I *heart* the Camatte

Unless you work for one of the big publications or sites, adequately covering all the significant debuts at the major motor shows is becoming an increasingly difficult logistical challenge. On the other side of the fence, unless you're brand royalty the limelight is being cut up into ever finer slices. 

One strategy is all out assault, as with Lotus at Paris 2010; a more considered response is to show at a less traditional event, usually car related. Concours & Classic events have become quite popular in the last 5-7 years, to the extent that a concept debut has become expected at Villa D'Este.

Camatte Sora

Even more recently, this has broadened further to pre-eminent events in other fields, such as the Milan Furniture Fair. Toyota chose the International Tokyo Toy Show to debut a brace of concepts: Camette Sora (above) and Daichi (below).

Camatte Daichi

Thank you Bentley Boys

I've let the blog languish for some time now. I wanted to take time to finish pieces to my satisfaction (thereby missing the point of blogging) and once I'd (inevitably) fallen behind, things kinda' snowballed from there. In the interim, things have happened: almost as inevitably, Lotus' grand re-invention has run aground, other stuff has come and gone, new 911 that takes a trained eye to distinguish from the old one, etc., etc., 

But nothing has really stirred me to put pen to paper (you know what I mean) until I saw the EXP 9 F concept. Clumsy name, but as nothing compared to the unremittingly awful item itself. I hardly know where to begin...

Given the virtual howls of derision that greeted the Lagonda Concept a couple of years back, one might have thought Bentley would proceed with caution; evidently not. 

 

Fine, OK; I get it. BRIC country billionaires are just as eager to flaunt their ill gotten gains as their Western counterparts (though no doubt a few will be sold in the US too...), but the peasants snigger when the Mulsanne grounds out on the appalling roads. And not being a Bentley purist, it doesn't offend me on principle; quite frankly, it's less of a stretch brandwise than a Porsche SUV (especially if one agrees with the sentiment long ago expressed by a certain Mr. E. Bugatti).

For anyone not clear why Bentley are doing this, the Cayenne also provides an explanation: despite the controversy, it is not only their bestselling but most profitable model. Couple that with a worldwide move away from luxury saloons to luxury SUVs and you wonder why it's taken Bentley so long.

I didn't expect an oasis of (relatively) good taste like the Range Rover. Bentleys are ostentatious, vulgar even, but this? This is woeful. I never thought there'd be a day when I hold up the Cayenne as an example of anything good, but if Bentley had followed Porsches' example & simply stuck with plastering the new body with established cues, it would have surely turned out better than this. This has been rumoured for years, so if the design team was this bereft of ideas they could have googled any number of photochops. Granted, most of these consist of grafting a Mulsanne or Continental nose onto a Touareg, but frankly that would be an improvement.

By friday stories of a rethink had emerged, the only puzzling thing about which being that Bentley needed the public reaction it's received to convince them a redesign is necessary (one also wonders what the other three design proposals it beat must have been like...). It calls to mind the S-type II in that it seems that they've asked the customers what they want, rather than given them what they (Bentley) think they should have; and it turned out the S-Type was what they thought they wanted, as opposed to the XF. More than anything else, the biggest disappointment is just how ordinary it is. It's just like every other SUV - only more: larger, more powerful, more expensive & faster. (Given that Lambo have also confirmed an SUV - at which they at least have previous - that last claim might be like a red rag to er, well, Bull...)

For all the talk of re-interpreting Bentley cues, there's scant evidence of it aside from the grille. OK, the Continental does feature an interrupted shoulderline but it's hardly unique to them – quite the opposite in fact, it's the new gill vent; itself another feature that Bentley can't lay particular claim to but is following the rest of the herd in adopting. And it doesn't matter how many times they use it - an ellipse, in & of itself, is not inherently distinctive enough to claim as part of a visual language, but Bentley seem to be pursuing the design equivalent of the old 'repeat until funny' comedy adage.

The quad lights with slightly larger inner pair which we were told were so important a few years ago, have been dropped for this odd arrangement (ironic given that this was used very successfully on 1^st gen X5). Still, the lower pair mean it looks slightly less like an Englon SC7 RV (Chinese vision of London taxi – and yes, as bad as that sounds) than it otherwise might.

The turbine fan running lights are clearly a reference to the famous aero-engine divis– hang on, that's the other one, isn't? (you gotta let it go, VW). Even if they really are functioning intakes for the (oddly sited) charge coolers it still doesn't explain the turbine motif, and the moulded black plastic diamond mesh insert just looks cheap. This last, along with the moulded primary, secondary and gill vent mesh are puzzling. I would have classified this as preview concept, but they're normally differentiated from the showroom item with some handcrafted details that too expensive / impractical for production (milled-from-billet switches, laser etched detailing). All the mesh inserts seem to already be gen-U-wine chrome effect plastic– apparently not even concept Bentleys warrant real metal mesh these days.

Whilst they've thrown the kitchen sink at things like the running lights, other areas seem strangely unfinished – the surfacing around the headlight and secondary intakes (which seem there largely to fill in the empty space) rudimentary, and at odds with the clutter of the light itself.

