Table of contents for No. 155 in AUTO & DESIGN

As the Bugatti EB 16.4 Veyron enters production in the factory reconstructed by Volkswagen at the marque’s historical home in Alsace, we take a new look at the work of Jean Bugatti. More so than his father Ettore, it was Jean Bugatti who was behind the magnificent and unique styling of the cars from Molsheim. The personality of Jean Bugatti has often been eclipsed by the stature of his father, Ettore Bugatti. Nonetheless, his work is a key element in the marque’s contribution to the history of coachbuilding, and Jean Bugatti deserves to be recognised for his role in this prestigious dynasty. Art and engineering have never been so perfectly intertwined as they were by the Bugattis. These were creative times: the 1920s and ‘30s, which provided the backdrop to…

“This is an important generation changeover, as important as the change from the Uno to the first Punto.” This is how Giorgetto Giugiaro describes the latest evolution of the B segment Fiat - an evolution that he himself is personally involved in, as the designer of both of the two cars mentioned above and of this, the latest Punto, which Fiat presented in Turin at the beginning of September. The reception for the car was so positive that only a week later at Frankfurt, it was almost unanimously voted the most interesting new car in the entire show. The design in particular was highly praised, and was hailed as a return to Italian styling. It is well proportioned, attractive, full of character and yet simple, with a cleanliness of form…

According to its designers, this is a story of Yin and Yang, the interaction – from ancient Chinese tradition – of two energies that form a whole, and which cannot exist without one another, as each one provides the life force for the other. Like hot and cold, more and less, yes and no. There’s a major difference in this case, though: for the Volvo designers it’s all positive, all yeses in the harmony of forms with which, they boast, they have blended two different cars – a coupé and a cabriolet – into this single C70. “Its buyers will be getting two cars for the price of one”, claims CEO Hans-Olov Olsson confidently at the Frankfurt Motor Show. The car looks as if it will be a trump card…

The sixth generation Passat Variant comes along at a crucial time for Volkswagen. Not only does it complete the new Passat range launched in spring, but it also concludes a whole cycle of renewed design, which introduced a series of new styling cues developed by the Wolfsburg brand. It is interesting to note that the development of the new car, which was conducted in parallel with VW’s latest addition, the Eos cabriolet, benefited from a process of styling osmosis, defining its character. As Volkswagen Group design director Murat Günak explains: “The face of the car owes a lot to the Eos. Initially, the chroming ended at the number plate then, with the Eos, we tried bringing it further down. When we did, we realised that it would also have worked…

Japanese car makers understand the importance of local design input for their European models. Now, Toyota has taken this strategy one step further since the new Yaris is really the second generation of this small B-segment car to be completely designed in Europe. Inevitably, the result could not be other than evolutionary although this is by no means a step backwards. The new Yaris is bigger, more intelligently packaged, and even carries the signature of its original creator, among those of other designers from Toyota’s ED2 studio in southern France. Six years ago, the Yaris became Toyota’s European-made entry level model that is now the Japanese car maker’s mainstream model. Today Aygo offers an entry to the Toyota world, and may become mainstream in future, requiring new positioning for the…

A ston Martin is one of those very few marques that have become an automotive legend. For years, it was the undisputed symbol of a slightly dandy and aristocratic British image, although much of its kudos is due to the fact that indestructible secret agent with a licence to kill – James Bond – drove a diabolical DB5 in the film Goldfinger. The British marque, which has always remained faithful to its image of authentic values that are unconcerned by trends, has had its share of problems in recent years but now, major investments have steered the company back into a prominent role in the super-car market. Aston Martin, which has always been committed to advanced research and has long standing traditions in motor sports, has unveiled its latest gem:…

Perhaps it’s the unique climate of the far North, the closeness to the Arctic Circle, the beauty of the Swedish landscape or, for a few months of the year at least, those long days infused with the sun’s milky rays that have acted as a catalyst for the creativity and originality defining the end of course projects from the students of the Umeå Institute of Design. While we’ll never know for sure, these remarkable sources of inspiration must have something to do with it. This year, thirty seven students from 19 different countries graduated from the institute. Nine of these completed the specialised course in Transportation Design, with the presentation of their individual theses. The selection of projects shown here clearly illustrates how the students focused on a variety of…

The exhibition entitled “Giorgetto Giugiaro, 50 years of design”, held in the picturesque setting of the Fenestrelle castle near Turin, closed on October 2, after being open to the public for over two months. After this summer venue, the exhibition will be hosted during the winter season in the indoor facilities of the castle, and will remain open throughout the Winter Olympics and Paralympics, until March 2006. A collection of drawings, sketches, designs, models, prototypes, steel pressings, mock-ups and artefacts has been organised in an informative and, in some cases, even educational exhibition dedicated to anyone interested in getting to know about or embarking upon the path of applied creativity. The exhibition, arranged along the trenches and courtyards of the castle, was designed specifically to interact with the architecture and…

