Reply With QuoteYes... Inspired by the success Range Rover had with design from Victoria Beckham, Pagani have obviously gone to Katie Price for their car.Originally Posted by number2
The Honda NSX is none too shabby.
Eddie
Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".
Yes... Inspired by the success Range Rover had with design from Victoria Beckham, Pagani have obviously gone to Katie Price for their car.
The Flash Gordon school of design no doubt?
I assume this to be a Lancia Stratos lookalike - nice, but unless it wins a world rally championship is a just wanna be.Another promising retro attempt below.....
Like so many retro which come out.
Personally I would love to see Fiat bring out and race a new Fiat 131 Sport (fettled by Abarth)
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
Back to the Huayra, dislike the front grilles and the whole rear panel, but otherwise a fabulous looking design, very much "lioness about to pounce" about it.
Actually, I just thought of a current car that I think is actually beautiful
http://onward.fiskerautomotive.com/e...arma/overview/
I know it won't appeal to everyone, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder, of course.
The Maserati Gran Turismo would be too if it wasn't just a bit too big...
M.
Breitling Cosmonaute 809 - What's not to like?
I apologise gentlemen, but you are all completely wrong.
This:
(clicky-pic)
Mike.
Edit to add: this is the one you can buy!
Last edited by miked10270; 21st March 2013 at 15:57.
I agree with 2 people on this thread so far - prefer the Zonda, and when I first saw pics I couldn't stop staring.
For me the beauty in my eye is even relative to the time of day, the mood I am in, when/how much/how good sex I had, etc.
Saw an original model Alfa GTV Spider this morning and remembered how over the moon I was when they fist introduced it. It was exhibited in the Amsterdam museum of modern art even and I thought rightly so. Did not look so good on a gloomy morning on the wet village parking lot. I was shocked; a style icon knocked off it´s pedestal.
No, seriously; I did see it and it did not look as good as in the A´dam museum but the crux is ´looked´; the mé perceiving the thing decades later on a gloomy wet parking lot.
I still appreciate the styling of that GTV Spider more than the modern example you share but then I only have e-images of the latter and perception is sóó much more.
One general observation though; most modern cars have too much clutter in the design. Strong simple statements from committed lines are rare. Look at the Miura and see what I mean.
Agree with you 100%, it's just vulgar and over-designed.
I don´t see why.
Have a look at the Tesla; socalled zero emissions made fun and looking quite good.
I see no reason why legislation cannot be designed pleasingly shaped.
The e-car also liberates the designers in various aspects if they should wish to break the mould. No need for engine- or cooling air intake to mention one detail. Just like a solid state watch module allowed/-s designers to break away form conventions:
As to the fún bit, the Tesla illustrates that this need not be lost either. It is a dífferent experience to be launched in relative silence but the experience is áwesome.
I do not ´dig´ supercars as they are too impractical for me to appreciate as anything else but a tour de force, but there is a Tessla for sale in Marbella and I had a short spin in it.
It is like your EPD versus a Speedmaster. Bóth superwatches in style and the EPD holds quite a few edges in the modern world. Just as the Tessla has over seventies supercars and boy does that silent accelleration impress. Like being catapulted on a long rubber band.
Fun and style need not be legislated away.
Have a laugh:
Last edited by Huertecilla; 21st March 2013 at 16:56.
I know, that its currently the 'in' thing to dislike the Calibra amongst car snobs (maybe 'Top Gear' is to blame), but although I might be in the minority, I happen to like it.
Sleek and no nonsense - I still like it.
The NSX was a favourite of mine. Very impressive specs and equally impressive looks. Too bad it didnt sell well (of course there was an obvious reason for that) and I was sad to see it go.
I was never too keen on the Spyder, but happen to think, that this humble GTV looks good for a (relatively) modern car. Impressive looking back then and still good looking today. Again, maybe not a car for all.
http://cars-database.com/photo/m/alfa-romeo-gtv/04/
I've come across pictures of this and don't know why but I like it.
BMW M5 engine so goes as well as it looks.
I thought the Wiesmann had a BMW M3 engine? Nice looking motor though, it has to be said.I've come across pictures of this and don't know why but I like it.
BMW M5 engine so goes as well as it looks.
V8 twin turbo from their website, as fitted to the new m5, so plenty I would imagine.
Maybe the old one had the m3 V8 normal aspirated, either way more than enough I think.
The early models certainly had a BMW M3 6-cylinder engine. I've also just googled Wiesmann and gone straight to this site with this on the engine page
http://www.wiesmann.co.uk/eroamotor.html
EDIT: It seems they've still go the old site running in conjunction with the new - http://www.wiesmann.com/en/models/roadster-mf4--mf4-s That should endow it with some proper welly!
Last edited by BSB; 22nd March 2013 at 09:29.
I think súch obvious retros more like homages bordering on replicas than proper contemporary designs. As such they imo cannot qualify for ´modern´.
A design which surprises me more and more as time rolls on is the MG TF both top down or with the hard top on. All it needs is a different grill cover to look réal sleek.
