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Post by PG on Dec 16, 2018 10:39:43 GMT
www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/features/design-legend-frank-stephenson-life-and-after-mclarenInteresting read about how he designed the BMW MINI and also his thoughts on current design. Is there one car design Frank Stephenson believes surpasses all others? At the end of our interview, I ask this question without much hope, knowing that the design scene is complex, and that car designers have to live with their peers. But Stephenson had already been impressively candid.
“For me, it’s the Jaguar E-Type,” he declares. “The S1 coupé. It was built for just one purpose and nailed it the way only the finest designs can ever do. It’s the most sensuous car in history. It has timeless beauty and incredible proportions. If they’d pushed it any further, it would have been a cartoon. If they’d held it back, it would have been mundane. Instead, it’s perfect.
“We need future car design to be like this. When you saw the E-Type, you instantly knew you had to have it. There was no need to get used to it, as with some modern designs. Today’s cars are often stretched and pulled about, often by computer influence. We have to resist that. You simply cannot beat the hand of man on a product.”
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Post by michael on Dec 16, 2018 20:21:30 GMT
I’m not sure the E type would even get built these days, times were very different. These days the drivers are more to do with regulation and the tastes of markets (mainly China) that have far greater influence on the final product. Electric drivetrains do offer the opportunity for a step change in design and packaging but generally speaking the new car market seems more conservative than ever and certainly more that it was in the time of the E type.
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Post by PG on Dec 16, 2018 20:26:13 GMT
I agree. But I think the point that some designs "just look right" is still a valid one.
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Post by michael on Dec 16, 2018 20:28:34 GMT
Absolutely agree with that.
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