Nissan GT-R Car Design

Nissan GT-R is the pure sport car which was developed by Nissan ruled by French chair man.

To European people, sport car means to be Porsche or something….so, even though GT-R had been a variation of Skyline for many years, but they got rid of the relationship with Skyline and was completely re-made as an independent model.

Well….lets look at the design of Japanese Super car…..

I will have to say it is ugly pig…!

1. Extremely unnatural slope of the roof line.
2. Flat door panels make it look dull and fat.
3. Short and fat ass spoils its sporty feeling.

It is large 2 door coupe….one of the most exciting design for designers…but is that the best Nissan designer could do?

This is what I did by using Adobe Photoshop.

1. Lifted up the roof line and modified the line of C-Pillar which is the key point of car design. It will improve rear head space as well.
2. Added press line at the top of door panel to give extra accent.
3. Modified rear end of the door. It will look more sophisticated and also improve accessibility to rear seats.
4. Modified bottom end line of side glass.
5. For the final adjustment, rear trunk is slightly extended…but we can skip this part as well.

Japanese people has never been good at designing “Sporty” some reason….Whenever they do, they make something childish.
Apart from 240Z, RX7 or MX5….they are not that impressive…..

Each line is too sharp and too straignt. I wonder if it is because they are drawing by computer. People used to spend hours to decide just 1 line but not anymore….

Tell the truth, to own this vehicle, it will cost more than Porsche…in that case, what is the point of owning this ugly creature?

Maybe they are faster than Porsche….but where are you going to try it?
Of course, performance is important….but beautiful styling is as important as its performance and that is what Nissan missed this time.

When a Japanese motor journalist complained about its design, Nissan said the reason was the…”cost”…..well….they are misunderstanding something very important.

At least I know Nissan has a good designers. They really should have used this rough sketch to GT-R instead of slow selling Infiniti M.

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New Riley ELF….???

Today, BMW which one stage owned Rover group and screwed up own Triumph and Riley brands.

It has been over a decade since Mini was re-made by BMW and there is always some demand of up-graded Mini….equal New Riley Elf.

So, I played with Photoshop here.

This is based on Mini Countryman which is station wagon of Mini. I removed quarter glass to make it 3 box style.

Well….I noticed how bulky the new mini is……it does not look as clean as original mini.
Originally, Mini was designed by Brithsh….but not anymore. Britain and German had been fighting since the history began and their cultures are  quite different.

I don’t think German understand British beauty…..Look at New Bentley or RR !!

Anyway…go back to Riley Elf.

Original Elf was Mini + extended boot space. But this one is……Mini Countryman – Luggage space….this means this car is not as practical as Countryman.

If I think this way, maybe there is no reason to make it.

Or, in North America, 3 box sedans are more popular…..so, they could make for North American market….

Another problem is how many people remember “Riley”? This way, I will have to say negative things.

It is good to have big brother of Mini….but Ryley brand is a bit too old…so as Triumph.

Today, BMW is making many variation of Mini. This means they need something  upgraded version and I am quite curious how they are going to do.

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Honda CBX250RS….Ladies don’t like girly design.

CBX250RS….downgraded cheap girly design was hated by ladies who were supposed to be the main customers.

I got to tell Car designers “Girls don’t like Girly design!!”

Honda CBX250RS was a 250cc single cylinder sport bike introduced in 1983.

Honda CB250RS….it was slim & light….but it was quite sporty looking too.

The previous model CB250RS was a really nice bike. It only had 25PS which was lower than Honda CB250Twin…but it was nearly 50kg lighter. Combination of light slim body and responsive single cylinder created quite sporty feeling and that was how it was loved from experienced rider to lady riders.

Also the design was downsized CB900F which was one of the most popular sport bike at that time.

Then, 3 years later, the updated CBX200RS came out with stronger chassis and 5PS extra with DOHC head.

But somehow….it was not popular at all.
It came with starter motors and it spoiled the character of the previous model.

CB250RS was kick-start only with light weight body….it was purely sporty charactor…but just adding extra starter motor spoiled it.

Secondly  the vibration. When they developed previous model, they were not particularly interested in “Taste of single cylinder”.