I wouldn´t mind one as a project for fringe legal modding. The chassis is simply very good and the later engine with the head gasket upgrade quite eager to respond to small improvements. Just a bit better breathing, some NOx and aeroquip brake lines make it surprsingly crisp driving.
Shaving the already sleek lines and presto.
No supercar would be able to touch it in urban europe or on the driver´s paradise secondary mountain roads over here.
Last edited by Huertecilla; 22nd March 2013 at 09:39.
So long as you're prepared to rebuild the entire car to counteract the appalling build quality...
& a curve ball
I always thought the TF was a bit of a dinosaur compared to the XK120. Then I had a close look at an XK and realised it's made of some huge and heavy girders with a relatively large and heavy body on top. Drives beautifully and looks stunning but perhaps should have been better made (in terms of making it lighter). In post-war, cash-strapped Britain though I suppose it didn't matter, plus it wasn't supposed to be a lightweight sports car. I've had the pleasure of driving a friend's 1931 MG C-Type which is an amazing piece of kit. It's some smaller steel girders with a lightweight body on top, when you go through a corner at speed the car flexes so much it feels like it's oversteering, you have to fight the instinct to apply opposite lock. IIRC it was the first normally aspirated 750cc car to do a 100mph lap of Brooklands. The little pre-war MG sports cars are still huge fun now, having driven some big and heavy pre-war tourers I can see why MG were so successful.
Going back to the TF, I agree with you about the styling, if the car was built in the 1930s it would be MG's masterpiece. It could do with a lightweight alloy body dropped on top.
"A man of little significance"
Good point but all is relatievski; I rebuilt new Dneprs MT16s.
I don't think he's talking about the original TF, Foxy
But rather the re-branded latter version of the MG-F
Keyword the ´modern´ stipulated by the OT.
What is THAT!! (Apart from something out of Battlestar Galactica)I apologise gentlemen, but you are all completely wrong.
This:
(clicky-pic)
Mike.
Edit to add: this is the one you can buy!
The front grill looks like it's laughing (probably at itself!).
I Love it!
Probably having fun about how the guy getting in and out of those silly doors will look.
Afraid I agree with 'cilla on the Weissman, it can't have taken long to rehash an old jag picture to get to this 'design'.
I think the grill is certainly old Jaguar-ish - C-Type etc but, the rest of it is a little Healey-ish.
The point being that it clearly is nót a contemporary design but a rehash of classics.
One VERY important design btw was/is the Porsche 914. Whether you líke it is personal tatse but the thing is a very strong, simple, characteristic design which put a specific and new targa style on the map in a time that convertibles were politically incorrect unsafe.
It realy is a design icon and If I were to buy a small convertible I would buy one of these, ´rat´ it and tweak the engine with a selection of trick bits from the wonderfull world of VW boxer tuning.
Meanwhile though I make do with a 4x4 convertible styling miracle by Ken Greenley.
I was quite.... taken aback when I learned that our family saloon designed by him received the Auto Design Award from the Birmingham Auto Show.
No, seriously, although nóbody can call his SY designs things of beauty they áre properly (the people carrier excepted) designed original products.
Last edited by Huertecilla; 22nd March 2013 at 11:20.
Being pedantic the "best looking modern car design EVER" encompasses every car ever made (or EVER), since it would have been modern at the time. You're a bit weird so might have gone for the original TF!
It never occurred to me that anyone would like the design of the MG-F.
"A man of little significance"
I must admit that I don't think it will be on many people's favourites lists. All the MG-Fs I've ever driven struck me as awful.
Way past that:
Exactly - let me amend it: 'Best looking wind tunnel designed motor'
But Andy, the Huayra has flaps! ...it has FLAPS!!
The power of snobbistic motoring journalism with the elitist old sods of Top Gear pulling that cart.
The lines of the 21st C. TF are clean, not overdesigned and what you see is what you get. As to the ride, the TF 160 is simply very good for its class. The marketing fault was the price and that is more than corrected as nowadays they are cheap.
To be fair, Cilla, I think it has little to do with snobbery at all. The MGF was a brave attempt to rekindle the fortunes of a once great manufacturer. Unfortunately, like many Rover Group products (and Leyland before them), the execution of the build was very substandard. In my previous position, I had the misfortune to have to supply a few MGFs as well as take others in part-exchange/straight disposal. They were the most goddam awful cars in terms of build-quality and ownership experience.
I think it's somewhat arrogant to assume that someone with a different point of view must have derived it from "snobbistic (sic) motoring journalism".
What you see as "not overdesigned", I would suggest is a little bland and looks slightly 'portly' for what is supposed to be a classic lightweight 2 seater.
I keep thinking some of the low volume specialist stuff is trying a little hard. I keep going back to the Mclaren F1 as an exemplar of simple and focussed design; Aston DB9 which still makes me look every time I see one; Ferrari 458 for just lovely lines.
All great, but I'd still rather turn up in a S2 Bentley Continental!
All the lovely old cars in this thread really drive home the point of how un-beautiful modern designs are. The overstyled, injection-moulded try-hard look is just not my thing.
Simple is usually more difficult than complicated when it comes to design. Carmakers can't seem to resist incorporating busy, non-functional elements. But I suppose they're not meant to last, anyway.