Donato Coco was appointed new chief of design at Ferrari on November 15. Hereplaces Frank Stephenson, who took over Fiat Auto design operations in April. 51-year-old Coco, Italian by birth but a French resident since the age of 5, leaves hisroleas design managerat Citroen. Agraduate of the Royal College of Art in London, Coco started hisdesign career at Cebe, a French sports eye-wear manufacturer. He started work for Citroen in 1984. and had moved up to head Platform 1 by 1998. Since then, he has built areputation on many successful models, from the Picasso MPV to the C3, C3 Pluriel and C2 trio. At Ferrari, which has no in-house design division, he willbe in charge of coordinating relations withthe company’s historical supplier Pininfarina, which has designed the cars of Maranell…

Only a few years ago, a car with a radically original shape presented as a concept car would have been thought of as no more than a study in design for its own sake. However, practically nobody took any notice of the “Concept” label on the Z4 Coupé unveiled at Frankfurt. Everyone from the public to the press knew that in spite of the BMW’s statements to the contrary – which are typical of a pre-production presentation such as this – the Z4 Coupé was already in its definitive guise. The design is an expression of the now established BMW styling language, which has gone from being a proverbial hot potato to the object of admiration, and the new sports car was given a universally warm reception. Chris Bangle describes…

There’s commotion at Lamborghini, as both the Concept S, unveiled last spring at Geneva, and the Gallardo Spyder, launched this September at Frankfurt, vie for attention. The Concept S was, in the words of its creator Luc Donckerwolke, simply “a game”, a direct derivative of the Spyder, whose design had already been signed off and was ready for production. But after the static model shown at Sant’Agata in March, they built a rolling version that was so attractive that instead of ending up in the factory museum, it was actually bought by an American customer, who saw it at Pebble Beach in summer. One thing led to another, and plans were tentatively drawn up to produce it in a limited edition, initially in a series of 60 and then 100…

This is a crossover in the truest sense of the word, giving an insight into the criteria that Renault wants to pursue in extending its range into the SUV segment. While the Egeus, a concept car that introduces strong coupé connotations to the exterior architecture of a soft-roader, and to the interior of a luxury saloon, is not destined for production in its own right, it does give us a plausible preview of some of the features we’ll be seeing in the brand’s future cars. Patrick Le Quément, Renault design chief, explains the decision to unveil a study in this category of car at Frankfurt: “In recent years, we have been working on many different segments, and even on cars that explore possible new markets. This was while other manufacturers…

The exhibition “Extreme textiles: Designing for High Performance”, held at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York and open until next January, reflects on the extraordinary evolution of textiles, and of high-tech fabrics in particular, which are the result of inventive research and experimentation, capable of complex and advanced functions, and used in more or less commonplace products. While textiles were once viewed as simple surfaces with, perhaps, a decorative role, they have now assumed structural roles in a huge and varied spectrum of products. Supported by a usefully informative catalogue for the designer by Thames & Hudson, the exhibition, organised by Matilda McQuaid, the director of the museum’s textiles department, who has been researching this area for over a decade, provides a perfect opportunity to get a clear…

Technology and design, function and form interwoven harmoniously through the development of every aspect of a product and its industrial application. Since 1961, Lacks Enterprises, an independent company based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, has been developing and introducing new finishing technologies and systems for the automotive, telecommunications and mass consumption electronics industries. Recently, Lacks has supplemented its R&D activities with an in-house design studio, to give shape to the technology developed and also to provide consulting services to clients, to help make better use of its products in their respective applications. Lacks, which boasts an established client base that makes extensive use of its products (including DaimlerChrysler, Ford, General Motors, Nissan, Toyota and Volvo), is constantly researching new technology, as part of a strategy to avoid existing and consolidated markets…

More than just a minivan. The Grandis interprets the MPV genre in a lower and sleeker architecture than certain of its rivals, which often come in shapes closer to a van than a car. Launched in Japan in May 2003, introduced in Europe a year later and on sale in Italy from this Autumn, the Grandis is actually more of a tall estate, with a roomy cabin and three-row seating for up to seven occupants. At the origins of this project are two concepts unveiled in Tokyo in 2001, both created during a prolific period in which Mitsubishi design was in the hands of Olivier Boulay. These are the Space Liner (in the photo, behind the Grandis), an elegant MPV dubbed ‘a Japanese lounge on wheels’ due to its refined…

At the beginning of last summer the exhibition and congress facilities of the Lingotto building – the Italian, and more specifically, Turinese, symbol of the auto industry and of transport research and design – hosted an exhibition of the end of course thesis projects by the students of Northumbria University. The event was an opportunity for benchmarking as well as a satisfying conclusion to the course for the fourteen young designers from the school, as their work was presented to a large audience of both professionals and general public. The simple and clear exhibition was unpretentious yet elegant and allowed the visitor the freedom to wander among the inspired concepts, innovative configurations and fresh proposals in subjects such as materials, trim and alternative propulsion, applied to a variety of different…

