All three Torinese design houses are showing concepts at Geneva this year, a big difference to last year's situation. Pininfarina's offering is the Duettottanta: a name that evokes the legendary 105-series Duetto, but also the years of activity at Pininfarina, which launches the celebrations for its 80th anniversary with this concept car.
The Duettottanta is a classic interpretation of the two-seat roadster format, with very understated and elegant lines. "We wanted to connect to the Duetto spirit without resorting to obvious retro cues," said design director Lowie Vermeersch. "It should appear to be light, to fly through the air... not be rooted to the ground." Taking us around the car, Vermeersch goes on to explain how the rear end pushes up, not down, with the design formed around two key lines: the crisp shoulder line that encircles the car and a complimentary sharp fender crown line that runs from the headlamps and along the beltline before lightly dropping down into the rear corner of the car. The intersection of the two lines at the rear forms that subtle cuttlefish shape that echoes the original Duetto.
There's a strong shadow beneath the shoulder line and what appears to be a shallow concave section in the door but closer inspection reveals more subtlety to this area. "It includes a rising negative core line, which allows us to control the light more precisely than a big hollow," explains Vermeersch. Slim LED headlamps and tail lamps are hung beneath this core line and the composition is completed with a bold three-dimensional interpretation of the Alfa shield that appears to be thrusting outward from the engine bay.
The interior is trimmed in black and white leathers, with the white upper IP appearing as a continuation of the hood volume, dropping down through the door linings. The pair of large dials and associated three minor dials also hints at the 105-series, as does the deeply-dished steering wheel, but the rendition is thoroughly modern, with piano black finishes and with the binnacle floating above the IP.
We always get worried when we hear the F-moniker on a Mercedes concept: uh-oh, they're the wacky ones devised by engineering - more a piece of eccentrically-wrapped technology rather than a svelte showcar. But not this time. The F800 Style fulfils three roles: firstly, the styling previews the new CLS, due later this year, particularly the front face, grille and headlamp treatment. More importantly, it outlines a proposal for an elegant sister model to the CLS, a new compact four-door coupé of 4.7m, sitting on a long 2924mm wheelbase with a generous interior package. Lastly, the F800 Style showcases a modular rear-drive platform that could take either plug-in hybrid or else fuel-cell electric drivetrains - a not-unrealistic future scenario for automakers.
Seen on the first day of the show, the styling feels a little overwrought, with a lot of overlaying elements worked into one car. This is particularly true of the front end, which will be interesting, as, according to head of design Gorden Wagener, all future models will get this brand face, with the main grille surround pulled out from the surrounding surfaces, a bold horizontal grille bar in body color topped with chrome and the dominant Mercedes star in the center, plus an extra u-shaped grille woven in below.
The wheels are notable for offering a new take on a finned design. The five broad spokes are finished in matte black with a series of delicate fins woven in that direct air through the wheel. Inside the car, the theme is one of lightness and fine wood surfaces. Large areas are covered in a new look bleached driftwood-finish veneer that covers the center console, door armrests, seat backs, seat bases and steering wheel. Seat frames are in magnesium with a carbon fiber laminate across which resistant netting is stretched, giving a semi-transparent appearance. Finally, the steering wheel design provides another advanced link to justify the F-moniker: the lower part appears as an aircraft-type controller and the upper part as a conventional rim.
The Flextreme GT/E is Opel's way of showing that the oily and electrical bits under the Ampera can work in other sectors too. As an extended range electric vehicle (E-REV) it is, according to design director Mark Adams, proof that "electric cars can be sexy, exciting and aspirational".
It's a long, low car, with its proportions exaggerated by the long arch of the roofline that ends at the very rear of the vehicle. Adams and his team have sought to reduce the aerodynamic drag as much as possible to maximize the potential of the drivetrain, and the result is a Cd of just 0.22.
The familiar Opel/Vauxhall grille is stretched into a broad mouth mounted very low, the extended nose section helping to circumnavigate ped-pro legislation and avoid a high-set frontage. The wing graphic that debuted with the Insignia features heavily in the front lamps - not just in the shape of the surround but also in the design of the lamp itself. This motif then continues to form the raised section of the hood.
The elongated profile features the Opel/Vauxhall ‘blade' shape - although given a slightly different interpretation here - before wrapping around to a curvaceous tail, with echoes of Insignia in the flip-up angle of the deck lid. Pronounced rear wheelarches, partly separated from the main body of the car, give something of the look of a Porsche 911 Turbo when the car is viewed from the rear. They also house aerodynamic devices that extend backwards at speed, squaring off the rear of the car and reducing the drag.
Adams points out that the team wanted to create something that wasn't easy to pigeon hole, and to that end they've succeeded as the Flextreme GT/E has aspects of sports car, shooting brake and sports saloon in its design. If this is a hint of the car maker's future design direction, then that future looks promising.
