I really loved the overall look and feel of Bertone's B99 Jaguar coupe concept at Geneva. I think it captured the Jaguar ethos better than the marque's current offerings. But I must confess I loved the outlandish racing version of the car even more than the "production" version of the concept. The aggressive haunches and proportions instantly recall the Broadspeed XJ12C racing car campaigned by British Leyland in the 70s, and the wild spoilers and diffusers bring to mind some of the crazy Japanese Silhouette racers from the 80s. Sure, it's a bit wacky, but after the trauma of the Alfa 4C, the Saab PhoeniX and the BMW Concept, it was a nice salve for my eyes. Check out these awesome renderings released by Bertone!
The new Saab PhoeniX concept unveiled at the Geneva auto show is the first product of designer Jason Castriota's leadership at the post-GM Saab styling department. The obvious connotation of the term Phoenix is of a bird "rising from the ashes" but let me just say this is one overcooked bird. What a hot mess Castriota has made from the formerly clean and sober Swedish brand! And I'm not the only one to question Jason's egotrip here. The car clearly has many "trademark" Castriota touches that can be seen on his Bertone Mantide and other prior concepts, but where are the trademark SAAB brand hallmarks? Let's watch as former BMW design director Chris Bangle asks Castriota that very same question!
So Castriota claims that Saab is trying to "re-capture" its Aero heritage. But isn't that what GM-owned SAAB was up to in 2006 when they made the "Aero-X" concept car? Didn't this car also have jet turbine-inspired wheels as well? And the rear end treatment has some similar elements too. Only this car was hyper-clean, very nordic, and basically sex on wheels. Castriota's bizarre C-pillar "flying buttress" appendages, on the other hand, make me so mad I want to rip them off and snap them over my knee.
Of course Castriota wouldn't dream of referencing one of GM's star-crossed concepts though, nor carry on with the brand continuity they carefully built into all their show cars of the last 10 years. (Let's leave the production cars out of this!) Instead, he attempts to parry Bangle's professorial assault on his cover story by claiming to reference the original UrSAAB, from way back in the old days. Well, I'll leave it to my fairminded readers. Is there anything about this PhoeniX concept that in any way resembles the car below? I can see the vestiges of a teardrop shaped greenhouse in the PhoeniX but that is about it.
I do think I have an idea where the tail light treatment on the Phoenix came from though. And although it isnt from a previous GM Saab concept, it is from another GM car we can all remember with fondness:
I think that Castriota has believed his own hype for a little too long, and now that he is actually a design director at a real automaker rather than a struggling carrozzeria, he is going to have to really buckle down and learn to put the brand story ahead of his own signature flourishes, otherwise he could be on his own once again in the not too distant future. Welcome to the big time, Jason!
Now I'm not one for "engine porn" as they call it, but the new powerplant for the Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 looks like a fantastical weapon to be carried by a Gundam. It's just beautiful and hyper-futuristic. The same words apply to the car itself which, though stylistically extrovert as only a Lamborghini can be, is so well proportioned and full of refined details it really blows me away. I know many people might consider the new Aventador vulgar, but I think it's probably the most avant-garde thing happening right now in car design and it makes Ferrari's FF look positively declasse in comparison. Sure it could be a little simpler and more restrained, but I kind of love the fractured surfacing that gives the car such energy. It's like the took all the good things from the outlandish Sesto Elemento show car and applied them with a more production-oriented sensibility. Bravo Lamborghini! Bel Lavoro!
I don't think car design ever really surpassed the extremes to which the styling houses of Italy went in the early 70s with their space-age wedge designs. And perhaps the most extreme example of that archetype was the Lancia Stratos Zero by Marcello Gandini, which actually did lead to the renowned Stratos production car. This clip is really cool because I had never seen any footage of this earth-bound spacecraft in motion before-- and the synth music just makes it even better! Those of you know me personally know that this video is so right up my alley!
I have spent a fair amount of time soul searching over precisely why the new range of Jaguars just don't have that "IT" factor that a true Jag should have. Obviously the E-type was an incomparable paragon of beauty and line that Coventry never again equalled. But despite many attempts to recapture that swagger, I think even the latest family of Jags have a brutal look that isn't right for the brand. The new XF and especially the XJ look sort of thuggish rather than lithe; more bulldog than jungle cat. They're not bad designs per se. They just don't express the Jaguar ethos, in my opinion.
I was perusing the Tesla Motors website the other day and it hit me like a ton of bricks: The new Tesla Model S is EXACTLY what the new Jaguar XF should have looked like. It's aggressive, yet refined. It's sleek and athletic, and is just straddling the line between a GT and a sports saloon. The grill opening recalls the E-type, but in a modern, abstracted way that feels totally fresh. The gorgeous headlight clusters also capture the right "Jaguar gaze" utterly missing from the XF. I think the car's design is a stellar effort, worthy of a major automaker like Jaguar. I photoshopped a jag badge bar in the photo above to help your imagination, but I think you'll agree there is just something about the Model S that hits the spot Jaguar's designers have consistently missed for all these years.
Thursday, March 10, 2011 at 2:18PM ;)
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