We’ve got to hand it to Renault:  those crazy French owners of Nissan (okay okay… “strategic partnership”) have some of the most eclectic new designs and concepts in the industry.  Always pushing the bill, they often bring out great creations (like the Megane concept).

And so, at the Paris show this year, they are set to debut the Ondelios concept.  The vehicle, while not extremely attractive, is also not extremely unattractive.  Therein lies the Design merit: the vehicle as a concept contains several interesting features and resolutions, while wrapped in an awkward egg-shaped body.

Quick hit review after the break. (In other words, read on for more pretty pictures.)

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The gallery is up of Team First Blood.  Check out the pics of the truck and the carnage that it endured.  I will post the video from the People’s Curse award tomorrow.

First Blood Gallery

Another great 24 hours from this years Lemons race.  Team First Blood definitely blew away the competition with our Rambo Chariot.  The theme was well appreciated and received a lot of props from the other teams.  Sadly though no other teams really created a theme for their vehicle.  This really made First Blood stand out, that and the 3 foot long gun pointing out the rear of the truck.

With the arrival of Hurricane Ike in the mid west, rain was predicted 100% for the weekend.  When we got to Toledo Speedway the entire pit area was under water.  Almost everything was flooded.  This was going to be a long weekend.  Within seconds we were soaked to the bone.  Luckily around 3pm at the start of the race the rain stopped.  We had assumed this would just be a temporary thing, but the rain held off for 24 hours.  How perfect is that.  Not until the awards were be given did the rain start again.  I actually got a little sun burned on Sunday.  Every where around us had non stop rain with high winds and even tornadoes.

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If you, like us, love classic car design and all the wild concepts that came about in the early days of Automotive Design, then you’ll love this:

Discovery Channel has listed several of legendary designer Harley Earl’s automotive concepts and one-offs on its NextWorld site.  The site chronicles some of his more iconic designs, such as the Y-Job and the Firebird III.

My personal favorite?  The ‘54 Pontiac Bonneville Special.  Take a look and let us know your favorites from Mr Earl.

Link to NextWorld’s Harley Earl tribute

Let me be the first to say, “It’s about time!”

As iconic as Chrysler’s early 2K styling was with the sexy Chrysler 300C, the brutish Dodge Magnum, and the not-very-attractive (as in, ugly) Jeep Compass, newly-anointed Chrysler Design Chief Ralph Gilles spoke about the the coming change in the Chrysler aesthetic.

His words (via Autoblog): “It’s definitely time for a new aesthetic at Chrysler. … We’re done with the ‘edge’ look.”

The new Chrysler design language is said to be more “organic” and sexy, which will be a welcome change from the 1984-ish styling of the last 8 years.  Switching to a new aesthetic brings with it both challenges and rewards, as it may be difficult to succeed a popular vehicle like the 300C with a more swoopy brother, yet it may open the door to further bring to market some new vehicles and leave behind the baggage of the past decade, something that Chrysler desperately needs.

It is that time of year again.  Last years race was so great that it is happening again in a bigger better way being hosted at Toledo Speedway.  You may remember last years CDf following of the DeLorean build I was part of.  That build effort won People’s Choice and this year the team is sure to not loose that status.

This years team is called First Blood in the honor of the great Rambo.  After seeing the fourth ridiculously insane installment it was clear we had to incorporate Rambo is some way.  So do it up military style recreating a deuce-and-a-half out of a ‘91 GMC Sonoma pickup.  You say well a deuce-and-a-half is a tri-axel, how could that work……you’ll see.  The team has truly out done themselves creating this years race truck.

Here is a theme sketch that got the bullets flying.

Read more below and see who the special guest will be at the race….

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We have heard about a “minivan” running around Europe but who would have thought it would look this good.  At first glance this has real potential.  A little bit of HHR/ Groove/ Traverse all mixed together.  At least they mixed ingredients from the same brand.  I think GM is really on track for this thing we call brand identity.  I am starting to see it.

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This week’s WOW is CGPad, a web community revolved around sketching, tutorials, and artists.  The site is small, but has videos, articles, and several tutorials based around different pieces of software, and frm different artists.  Although you must join their site to view the tutorials, it encourages an ever-growing community of artists and designers.

Dig in & click away.

www.cgpad.org

Here is an interesting article.  Perhaps a new form of birth control?

Heated car seats may offer comfort to men on cold days,
but they also may reduce users’ fertility, researchers say

Heated vehicle seats could threaten the fertility of male drivers, according to a study conducted at the University of Giessen in Germany.
Researchers found that the electric-generated heat emitted in some car seats can raises a male’s body temperature to a level where production of healthy sperm may be compromised.
In the study, 30 volunteers were outfitted with temperature sensors. Then, they sat on heated car seats for 90 minutes. Within only 60 minutes, temperatures had risen to an average of 37.3 degrees Celsius (C). One man’s temperature was recorded at 39.7 C (103.5 degrees Fahrenheit).
The ideal temperature for sperm production is 35 C to 36 C (95 F to 97 F) – just below the average core body temperature.
Higher temperatures can cause sperm counts to fall dramatically. Such temperatures may be caused by tight-fitting trousers or undergarments; long, hot baths; and heated seats.
A number of fertility experts believe that changes in fashions and lifestyles are responsible for falling sperm counts in recent decades.
An article on the study appeared in a recent edition of New Scientist magazine.

(Daily Mail Reporter-United Kingdom)

It’s no surprise that Motorola’s mobile phone division is hitting rock-bottom.  You can see that happening when you are offered 38 free RAZRs with every new account with Big Corporate Wireless Company.  But, how did it go from super-cool phone to has-been mobile company in such a relatively short time?  Gizmodo found out.

The lack of proper Design support, and the emphasis on engineering and marketing, killed the brand ever so softly.  It’s the realization of the Old Wives’ Tale of how Design is subjected to adding gemstones and color combinations instead of being injected as a part of the product development process.

It’s no wonder that LG, HTC, and now Apple have run past Moto at a blazing speed.

Full (great) article here:

Motorola Inside Blame Game: Engineers Shoved Designers Aside