It was only because the engine was carried over from off-road bike and also was the only engine a part from heavy & aged CB250Twin engine.
But lots of people liked the engine.

So, what Honda did was….increased vibration on purposely. This was not as nice as previous model.

Then, the biggest problem was…..they misunderstood the customers.
Previous model were quite popular with girls….that was true…..then they did girly or cheap design for this model.

This is the important point.

Girls who take motorcycle license and spend big money for motorcycle don’t like girly design.

So, this model was not popular with girls and of course was hated by experienced riders too.

Recently, Toyota launched Toyota Crown with Pink color…..they did the exactly the same mistake.

Young people who spend big money for Crown won’t buy cheap crappy looking pink car.

When Japanese designers try to attract girls, they always do cheap crappy design instead of chick sophisticated design.

What’s the problem you guys?

2014 Lexus IS

2014 Lexus IS was introduced at Detroit Auto Show about a week ago.
Lexus IS which was called Toyota Altezza in Japan was first planed as sporty RWD sedan for young people.

Since 80s, all the mid-range sedans shifted to FWD and in 90s, there was no young buyers in that class.

Even Honda Accord which was originally targeted to young people shifted to higher class and the average buyer were getting older and older.

That was how, Toyota tried to attract young buyer to 4 door sedan. That was the original idea of the Altezza…….but….

• It was too expensive for young people.
• It was not as sporty as people expected
• The design especially interior was childish for people who could afford.

That was how, they could not attract nether young buyer nor wealthy people.

So, after that IS shifted to more luxurious market and this is the 3rd model including the original Altezza.

But again…..the average buyer of Lexus is getting older and older. That is how they are now trying to attract younger generation.

But…..what a hell is this? The grill looks like snake or something.

Recently, Toyota had big change about the design department.
Before, they had too many design assessments and that was creating Toyota’s dull & boring design.Now, they stopped that and the president of Toyota, Mr.Toyota says

“I understand car design”.
“I will look after design department.”

Actually, this is quite dangerous thing to do.
Because in Japanese society, design department will have to listen to president even if he is not right.
Also nobody want to risk to argue with president.

President does not mean he has good sense although he think he know about car design.

I introduced Toyota Crown  before and this is famous about Mr.Toyota visiting design studio all the time to complain.

What did we get for that?

Toyota design is in very difficult situation. They are trying to be something new….

But it looks like meaningless sharp lines are tangling up for no reason.

I especially don’t like the grill which looks like snake or something. There is completely luck of accent.

I just did minor modification by Adobe Photoshop. Even this makes way better than the original.

Well…I still don’t like the “Spindle Grill”.  Two lines running from bonnet are ending at the grill….well…it is not that bad…….then, suddenly changing the direction. It is just unnatural.

They are trying to be distinctive, but distinctive does not mean to be beautiful. Harmony is the important thing that Toyota is completely missing.

Remember the 1996 Ford Taurus!                                      Go Back>>

Toyota Crown….the Japanese Prestige

Brand new Toyota Crown with President of Toyota

Toyota Crown has been the Japanese Prestige since 1955.

The first Toyota we had in North America was the Crown in 1958….well it was not good enough for American road at that time.

Then, this is the latest version of Toyota Crown introduced yesterday!!

Wow…..what kind of color is it?
Same as Cadillac, average age of Crown owner is getting older and older. So, they tried to attract younger drivers this time.

But, first of all, young people won’t afford $40,000 or $50,000 price tug.

Even if they could, who is going to buy that kind of color?
Japan has history of Boy racer and it looks like those Low IQ boys racer. But those people never buy brand new cars. They just buy cheap 2nd hands and ruin it.

They are simply misunderstanding the market.
This is simply ugly and it is not something young people expect.

President of Toyota has been saying he understand design and he is controlling design department as well.

This is showing how useless he is as “design specialist”.

Trying to attract young people is OK…..but it is better not to ruin what they already have.

1959 Cadillac Eldorado

Or, is it what they wanted to to be……???

Infiniti M….Good design sketch for wrong car

When I was skimming American car magazine “Road & Track” , I saw a very impressive design sketch on an Ad. of Infiniti ( luxury brand of Nissan).

I was surprised about Nissan having such a capable designer….Look at this….such a simple, strong and elegant line….!