Back in the 1970s, Bertone had a tradition of producing the most outrageous concepts, so it's good to see the Pandion continuing this legacy as a design that really polarised opinion today.
In the flesh, this is a far more dramatic creation than the sneak preview shots suggested. While the exterior surfaces are fairly simple, the car really comes alive when the doors are opened up. And what doors! Fully 3m in length, they soar upwards, rotating around the rear wheel, as on the little Barchetta concept of 2007. What is revealed is a stunning white exoskeleton running throughout the interior and down the center tunnel, an idea that's been buzzing around in student projects for a couple of years but never developed full size.
Talking to chief designer Adrian Griffiths, he explained the idea behind the car: "We call this 'Algorithmo Design', the movement of a surface from outside to inside in a continuous movement. The structure and lines move through the car. We also looked at the Alfa Romeo logo, composed of a red cross, which represents structure, and the snake, which is skin."
The front mask and lamps are integrated into a powerful DRG but it's the rear that's the most dramatic area of the design, with random blades jutting out from the grille in a pixelated manner, almost as though they represent noise exiting from the car or the volumes breaking up, similar to the tail of a comet.
The interior features four slim seats trimmed in turquoise Technogel, as are the floor mats. "A cocoon held within this robust structure, where the seats appear to float in this interior," according to Griffiths. The exposed chassis tub is finished in a rough geometric texture that apes the blades used elsewhere for grille apertures. To be honest, we feared the Pandion might not be so outstanding, but seeing it up close it's definitely one of the stars of this show.
The SR1 makes its international show debut in Geneva despite Peugeot going public with the car soon after the Detroit Auto Show earlier this year.
This concept is significant for two reasons. Firstly, and most obviously, as a pure sports car it is a new type of car for Peugeot whose cabriolets have previously been derivatives of their mainstream hatchback or sedan designs. Secondly, it ushers in a new ‘post-Welter' design direction with Jean-Pierre Ploué heading up PSA design and Gilles Vidal now design director of Peugeot. Under this new management, the SR1 eschews the rictus grin and the design themes of recent Peugeots and introduces a strong new design direction for the brand.
This new direction is evident in the DRG (down-road-graphics) which feature a disappointingly generic grille aperture. But see the SR1 in the metal and it's immediately clear, in a way that pictures fail to belie, how the rest of the design is very fresh. A gentle depression in the door side is echoed in the rear fender and the upper surface of the front fender - where uniquely an ‘ingot' of polished metal door mirror pierces through. The shut lines of the hood and trunk unusually zig-zag down from the cabin. Both front and rear lamps feature three vertical blades that stand proud of the main graphic - at the rear they literally bridge over the body connecting the two strands of red lamp. Inside, the instruments are positioned far forwards in the deep IP which is a broad concave form that sweeps around into the doors, becoming convex as it does so. And behind the front seats is a single rear seat for a third occupant.
This design was very well received by the design community in Geneva. Every designer we spoke to rated it highly. It cleverly introduces many new ideas but remains a holistic and well integrated design that doesn't appear to be trying too hard. It's certainly a great start for Peugeot's new design management team.
Related Article:
Who's Where: Gilles Vidal appointed Design Director at Peugeot
The Porsche 918 Spyder was possibly the biggest surprise in Geneva. Very few people knew about this car including, apparently, the design management at Volkswagen!
The last Porsche concept car was the Carrera GT of 10 years ago that was designed in the then Porsche California studio. And the 918 appears to be picking up the mantel of the production Carrera GT that that concept sired, if perhaps also making nods to the classic 917 race car. It too has a very powerful mid-mounted powertrain, in this case a combination of 500hp petrol V8 and 218hp from two electric motors. Its design also relates closely to the Carrera GT in general theme and in details such as the straight, diagonal slim center console. But what is most striking, about what appears to be a show car spoiler of a production design, is how compact the 918 looks in the metal; more Boxter than Carrera GT.
Beyond some Carrera GT derived themes, the design has the classically taught yet full volume Porsche surfaces and some new design features such as the way the body-side tapers rearward to sit inside the rear surface of the car just behind the door. Other details that are new for Porsche are lamps that are taller than they are wide (more Ferrari 430 than 911), winglets that connect the rear spoiler to the center of the rear deck, and lime green detailing as befitting its hybrid status.
Reaction to the exterior from designers we spoke to was mixed, but the interior found favor with most if also being perceived as a little overworked by some. The form of leather clad IP and the way it integrates TFT displays particularly impressed us, as did the very innovative way it wrapped into the door over the side air vents.
Although a surprise, ultimately the 918 does not establish any strong new Porsche themes as the last three Porsche concepts, the Panamerica, Boxter and Carrera GT, did. An underwhelming 718hp hybrid supercar...
Review by cardesignnews
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