2013 Buick Riviera Concept

Buick has been known as a brand for pre-WW2 generation.

There is a joke says

There are 2 type of Buick owners…..

1. Old person bought from dishonest sales person.
2. Young boy got from his grand farther……

Actually… it is a kind of true…

Buick used to be a luxury car for working class people. It was a bit like today’s AUDI
or something.
But, what about now? They are only meaningless re-budged Opel. They got rid of well-known brand and brought new names to confuse consumers.

Riviera was a luxury 2 door coupe especially known as a twin brother of Oldsmobile Toronado in late 60s.

It was purely stylish and respectable 2 door coupe.

The previous and last model of Riviera retired in 1999. Over a decade after, they brought back a valuable name….

As I see, it is very early version of concept car. It looks a bit like Aston Martin or something…. well, at least Buick is trying to do something….

But what I don’t understand is….. why the front grill is mounted that low??? Does it look any good?

I don’t think so. It just looks like uneducated teen wearing pants down.

This is the one I modified by using Adobe Photoshop.

All I did was lifted up the grill. If you compare, you will notice that made a big difference.

All I did was moved the grill to where it supposed to be.

On the original one, grill is not located to where it supposed to be and that makes your vision will endlessly float around between headlamps.

In this case, the styling will never look impressive.

On the modified one, your vision will go straight to the grill, then look around and come back to grill again.

How to attract vision is quite important point of industrial design.

Still there are lots of things to do on this design. But I am happy to see this because it is telling me that Buick is trying to restore their brand image.

They are trying Cadillac to be international…. in that case, Buick should be Luxury cars for American people.

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Cadillac XTS….Car design…

When I was walking around Downtown San Francisco, I ran into cheaply ugly looking car in front of a Luxurious hotel….At least, Audi which was parked behind looked way more respectable to me.

I looked at the vehicle carefully and I recognized that it was Latest Cadillac XTS….which is the largest Cadillac 4 door sedan today !!

Cadillac does not look good in front of luxury hotel???  What is happening?

Let’s look at the design…..well….it is hopelessly bad….it looks like big fat Toyota Prius or something…At least it is not the proportion of Luxury 4 door sedan.

Badly sloped front windscreen creates poor drivers position, also rear windscreen is causing limited head clearance at the rear seats.

Doors are too flat and it makes it looks dull and fat.

Popped up rear end…

This design is completely ignoring basics of basic of car design.

So, this is what I did by using Adobe Photoshop…..

• Lifted up Front windscreen to create better front space.
• Lifted up Rear windscreen to get extra head clearance at the rear seats.
• Dropped down the popped up rear end.
• Extended height of door windows to improve the vision.
• Added press line on doors to give some accent.

That is how I did….basically, all I did was related to improve cramped interior space and at the same time, it is improving the styling.

But….unfortunately the base was too bad…..to me it looks like Prius turned into Camry….I still don’t think it is enough for luxury sedan.

It has been a year since this model came out, but I have seen only a few times in Vancouver and it was the only one I saw in San Francisco !!

Do you remember that Cadillac used to be the most popular luxury car and saw everywhere in the United States…?

It is based on Chevrolet Impala and costing more than double, but it looks much worse than Chevy…..that is the reason It is not popular at all.

Last 2 decades, GM have been  trying to copy Japanese. I don’t think anything wrong to learn from something…but they are making big mistake.

“Each design has a right size.”

Prius looks OK (Personally I don’t like it) because of its size. If you transplant the design into bigger size, usually it will not work.

That is the risk of copying Japanese design. They have to be very careful…..

Cadillac XLR….Car Design

Cadillac XLR was the first convertible for Cadillac which came out in 2003 since Allante was withdrawn in 1993.

2003 was also One hundredth anniversary of Cadillac and XLR came out with $100,000 of price tag which was the most expensive mass-production vehicle made in the United States.

