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Like lots of car guys, I have a very specific weakness for one particular class of automobile. For many, that weakness is for fast, powerful, luxurious, high-end exotics; for me, as a side effect of a condition known medically as "being a bit of a moron," it's cars at the extreme low end of the spectrum. More »
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I think there's been some sort of unspoken, secret agreement between car designers and automotive engineers where designers get all the celebrity and coffee table books about them, as long as they leave space on the cars to stick badges explaining all the technical stuff the engineers worked so hard for. Maybe there's a backrub exchange as well. That's really the only way to explain the sorts of arcane and frankly, ridiculous badges found on many cars. More »
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The man who designed some of the wildest and most successful Formula One cars of all time, as well as the McLaren F1, is indeed something of a prophet of clever aerodynamics. But when this picture was taken, at the 1986 Spanish Grand Prix, Murray’s latest radical design sucked big time. It was also the way to the future. More »
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I'm no Francophile. I like certain French directors and adore certain French women. I can't stand French hip hop but I'll be damned if I don't love a French car. The stranger the better. And most French cars are weird in a way that American cars should be. More »
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To see the most interesting document at the Frankfurt Motor Show, one had to get a particular stool at Lotus then not sit down on it. Beneath a layer of glass was a page from Colin Chapman’s notebook from the summer of 1975 which contains many of his iconic quotes about Formula One cars. Some are simple, some are cavalier, and some, in light of the fate of some of his team’s best drivers, are frighteningly callous. More »
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China may be the world's fastest-growing automotive market, but so far homegrown Chinese car design has proven unimaginative at best. The generic econoboxes and clones of aging Audis are the result of years of knock-down kits, alliances with Western automakers and an automotive market where few ordinary Chinese could participate until recently. More »
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The silly theory that the beauty of a race car correlates with its performance on track is sometimes true—witness the McLaren MP4/4—but is also often not true. Mercedes’s rather pretty 2011 F1 car, the MGP W02, has not reached the podium in nine races, and even a lone race win for them this season would require 1996 Monaco levels of chaos. More »
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The Birdcage was a wonder, and the epitome of pre-monocoque race car design, a gossamer web of 200 pencil-thin chro-moly steel tubes welded fillet brazed into a delicate space frame which weighed all of 90 pounds. More »
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Before the Lamborghini Countach, before the Lancia Stratos Zero, before the Pininfarina Modulo, there was this, the DAF 55 Siluro, a silver wedge with a 1.1-liter Renault engine and a stepless, fully automatic transmission. After it was shown at the 1968 Geneva Motor Show, the world of supercars would never be the same. More »
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Had the Lamborghini Miura not been invented, Franco Scaglione’s Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale from 1967 would be the sexiest car ever built. Here, in this 5-photo series, we attempt to find an angle on it that sucks. Sadly, the Alfa is semi-obscured by a tarp and a McLaren F1 on the first photo. In our search for design fail, please move on to the second image. More »
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Two decades before they would consider selling wagonesque sedans to the general public, Porsche took a 928 and added a bulbous rear as a gift for the 75th birthday of company founder Ferry Porsche. It was called the Study H50. More »
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Acura's aggressive "keen edge" beak-like front fascia design, launched in mid-2008 with the 2009 TL, is a love-it-or-hate-it look. And oh, how it was hated. That styling is the single most-cited reason shoppers walked away from the brand. More »
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When Marcello Gandini inoculated fantasy spaceship design into cars, he had bigger things to worry about than rear visibility. Like scissor doors. This window looks straight into an air intake. Like we care. It's a Countach! Photo: Axel Griesinger More »
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Walter de'Silva, head of Volkswagen design, has reinterpreted a Leica camera to the tune of $26,500. He's not the first car designer to venture into camera design. In the red corner is Giorgetto Giugiaro of Nikon and supercar fame. More »
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For the annual design challenge at this year's L.A. Auto Show, nine automakers were challenged to design a four-passenger vehicle of the future weighing 1,000 lbs. or less. Here's the rickshaws automakers think next-gen light cars will look like. More »
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“There should be some special indicator light on your car for when you are in the process of doing something stupid and are sorry for it,” the wonderful blogger Mimi Smartypants writes. Totally. Here’s why. More »
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Recently, much to our annoyance, some publications have misused some key automotive design terms. So, we worked with two automotive designers to create a handy guide to help you confidently point out the difference between your tumblehome and CHMSL. More »
