy of “Advertising the Model A Ford”, a compilation of over 900 Ford Model A advertisments.
First Place Winner receives A Winner’s medal and Highlighted Status on the Local Motors web site.

So, what are you waiting for? Enter!

Full competition details here: http://www.local-motors.com/competition.php?c=22

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.

While the exterior follows trends set forth by the new Taurus and Mustang, the interior is decidedly unique. The toned-down IP and the trapezoidal island reminds us of the Ford Start interior concept that the Blue Oval has been showing off.  The central, vertical elements break the traditional Ford horizontal “T” that has been appearing.

Follow along on Ford’s Facebook page, or stay tuned to CDF for more.

ford-explorer01 ford-explorer02 explorer-03 2011 Ford Explorer 2011 Ford Explorer 2011 Ford Explorer 2011 Ford Explorer 2011 Ford Explorer 2011 Ford Explorer 2011 Ford Explorer 2011 Ford Explorer 2011 Ford Explorer 2011 Ford Explorer 2011 Ford Explorer 2011 Ford Explorer 2011 Ford Explorer

The EPA, formed three years earlier under President Nixon, held the first Symposium on Low Pollution Power Systems Development at the Ann Arbor Marriott in 1973. The vehicles and hardware displayed at this symposium were assembled at the EPA’s Ann Arbor Laboratory;  part of the exhibit took place in the Marriott parking lot itself.  I would love to have been a fly on the wall, listening to the reactions of these gentlemen.  The dramatic wedge shape looks aerodynamic enough, but I’ll refrain from speaking beyond my competence.  As a footnote, Exide is still active in the alternative energy arena — giving their financial support to the Cornell Automotive X-Prize Team.

[thanks to Design Milk for the find]

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…

At Monza, for example, an impromptu foot race is held around the circuit.  Drivers, team members and others compete for the bragging rights.  We’re treated to a humorous shot of Graham Hill, out of breath.  The winner?  A very lean Frank Williams, sporting the Iso-Marlboro colors on his shirt.  37 years later, this image is somewhat tragic, seeing as Williams has been confined to a wheelchair since 1986.

Fast Company also captures the organic, almost free-balling nature of Formula One in 1973.  Races were started with a flag back then, and it was typical for the drivers to creep up to the line in anticipation.  It makes today’s starting procedures look anal retentive by comparison.  In the early 1970s, timing and scoring was also less sophisticated. So there was a much higher potential for confusion to set in under extreme circumstances.  Case in point:  The Canadian Grand Prix at Mosport.  A collision forced the first-ever use of the safety car in Formula One, which failed to pick up the leader of the race.  Because of this error, some drivers were able to gain almost a lap on the field!  Even after the race was over, no one was sure who had actually won.  At one point, Howden Ganley was congratulated on his victory.  Then, Fittipaldi was congratulated.  Finally, the confusion subsided, and Peter Revson was declared the official winner; the last American-born driver to win a Grand Prix.

And there is, of course, an acknowledgment of the risks involved in trying to be the fastest.  As with The Quick and the Dead, this is accomplished by showing the brutal price one can pay for a miscue.  But the narrator, who we’ve heard in other F1 re-caps like The Shape of Things to Come and Car Wars, adds this well-crafted description: “Somewhere on the other side of 180 miles per hour, there is a limit beyond which a Formula One Grand Prix driver cannot safely go.  The limit, both human and mechanical, is invisible.  There is no gauge to warn the driver that he is approaching the frontier of his skills and the outer capability of his tightly-tuned machine.  To drive too far under the limit is to lose the race.  To drive above it confronts disaster.  A champion must drive exactly on the edge of that limit.  Few men in the history of this sport have been able to find that edge.”