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thebeerbaron

The danger of being boring

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thebeerbaron
, 03-21-2011 at 09:50 PM (2378 Views)
I didn't mean to post to the blog today, but I came across this old Top Gear [URL="http://www.streetfire.net/video/top-gear-season-7-episode-1-all-rightsbbc-uk_part-1_2198407.htm"]episode[/URL], in which they review the Ascari KZ1.

[IMG]http://www.ridelust.com/wp-content/uploads/ascari_kz1.jpg[/IMG]

Hammond points out the reason you've probably never heard of this impressive car. It isn't ludicrous. He argues that with a handful of marques already well established, breaking into the "super car club" takes something more than just a competent and attractive car. It takes something like the Pagani Zonda.

[IMG]http://imagesphotospictures.com/data/media/94/Pagani_Zonda_S_7.3.jpg[/IMG]

I almost chose a more luridly colored Zonda to drive home the point even further, but decided to be fair and just throw up another silver car. Still, it's quite obvious why you've heard of the Zonda, but not the Ascari. The Ascari is a good looking car. But it's a tame car. It's got fairly generic styling - the tail is reminiscent of recent prancing horses, the nose and side scoops predate the McLaren MP4-12C but are nearly identical. It's functional, curvy, maybe a bit attractive. But it's tame. Sure, it posted a great lap time on the Top Gear track, but those headlights just scream family sedan to me (Mazda 6 maybe?).

Now look at the Zonda. It's all wrong. The greenhouse is too far forward, the rear end just looks fat, and those quad headlights look like after thoughts. And what are those side view mirrors doing on top of the roof? My personal favorite is the utterly ridiculous quad rear tail pipes stuffed inside a howitzer.

[IMG]http://www.autodrome.fr/zonda_f_full_rear.jpg[/IMG]

Hammond suggested that the Ascari engineers needed to hand the design to a ten year old and let him draw on fins and machine guns. Add a dash of madness.

Now I understand why Dave Smith has been so vehement that this car knock your socks off. It's not a matter of making a car that is just a good looking car. It has to be striking. Maybe he's not directly suggesting fins and guns (I think the permitting process for mounting automatic weapons to a vehicle might involve more headaches than the entire "Carroll" battle), but in order to be successful, this design has to distinguish itself not only in terms of performance per dollar, but sheer wow factor.

This is why I intend to paint my 818 bright green. Seriously bright green.

Updated 03-22-2011 at 04:59 PM by thebeerbaron (fixed image, thanks David!)

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Comments

  1. thebeerbaron's Avatar
    OK, that first Zonda image appeared in all the previews I did, but not in the actual post. And I can't figure out how to edit the blog. (This is sad, as I am a computer jockey by trade).

    So here's another attempt at a Zonda picture.

    --- edit - I fixed the pic, thanks David.
    Updated 03-22-2011 at 05:00 PM by thebeerbaron
  2. David Hodgkins's Avatar
    Good blog post.

    Just FYI, if you hold your mouse just to the right of the title of your blog post, a pencil should appear. Click on the pencil to edit your post.

  3. thebeerbaron's Avatar
    Ah. There it is. How intuitive. Thanks!
  4. Olimk2's Avatar
    Pagani made his success on the perfect engeneering and finish of the car that place it directly on par with Ferrari or Lambo, mechanical backing by Mercedes AMG was a plus too. The Ascari is clearly not at the same level.
    By the way, headlamps come from French Peugeot 206!
  5. tenncobra's Avatar
    To me the Ascari looks like a cross between a Porche and a Corvette.
  6. OregonDave's Avatar
    Here's an interesting clip from the Geneva motor show in which Chris Bangle talks about supercar design. While he's a bit cocky, he's spot on - supercars need to define new limits of political correctness, not just be fast. You can't just piece together the bits and pieces you like from existing cars and expect to be a supercar - you've got to do something different, innovative, and daring. The Zonda is my favorite car for these reasons - it's very different from Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Porsche and they've really put an incredible amount of detail into all elements of the design.

    http://www.carbodydesign.com/2011/03...ercars-design/
  7. thebeerbaron's Avatar
    Wow OregonDave, that is a great clip. I need to hit the clay tonight, but I think I'll write more about it when I get a chance. I've been very impressed by Bangle's designs, but never heard him lecture. He gets it.
  8. thebeerbaron's Avatar
    Olimk2 - I can't say if the Ascari is on the same level of fit and finish, I've certainly never sat in one (nor a Zonda either). To be fair, I think one of the reasons we never heard of the Ascari is that only 50 were made (plus 50 of the racing version). That's tiny. But my point still stands, and I think the Bangle video above hits it on the head - you've got to be out there to be a supercar. Thanks for the info on the headlights, I can see the Peugeot now. It's staid.

    Tenncobra - Cayman and Corvette, I see it. Cayman greenhouse, Vette-ish nose. The rear hips/fenders/wheels are something different though.
  9. OregonDave's Avatar
    beerbaron, yeah Bangle gets it. I think his issue is you can't take the same risks on a 7 series that you take on a supercar :-) (bangle butt) However, he did give us flame surfacing and I'm a big fan of that overall, with only a few exceptions on some cars.

    What are you doing in clay? I've messed around with Chavant clay in the past, building scale models of cars and car parts because I can't draw worth a damn but want to eventually design my own car someday. carbodydesign.com is a great site if you're not already aware of it.
  10. thebeerbaron's Avatar
    I'm entering the Factory Five / Grassroots Motorsports body design competition for the 818. Since I can't draw either, I'm making a clay model instead. I'm using Chavant Y2 Klay, have you ever used this stuff? I was an art major, still work in the water-based clays for fun in pottery and such. Look through the rest of my blog posts, you'll see the evolution of this model.

    I don't know how I feel about Bangle-butt. I don't like it aesthetically, but it got people all riled up, and that was a good thing. It's certainly unique and nobody has copied it, which keeps the BMWs that have it special. Look at how Kia/Hyundai ape the last generation Accord/Camry. If it weren't so controversial, people would have appropriated Bangle-butt for themselves.

    I like flame surfacing, and I may be odd for really liking the original Z4. I've been sorry to see Bangle tone things down since then.
  11. Olimk2's Avatar
    I had the chance to meet him in Geneva in '95, very special guy. Had awaken BMW design, maybe a bit too hard...
  12. OregonDave's Avatar
    Beerbaron, a couple other thoughts. For heating the clay, you can use an old toaster oven on low or you can set up a few infrared heat lamps (cheap at home depot) to heat the clay before you use it.
    For wheels, I've used RC car wheels from the hobby store. Tower Hobbies should have a good selection. I start wtih the wheels and then determine the appropriate scale of the car based on whether I want the wheels to be 18", 19", etc. Good luck!
  13. Bill_H's Avatar
    Good post. I get a chill up my spine whenever I see posts on the forum that say the 818 shouldn't be too exotic looking.

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