The Toyota GT 86/Subaru BRZ: The RWD coupe Alfa should be building

By now the hype regarding the new RWD bargain exotic co-developed between Toyota and Subaru is all over the internet. In particular, the most recent Chris Harris video (below) makes it clear that this car will really be something special for all those who love RWD sports cars with soul.

Watching Harris powerslide the GT 86 through the corners of Jarama grinning ear to ear, I couldn't help but ask myself why the hell Alfa isn't making a car like this anymore. Sure there is the 8C, but it's a limited edition toy for the few, not a volume fun machine for the many, as the GTV6 and Giulia Sprint/GTV were.  Instead, Alfa is planning the inexplicable mid-engined 4C to be their entry-level sports car. And I just have to ask why they can't just go back to a winning formula of making great-sounding, great handling RWD cars that look sensational, at prices that compete with Infiniti rather than Aston Martin.  As an Alfista, I feel this new Japanese offering is the closest thing to what an Alfa is supposed to be like, but it lacks two crucial components: The sound and the looks.  My quick 15 minute photoshop job up top is not meant as a suggestion of what the car should look like, (it's still pretty ugly) but rather how much I long to see the Alfa Grille on anything approaching an affordable front-engine, RWD sports coupe again. I do hope the production 4C will exceed my expectations, but until then, I will keep dreaming of the day when Alfa finally gets back to the cuore sportivo.

The Perfect Design Sketch

Bill Porter is not as famous as his flamboyant predecessor as head of GM Styling, Bill Mitchell.  Porter had worked his way up from a summer intern fresh out of Pratt, all the way through being Chief designer for Pontiac before he replaced the mercurial Mitchell at the helm. While the 1960s was a golden age at GM that saw many prodigious talents flower, I have to say that for me, Porter's work stands out as some of the finest examples of the art of sketching from that era.  As a trained designer myself, I stand in awe at his sensitivity to light and shadow and his masterful use of shading and line weight to convey fluidity and reflectivity of the surfaces he is drawing.

The sketch below is one of his Pontiac sketches. What I love is how the important parts such as the chrome grill are rendered to an almost real level, but the outer parts of the drawing are so quick and sparse, giving just enough information for the eye to comprehend the shapes. Compared to some of the spectacular final airbrush renderings of the period, some of you may not find this impressive. But all Porter used here was pencil, pastel (or maybe conte crayon?), and black marker, and he probably did this pretty fast.  At his peak as a designer, he would have done a whole pile of drawings like this in a single day, showing different front-end themes.  Very impressive and worthy of close study in today's age of digital tablet sketches, where variations can just be done as layers over a 3D under-drawing.  Today's tools are still no substitute for sheer talent, but most practicing designers you talk to will agree, those guys were just on another plane...

Click HERE to see more amazing GM Styling sketches from the 1960s over at Dean's Garage.

Pantera Moment of Zen

I would.  Would you?

Focus

Eugenio Castellotti at the wheel of the Lancia-Ferrari D50 with a look of intense focus. One of the fastest drivers of his day, he was tragically killed at the age of 27 testing a Ferrari 801 at Modena less than a year later.

Hermann Lang Laps the 'Ring, Graham Hill Narrates

1962 film showing onboard footage (starting at 2:50) of Hermann Lang lapping the 'Ring in his Mercedes W125. In color, no less! Graham Hill gives a corner by corner commentary. It's very cool to see the lush, wooded circuit as it was before barriers and kerbs were added.