This is the only vehicle which is sharing the platform of Corvette.
This also means it was supposed to be very special model for GM…

Cadillac Eldorado used to be the most popular 2 door coupe….but not anymore. All the market was taken over by Germany and now, Cadillac has strong complex against Mercedes…

This is obviously targeting Mercedes SL….but what about this design?

Cadillac has been trying to be different past 10 years and they call it “Art and Science”….But it only look like cheapy crappy Lego toy or something.

I am amazed that nobody had complained about this front mask.
In case of Mercedes SL, It goes well with wealthy old women or even  fashion model…but this thing…. I just can’t think who could look good on it….

This is what I did some modification by using Adobe Photoshop.

First of all, I just did not like those headlamps. When you see the original one, your vision is just floating between strange-looking headlamps and doesn’t stop.

That is why it is looking spiky….but it does not look strong or looks vague.

Look at my one….your vision will go streight to center of vehicle, then look around and the vision comes back to center again.

This is typical example that GM designers are not understanding basics of car design.

Today, there are lots of people who are good at drawing or good at operating computer graphic…..but I don’t think there are enough people who understand basics of car design.

Cadillac designers don’t know what is good about Cadillac, or history of Cadillac. All they do is putting Cadillac budge and vertical tale lamps.

Meaningless lines are not beautiful, practical lines are beautiful.

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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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2014 Cadillac CTS

Photos of 2014 New Cadillac CTS were revealed yesterday.

First of all, they are getting rid of ugly “Art & Science” line. That is a good thing!! I don’t understand why they kept using that ugly toy like design for a decade to ruin their own reputation.

At least those rounder lines looks more sophisticated….but at the same time it looks like mixture of Mercedes and BMW essence…….

When you see the rear view, it looks more like Cadillac XTS.  At least it is better than current CTS.

What about front?

Huge grills and tiny headlamps at the corners….do they know the word “harmony”???

To do design, most important thin is harmony.
In this case, the huge grill attract all my vision and can’t see anything else….or other parts looks quite week.

If they want to use that kind of grill, they will need more accent on the tail lamps as well.

This is how I did modification by using Adobe Photosphop.

I made the grill smaller and made the headlights wider instead to balance.

Also big difference is…..I had to reduce the height of the front mask.

I wonder why modern designers like “thick face”…..???  It is OK to do it if they know what they are doing.

Look at Rolls Royce…not the latest one.

When they use huge grill like it, they will have to think of headlights and bumpers, but they did not have enough time for it.

I want to tell all the car designers

If you are not sure what you are doing….go back to basic!!

Also they are trying to follow international standard, but following BMW or Mercedes does not mean to be answer for Cadillac.

People who want something like BMW will buy BMW. They won’t go for Cadillac eventhougth they were slightly cheaper.

Cadillac has to have something which BMW does not have if they really want to sell outside of North America.

They used to have it…but not anymore. They are just too busy to copy BMW and got rid of their own culture.

For Luxury cars, most important thing is their own cultural background. Cadillac has 110 years of history and culture which Lexus does not have. But now, they just look like downgraded BMW or Lexus.

Perhaps….like me, people who feel something special to the name of “Cadillac” are already old generation……

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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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Cadillac Sixteen….Last real Cadillac design

Cadillac Sixteen was a concept car which was introduced in 2003.

It had  V16 engine which had been absent since 1940.

Particularly, I don’t think it is beautiful design….but there are quite a few good design composition in this design.

First of all….the line of C-Pillar and shape of rear door glass ( also a part of C-pillar) is amazing.

I don’t like the extremely long front end…..but the overall design is quite well done.

I would say it is the last Cadillac which had good traditional Cadillac design.

Then, what we got in the market is……CTS, STS, DTD…..and latest XTS.
They were showing the future design of Cadillac by Sixteen….but what we got after Sixteen were just crappy Lego toy like design which completely destroyed the traditional culture of Cadillac and trying to be tasteless cultureless Lexus or something.

They have good designers….but they can’t do good job. That is the major problem on Cadillac.