This is the only currently-produced car that I like aesthetically, though it's not exactly what I'd consider beautiful. But handsome, definitely.
Its function is its form; the design is just inherently pleasing. It looks as good now as it must have when it began production 34 years ago.
Compare the Mercedes-Benz company that produced the still-handbuilt G-Klasse to the modern one. They once manufactured a limited range of essentially perfect cars that had sober, functional styling — and were more thoroughly-engineered than anything else on the road, because they had ten years to get it right between updates. Now they release a new model each fortnight, each more cartoonish, trendy and hastily-engineered than the last. This is not progress.
I'm afraid to say I have no interest whatsoever in what Top Gear have to say, especially since Bill Thomas left the magazine. No snobbery comes into it, I own an MGB and am a big fan of MG, just not the F. My MX-5 is a far superior car, which is why on the roads round here I see them all the time and see about one MG-F per month, if that. The design of the F to me is dull, while the first two shape MX-5s (mk1, 2 and 2.5) are rather pretty. It's probably because the engine is in the front. Sorry if you don't like it, it's only my opinion.
"A man of little significance"
I used to work for a dealer in Kent that had a Mercedes division. When the original G-Wagen was introduced, they took it to a local quarry with a whole host of potential customers, to show how fantastic the new car was. It got stuck and had to be pulled out by a ten year old Land RoverAll the lovely old cars in this thread really drive home the point of how un-beautiful modern designs are. The overstyled, injection-moulded try-hard look is just not my thing.
Simple is usually more difficult than complicated when it comes to design. Carmakers can't seem to resist incorporating busy, non-functional elements. But I suppose they're not meant to last, anyway.
This is the only currently-produced car that I like aesthetically, though it's not exactly what I'd consider beautiful. But handsome, definitely.
Its function is its form; the design is just inherently pleasing. It looks as good now as it must have when it began production 34 years ago.
Compare the Mercedes-Benz company that produced the still-handbuilt G-Klasse to the modern one. They once manufactured a limited range of essentially perfect cars that had sober, functional styling — and were more thoroughly-engineered than anything else on the road, because they had ten years to get it right between updates. Now they release a new model each fortnight, each more cartoonish, trendy and hastily-engineered than the last. This is not progress.
"THAT" is a modern rebuild of a Mercedes C-111 (pronounced Cee-one-eleven). Mercedes proposed supercar successor to the 300SL Gullwing (C-110). It got to pre production about 1970 but was dropped. Reliability issues for the Wankel engine were cited. The prototypes were subsequently used as test beds.
Performance was 180mph on 375bhp, so I suspect that had it gone to production as planned around 1971 it would have been a case of "What's a Lamboghini Countach?"
Video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3jIIS3FFAQ
Y'All may better remember the C-112 which also got to pre-production (& 700 orders) before being similarly dropped.
Anyway, the Ciento Once (gettit?) runs a 400bhp Merc M120 engine (like the Zonda) so should similarly benefit from the power hikes should anyone be brave enough to take an American car to 220!!!
GWA Tuning page here for those who're scared to click the pic: http://www.gwa-tuning.com/p_C111.html
Mike.
As someone mentioned the Calibra, I am going to throw this one into the mix:
Back in 1997 I bought one of these, a 3.0V6 in deep metallic red with sand leather interior. It was absolutely beautiful - and beautifully styled and built by Pininfarina.
It drove very well, and looked fantastic from every angle.
So clever my foot fell off.
Beautiful, Really?!
That's John Major drab, even the lively metallic colour doesn't give in an ounce of flair.
Chris, I believe, that 'beautiful' refers to the frogmobile in the post (which is indeed beautiful) and not the Calibra, although the latter was mentioned.
Starting with the 404 Peugeot has almost a tradition of elegant coupé models by Pininfarina.
Last edited by Huertecilla; 22nd March 2013 at 17:30.
I particularly liked the 504 Coupe.
I agree. A wonderfull combination of macho and elegance.
At one time I had a 604 coupé; V6 automatic. That missed the fine line just as surely as the 504 was on it. Surprisingly capable car though and even more so for the boat size it had. The most surprising however was that despite all sorts of electrical failures the thing always drove.
Wow. I wasn't even aware they did a 604 Coupe. It certainly wasn't available in the UK - only as a (very) large 4-door saloon here.
Hmmm. I may be mixing up two cars. I had a 604 sedan and a coupe with the same 6 cil. auto. Could have been a 5- series but I always thought it was a 604 because it had the same headlights and styling as the 604.
I went through so many cars at the time...
Exchanged the sedan for a Spitfire and a Suzuki Carry. That I remember as it was so odd.
Almost as odd as a combined buy of an MV Agusta and Volvo. Had to buy the Volvo too to get he MV. Sold the MV for good money and changed the Volvo for an MZ with sidecar. Cars came and went but that sidecar stayed for years.
ps; this one:
Last edited by Huertecilla; 22nd March 2013 at 18:15.
Have you got any pictures? I'd love to see that.
The 604 sedan was a great looking car. I doubt, that there are many left.
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