2 Nov 2015 – Driven To Write

Car Design News Agrees With Us

Two weeks ago we ran a favourable commentary on the 2015 Toyota SF-R concept car. Car Design News (a great source) has declared the SF-R the car of the show. We just liked its use of felt on the door-skins.

2015 Toyota FSR door skin. That really is a superb application of this material: cardesginnews.com — 2015 Toyota S-FR door skin. That really is a superb application of this material: cardesginnews.com

I am not sure I could say definitively the S-FR is the best of the show (I wasn’t there) but I like almost all of it. The one part troubling me is the way the headlamps are treated. Here they are again. This is what the designer said: “So yes it’s cute but being cute is not enough which is why we used the hood surface to cut off the corner of its eyes.” I think that such is the power of circular and elliptical shapes that one has a tendency to Continue reading “Car Design News Agrees With Us”

Lyons, Sayer, Lawson, Callum… And Then?

Few car manufacturers are as closely associated with their styling director as Jaguar is.

Ian Callum himself, Photo (c) iancallum.com

Ian Callum, the current incumbent, is acting as both the premier brand ambassador, as well as in his main capacity of aesthetic pontiff. But even the prominent Scot will have to hand over reigns eventually. The question is: to whom? Car designers have turned into their respective brand’s figureheads over the past decade or so. Gone are the days of tie-wearing boffins who tinkering away their days in draughty studios, hardly ever to see the light of day, not to mention the limelight. Today, for better or worse, designers have become the speakers of their employers. Continue reading “Lyons, Sayer, Lawson, Callum… And Then?”

The (Indoors) Volvo Museum, Part 1

Driven to Write took the opportunity when in Gothenburg to visit the Volvo Museum.

It was the first stop directly after getting off the ferry from Frederikshavn, Denmark. I paid about €12 to get in. In this instalment I take a look at the concept cars. I discovered in the following three days that most of the ’70s cars and onwards were still driving around Sweden, making it the world’s largest open air museum for Volvos. There was one notable exception, and it’s not the Bertone 262. Continue reading “The (Indoors) Volvo Museum, Part 1”