Cadillac has always been Prestige cars and nothing else. It is impossible to be sporty car or BMW 3 series. Before they try lots of unsuccessful new projects, they should make best prestige cars instead.

What GM is doing is exactly same as Harley Davidson trying to make 250cc spot bike.

This is my Photoshop project which I modified Cadillac Sixteen to make more realistic.

I’d like this kind of Cadillac rather than XTS which lools like Prius or something.

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Chevrolet Caprice….C pillar destroyed whole design

New Chevrolet Caprice which came out in 1990 was shocking to every American people.
Almost everything was carried over from the long going previous model which came out in 1977 apart from its completely new weird body style.

A year later, Mercury Grand Marquis came out with more traditional looking and all the customer was taken away by Ford and Caprice was mainly used as Police or Taxi.

It has been over 20 years since this thing came out and it is quite hard to find one of those today.

I saw one on a street and what do I think now? Still ugly is ugly…..It was called “Beached whale” old days.

A year later, Big brother Buick Roadmaster was added to the line and was looking much better than Caprice.

What is the difference?

From the distinctive curvy A-pillar, it is obvious this is sharing the same platform.

Well…..it has bigger grill….. let’s look at the rear…….

It is looking much more respectable….isn’t it?

I can see the biggest difference is the shape of C-Pillar.
Let’s try some experiment…..I matched up Buick Roadmster’s C-Pillar onto Chevy Caprice by Adobe Photoshop.

Look at this…….isn’t it amazing? Those 2 are looking totally different design….but just using Roadmaster’s C-Pillar really changed the Caprice’s sloppy design. Nobody would call it “Beached whale” anymore!!

This is not bad at all. Later on, they modified line of rear fender and quarter glass, but it still did not improve a lot. This was how they should have done much earlier.

This is the one I modified around the tail lamp. It also changed the image quite a bit.
This series was not  popular partly because even 20 years ago, full-size cars were out of style. But, still the biggest problem was Caprice’s style.

Then, they produced Buick, Olds, Pontiac and Cadillac later on…..but obiously we could tell those were Caprice with tons of make up.

In case of Ford, Lincoln Towncar first came out, then Mercury and Ford came out later. It was better way to do and also they were better looking.

That was how GM lost in this market and withdrew in 1996. Then after that, Ford dominated this market…..but they did not do anything new and just kept aging and kept loosing customers and finally, all the Full-size Ford was seized in 2011.

This generation of Caprice was ugly….it was just because of the C-Pillar. This is good case study to say how important the shape of C-pillar is.

By the way this Caprice had Station Wagon as well and was looking way better. It was also because of the shape of C-Pillar.

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?

Car Design…Dodge Challenger

Dodge Challenger was known as a muscle car which was launched in 1970 and it came back to the market after the long absence since 1974.

Lets check at this modern muscle car today.
I would say it is not that bad….at least way better than Mustang or Camaro…..but this one still has the same problem with those other competitor.

First of all, why do they have to make Door Glass so small?
All the window is mounted very high and glass area is small…..that makes me feel really cramped although it has enough space.

You got to know I am only 5.8 feet tall and 130lb……and still feeling cramped. What about average American people?

That is how I did some modification by Adobe Photoshop.

As I told before all the window is located very high that is because of the extremely thick body.

Also because of the low roof…..those 2 are making glass area extremely small.
So, I sliced the body to reduce the height, then  lifted up entire roof to keep the space utility and also increase the glass area.

Also the angle of front windscreen has been lifted up slightly.

Maybe the original one looks more massive…or more powerful……but I just could not stand the high and small glass area.

Some reason,all the Americans are like that these days.

Also I reduced some gap between tire and wheel arch.

American muscle cars used to be roughly made….but those day, petrol was dirt cheap and at least they had reasonable space.

But today, the situation is totally different. They can’t do that kind of rough design anymore. It is good to bring back the legacy…..but at least they should keep the basics of car design.

I am not telling to make like 4 door sedan. I am just telling just small thing can make big difference and it will create extra value. That’s all!

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