This, the last – and largest – piece in the plan to revitalise the Citroën brand, also introduces a flagship to a range that has long been lacking a car of imposing size and character. The C6, unveiled at the last Geneva Motor Show and officially launched at Frankfurt in September, is the final act in an intense body of work to improve the image and quality of the cars of the double chevron marque that has gone on for six years, as the brand’s chief of design Jean-Pierre Ploué explains: “Any automotive manufacturer worthy of this title must, even if it produces popular cars, still have a flagship model and, more generally, products that uplift the image of the brand. In the past few years, we have scored impressive…

The S gets bigger and sportier to broaden its appeal to an even larger and more varied clientele. With the new S Class, which was the highlight of the three-pointed star’s stand at Frankfurt, Mercedes makes a return to the use of daunting size to stand out among its competitors on the roads of the world. Peter Pfeiffer, chief of design at Mercedes, explains the decision to abandon the relatively svelte dimensions of the outgoing model: “The launch of a new S Class is always a very important event for us. Market trends have changed since the 90s. As the diamond tip of our range, the S Class is also an expression of the state of the art in our field and of the future of the marque, and it…

Eos, the Greek goddess of the dawn, the daughter of the two Titans Hyperion and Theia, sister of Selen (the moon) and Helios (the sun). In Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, she lit up the sky with her “rosy fingers”, on a carriage drawn by the great steeds Lampos and Phaeton. After having already celebrated the name Phaeton with its flagship saloon, Volkswagen again delves into the realms of Greek mythology. According to Wolfsburg, Eos is not just a clear, quick and easily pronounced word anywhere in the world, it also evokes, with the image of dawn and rosy skies, the ideal dream of cabriolet motoring. This is the Golf cabriolet – which, in actual fact, also shares platform parts with the Passat – derived from the Concept C shown last…

Great gaping jaws, the penetrating eyes of the king of the jungle, a prominent regal nose and even a set of whiskers - is this a lion? Well, yes and no. This is how Gérard Welter describes his latest creation, which is a car, of course. The lion is that of the Peugeot badge, which has been incarnated, according to the designer, in the front of the new 407 Coupé, unveiled at Frankfurt. The jaws are the oversized grille, the eyes the headlights, the snout - la truffe – is the badge of the French manufacturer, perched right on the edge of the bonnet, and the whiskers are the slender air intakes in the wings. “We needed to satisfy all fans of the marque, with an appropriate design that conveyed…

“People sometimes buy a car just because of the brand, even if they don’t like the design. With our new design language, however, we want to create cars that will attract buyers who otherwise would never have bought Ford.” So, little more than a year after taking charge of Ford Europe design, Martin Smith proudly sends out a clear message on the styling direction that the next generation of the blue oval’s cars will be taking. A ‘declaration of intent’ called Iosis, the concept car unveiled at Frankfurt in September, which catalysed public attention with sculpted surfaces that are much more emotive and expressive than Ford products of recent years. Design thus makes a return to centre stage without, however, denying the enviable driving dynamics that Ford cars have so…

The bicycle is perfect rationality in practice: two wheels, a chain drive and pedals, a saddle, a handlebar and total freedom to get around in a healthy and environmentally friendly manner. The concept is so successful that it has practically remained unchanged since its invention. Of course, in recent years we’ve seen a spate of new and different guises: city bikes, mountain bikes, downhill bikes and race special to name but a few. But specialist products aside, real conceptual innovations have been few and far between. So the “Cicleo” study presented by Fioravanti at the 63rd International Cycle and Motorcycle Show in Milan was particularly interesting. The project was named in homage to Leonardo Da Vinci (who designed the first modern bicycle in the XV Century) and because it introduces…

On the crest of almost four years of uninterrupted success, the Citroën C3 has had a little rejuvenating work done to freshen its general appearance without altering its character. Donato Coco, range coordinator, explains the reasons for this deliberately light restyling for the French marque’s best seller: “As this is a very successful car, we had to be very cautious and carefully consider any work we wanted to do, so as not to risk upsetting our customers, who are very passionate about the image of this product. As a result, only the minimum necessary was done, also because the original didn’t have anything particularly wrong with it to start with.” The restyling work was mainly focused on the ‘face’ of the car – its grille and bumpers. In spite of…

In the automotive industry and design schools today, competitions are held every year for graduating students and new graduates. These initiatives provide useful insight into potential new talent and help set the educational standards for designers whose aspiration it is to work in a design centre. We were very pleasantly surprised to be invited to participate in the second competition organised by Bermann, an established company based in the attractive and historical town of San Benedetto Po, near Mantua, which is one of Europe’s leading manufacturers of original accessories, trim components and sports add-ons for the auto industry. The subject of the competition, launched nine months prior to its conclusion in October, was to design special versions of twelve recent production and concept cars, in three categories – city cars,…