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You know you’ve got a serious track Ferrari on your hands when even the taillights have been ripped out to make room for extra vents. More »
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Marille is not a box of Kraft macaroni and cheese. It is a 1983 skunk works pasta engineered by Giorgetto Giugiaro, perhaps the most prolific Italian car designer ever. More »
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From a design standpoint, the American license plate is a mess — some states' efforts are simple and appealing, but others are visual disasters. Ken Carbone of Fast Company commissioned a few designs he thinks'll clean things up. —Ed. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5557168&view=rss&microfeed=true With the marriage license ink still drying, here's eight great Volkswagen-Italdesign collaborations. [Automobile] More »
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Here's a fun challenge: Name these 42 brand logos as fast as possible for bragging rights in the comments. Matt finished with 6:18 left, I brain-farted on Holden and finished at 5:10. How fast are you? [Sporcle] More »
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Solving the problem of compact-engine-bay-meets-huge-ass-American-engine, Giotto Bizzarrini’s solution is beautiful, brutish and eternal. More »
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A study by German researchers speculates a preference for round-and-proud cars indicates a subconscious fear of sharp, dangerous objects.The desire for boxier designs arises when we're bored with safety. None of this explains the appeal of the Bangle Butt. [LiveScience] More »
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As if creating a line of world-beating racers stretching back from last Sunday to 1985 wasn’t enough, Red Bull’s technical director is rather happy flooring it at Le Mans in a product of his great rival Ferrari. More »
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The BMW M3 is from 1986. The house? 2009. Both are clever, well-designed, focused, a perfect match across a quarter century. More »
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Heritage grille my ass. The Bugatti Veyron is a two-ton rodent, not a modern take on 1920s racing cars. More »
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18 students at London's Royal College of Art (RCA) were tasked with designing a concept of the future of VW's bi-winged "B"-emblazoned brand. The result? A shave as close as a Cylon blade. More Bentley-badged future visions below. More »
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The Miura’s signature eyelashes around its headlights draw many comparisons. But what exactly is their function? More »
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The BT46B—also known as the Fan Car—was a cunning Gordon Murray racer, designed to one-up the dominant Lotus 79 in the 1978 Formula One season. More »
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Horacio Pagani’s first and only super car is a cornucopia of baroque executed in carbon fiber. One detail stands out: the outlandish side-view mirrors. Can you show us one that's more sexy? More »
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A while back, Wert noted that underbody plastics serve a glorious and wonderful purpose. We found an example of this sort of thing in L.A., and it just happens to look awesome. Five bucks says you can't guess the car. More »
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It's been just over a year since the Porsche Panamera's official images debuted here. Surprisingly, it's taken this long for the real inspiration of the weirdo shape to be uncovered, say 'ello to to the Bristol 405. [TTAC] More »
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What was once an area for unique engineering solutions and cool design twists has, like most facets of modern automobiles, become depressingly conformist. Thankfully, we've found, with reader help, five exceptions to the rule. Here's our five favorite pedal sets. More »
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'Form follows Function' is the defining design philosophy underlying styling, engineering and packaging of every McLaren road car. The same's true for McLaren's F1 car. The perfect example? The gorgeous function-first pedal design. What's your favorite set of clutch/slow/go pads? More »
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This screen-cap is from a cartoon Toyota produced to help kids understand how their cars are made. It starts with a meeting, charts and one paranoid engineer noticing "they all look the same..." [Toyota] More »
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Like all brands, Mazda gets porkier every year, its vehicles adding 80 lbs with each successive redesign. Now Mazda says it plans to hit the gym, reducing vehicle weight by at least 220 lbs beginning in 2011. How, Ultra Slim-Fast? More »
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Excellent under-body aerodynamics will make the bottom of a car look as flat as the underside of a Hot Wheels racer. But looking awesome is obviously not the only purpose. More »
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You just know that flat screens with icons in a grid are the zeitgeist when even a carmaker’s display screen looks like an iPhone. More »
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Well into the second century of the automobile, new vehicles can't help but be a portmanteau of earlier designs. Even those that believe they're a new segment. Let’s see some of the recently-revealed Acura ZDX’s forefathers. More »
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