At least, I am not impressed about Nissan design at all especially past 10 years. GT-R, Skyline etc……they even can’t design RWD large coupe which supposed to be easier.

Look at this line…….at least I can say it is way better than their proud GT-R.

But, when it come to product…..what we get is this……

Such a disappointing…..First of all, I don’t understand why they used this sketch for 4 door sedan? It is for 2 door coupe line.

Original simple line has gone and too many unnecessary curvy lines are fighting each other…….

To make it adjust to 4 door, they had to lift up the roof line and that completely destroyed the balance.

I always say “roof line to C pillar is the key point of car design”.

• When they started thinking about space utility, they had to lift up the front windshield and that destroyed the harmony between the body to roof line.
• Then, they just lifted up whole the roof line without much thinking.

For try, I matched up the photo of Infiniti M on top of the Image sketch. It was surprising……the body line except for the roof completely much to the first rough sketch!!

Also matching with the body of Infiniti M and the roof line from sketch is perfect!!

It does look like Aston Martin or something…..!

This means the body design was not that bad…..just matching with the roof line is not good.
At least I can see Nissan still have designers……but maybe they don’ t have a good environment to do what they can do.

They should have used this image sketch for GT-R or Skyline 2 door coupe.

I have to say they used good design sketch for wrong car.

Simply, I don’t like Nissan’s design especially after Carlos Ghosn started to control Nissan. They are just complicated for nothing.

Car Design….2013 Lexus LS

LEXUS LS400 was first introduced as 1990 model in North America. It was the first successful Japanese luxury car in North America although it was more expensive than Cadillac or Lincoln.

It has been over 20 years and this year, New LS was introduced.
What do you think of this front mask?

To me, it just looks like cheap crappy boy’s racer or something

Just like it.

Japanese are a bit funny about car design.

If they try sporty looks, it ends up like cheap ugly low IQ crappy boy’s racer.

If they try to be luxury or coｎservative, they end up with Dull & Boring.

As reality, Lexus was not bad cars,,,,,but design were a bit too bland….or honestly dull & boring.

Also during the past 2 decades, the average age owners is getting higher and higher.That was how, they are trying to attract younger people….but I just can’t understand this ugly face.

So, I did some facelift by using Adobe Photoshop.

First of all, I just could not stand the ugly “spindle grill” What I did won’t look as characteristic as original one…but I am sure this is more sophisticated and will suit for wider market. The original one will be work only  in China & South East Asia.

This time, I only worked on around front bumper and grill….but I’ d like to do something about the headlamps too.

Today, all the cars are silver, silver and silver….I just don’t like it. Color is also a part of car design and depends on color, chrome finish or that kind of little items supposed to be changed as well.

Depending on silver means designers are trying easy way.

Hey you designers! do your job!

Car Design….2013 HONDA Accord

In North America, 2013 new HONDA Accord has already arrived.

Since 98 model, HONDA has divided Accord to European and American model.
This means American model became bigger and bigger….and European model is keeping the compact size.

It is already 1.8m width, 4.8m length….it is almost same size as American mid-size!!.

Original Accord was targeted to young family in mid 70s….and now main customers are in 50s.

Especially the previous model was such an dull,ugly & boring primitive design. I just could not believe that Accord was on sporty segment as well old days.

I can say HONDA Accord grew up and ended up as Buick.

If you compare those 2, the biggest difference is the line from roof – rear windshield- trunk rid has been modified.

Look at the old Accord…..the connection between rear windshield – trunk rid is not really smooth and the line of trunk rid is lower than bottom or rear door glass.

This will make it look quite dull & sluggish.

Look at the 2013 Accord….the line from roof- Rear windshield – trunk rid is much smoother and the trunk rid is higher than the bottom of rear door window.

Mainly this change eliminated the dullness of the design.

20 years ago, average of Buick owners were somewhere around 50s….and now they are in 70s.

Same thing is happening to Honda too and now they are trying to attract younger generation.

But, I think Honda is making a big mistake.

There is nothing between Civic and Accord. I guess it is better to have something in between.

In New Zealand, 4 cylinders are European type and 6 cylinders are American Type. I think it is better way to sell Accord.

We have Euro Accord as “Acura TSX” in North America, but this small car is $10,000 more expensive than US Accord!!

It is the time to completely re-start Honda Accord not to end up like Buick.

Car Design…Bentley Continental Flying Spur

Original photo of Bentley Continental Flying Spur

Bentley used to be owned by Rolls-Royce and were more personal and sportier character compare to Rolls Royce.

In 1999, Volks Wagen took over Rolls Royce…..but they failed to purchase RR brand although they took over all the company. That was how VW started to make Bentley instead of RR.

But for VW which is famous mass production company, the traditional Rolls Royce twin were not their taste.

So, in 2003, they started selling Bentley Continental GT….which share the main components with Volkswagen Phaeton, Then, Continental Flying Spur is 4 door sedan version of Continental GT.

Tell the truth….this design looks “fancy KIA” to me.

Bentley tried to get out of traditional Rolls Royce platform and so as its design. They just tried to be more sporty or something.

What is the problem of this design?

To me, it is missing the balance a bit around the C pillar which I marked with Red circle.  This part is extremely important cor car design.

This is the one I gave some modification by Adobe Photoshop.

Bentley Continental Flying Spur _ Modified design

Bentley Continental Flying Spur _ Modified design

• I modified the shape of C pillar. I did not touch the roof line…just the shape of rear door. That will make more stable more luxurious but could be a bit less sporty…
• Another point is Chrome side mole.

Side mole is extremely important for car design…but these days lots of designers don’ t know because very few cars have those today.

The original one looks a bit too low and that is making it look taller and heavier. That will work for Rolls Royce….but to me, I prefer to be a bit higher as mime shows.

Bentley is Luxury car and also at the same time, it is sporty too. This way, it will look a bit hard to do….but, no worry, all you have to do is follow the basics of car design.

Always those to I talked has been extremely important and even in 21st century too.

Car Design…..Acura NSX

Car Design: Acura NSX

When  Acura NSX was first introduced in Tokyo Motor Show 1989, that was exciting news for all Japanese people.
I remember the show, I even could not move in front of NSX in the massive cloud. According to the press, 250,000 visited in that day!

Those days, already Japanese cars were considered as best quality cars….but at the same time, they were always dull and boring looking too.

Lexus LS400 or Acure NSX…..those are considered as first achievement to be the “World class prestige”.

By the way, How do you think this style from the point of today? I thought it was really beautiful when I saw at 89 show…..but, my English teacher(American) said it needed more character. He also said the designer just try to be like Ferrari…… Well….he was right.

So Today, I am explaining this design.

Well….it does look a bit like Ferrari or something….but it does not look as powerful or as stable as Ferrari….why is it?

First of all it is better to check the side view.

It looks really weak around rear wheel arch. There is too much empty space or not enough mass….. between rear hatch and spoiler.  It makes it look like nearly collapsing.

It also has imbalance between small cabin and long wheel base.
I guess the biggest problem is the shape of the center pillar I marked by red circle.

That is showing like whole cabin is sliding forward.

Acura NSX with modified center pillar

I just tilted the pillar backward instead of tilting forward. In that case, I had to shift the rear hatch to backward too.

But look at the difference !! Only that shifted the mass of the design and made it much more stable.

This car has another problem. It has completely no space behind the front seats. When you are dating on this car, it is quite annoying because you got to carry everything on your lap,on the floor or on your girlfriend…..while you are driving!

But with this improvement, that will create some extra space behind seat.

I always say “Beautiful designs are practical too.” or “Practical designs are beautiful”.

Acura NSX with modified center pillar + short tail

Tell the truth, I was still thinking the rear end is a bit too long.

Those days, they thought it was good to have long tail for aerodynamics and also created luggage space which can carry golf bag….those 2 reasons made the tail so long.

In this picture, I shortened the rear a little bit from the previous one.
If I only talk about the design, I will choose the last one….but the previous one has reasonable luggage space at rear….maybe, that is the best balance.
By the way….this is the prototype of New NSX…….

They are just trying to be Audi R8 or something?

At least I could feel something like Challenge spirits from the previous model…..but nothing from this thing.

Just all the line is twisting around and banging each other. Car design is not “Modern art“.