If this really were a concept I would have liked to see Bentley be a little more adventurous with the design; not necessarily in an avante garde way, more in terms of thinking what a Bentley SUV should be – much in the way R-R both re-invented and reaffirmed what it should be with the current Phantom.

Although historically Bentley have liked to point out that as opposed to Rolls Royce, their owners are more likely to drive rather than be driven, even they realise this unlikely to be the case in places like China in particular so it does have a long wheelbase (which the humongous 23” rims do help disguise). Even so, it doesn't look like it has anything other than a conventional rear door. Maybe they don't want to be seen following R-R's lead with a suicide door, but some sort of double hinged arrangement might have added a sense of occasion, as well as practicality making the the rear occupants (who in many cases will be the owners) feel a bit more special. Once inside, it strikes one as a fairly conventional interior, just better equipped & upholstered; sure, there's plenty of legroom but it doesn't offer anything different – again, the a concept might have had a little more theatre, if only to inspire customers to avail of the bespoke service.

The only reason I can think such a thing exists is because Range Rover has become a victim of its own success: having invented the luxury off-roader, and despite the excellence of the current Rangie, the basic problem seems to be that it's not exclusive or expensive enough. So step to it JLR, let's see an über-Rangie – but in the name of all that's holy, please resist the temptation to stick a Jaguar badge on it...

Bentley lookalikes 2: This time it's personal

They're even similar colours - no Photoshopping required

I have a(n electric) dream

.... or 'Do enthusiast's dream of electric cars?'

I'm really not sure hybrids are the answer, but in the short term at least it looks like they will be a reality, with Peugeot, Chevrolet, Nissan joining Toyota & Honda in offering mass market models of such. At the upper end of the scale we have Mercedes, Porsche and Lotus announcing 500bhp+ hybrids. At first I thought this was the engineers proving they had a sense of humour, now I just think they're being gits - producing something that is in fact more excessive that what it replaces but that's OK, because it's a hybrid.

I used to disagree with hybrids on principle: better to optimise existing drivetrain than lug around another for part time use, etc. However technological improvements – batteries especially – makes them a far more practical proposition. Out in the country, an efficient diesel is still best, something not likely to change anytime soon; but in an urban context, with a busy school run / commute (i.e., most of us) they make increasing sense. Unfortunately they still don't set the petrolhead's heart a-flutter, so I've been thinking about a manifesto for a hybrid that satisfies eurocrats and petrolhead alike.

Firstly – and this is non negotiable – it must be a parallel hybrid, preferably with electric drive at the front axle and internal combustion at the back. Electric only range shouldn't be more (or for that matter, less) than 30 miles; doesn't sound like much, but that's precisely the point - it is in fact enough to complete 80% of all journeys and obviously keeping the EV range down reduces the batteries needed and therefore weight.

There would of course be a full electric mode, topping out at 30mph for use on the daily grind and urban use generally; i.e. when driving is a chore. However, like the yellow pages, the electric motors are not just there for the nasty things in life; in other modes the drivetrain should be optimised for performance / enjoyment. With maximum torque on tap from the first revolution, electric motors are ideal for not only boosting acceleration performance but, by potentially reducing load on IC engine, improving efficiency at the same time: win-win. Could be a mean B-road point and squirt machine...

In fact this could mean a more 'relevant' performance envelope overall; my pet theory is that although 200mph was a milestone, the plethora of cars with a frankly irrelevant (yes, even on the autobahns) top speed is a by-product of delivering impressive acceleration. In the real world, the latter is more important / relevant / fun than the former. Although the official figures for the Nissan Leaf aren't that impressive, an independently tested pre-production example recorded a 0-60 of 7 secs and top speed of 95mph, which is nearly there: 5-6 secs and ~120mph would be ideal.

(This sort of touches on another point: is it heresy for someone who professes to be an enthusiast to confess that he thinks too much modern performance machinery is too fast? It's getting so that they're not just more fun at extra-legal speeds, they're only fun at extra-legal speeds.)

Which brings us to the final issue: control. There should be a 'manual' mode – which of course would be an illusion whereby the drivetrain simulates that behaviour (like the 'gears' on CVT equipped MGFs): acceleration and braking would be sharpened, engine (or more likely regenerative simulating it) braking boosted, etc. Taken to it's ultimate conclusion, with a drive by wire infrastructure in place, one might be able to mimic specific vehicles and such settings could be downloaded like ringtones.

How likely is this to happen? No idea, but the point is that change is inevitable, especially whilst the car remains legislators favourite whipping boy, so resistance is not a valid response; so why not try to take advantage of the potential benefits and shape the outcome more favourably?

To the casual onlooker, Shelby Super Cars (SSC) initially appeared to be no more than the latest in a long line of cottage (garage?) supercar ventures, and apparently exhibited a number of attributes typical of them: self made millionaire boss who reckons he can take on the established players? Check. Outrageous, er.., I mean optimistic claims, usually related to sales, power output, or in this case, top speed? Check. Finished article (if it gets that far...) has the faint whiff of homebuilt special / kitcar? Check.

Jerod Shelby (no relation) made his money in medical equipment, which made parallels with Arash (whose fortune was made in pharmaceuticals) almost irresistible. However, whilst the world's still waiting for the AF-10, not only have a number of SSC Ultimate Aero's been sold, in 2007 he did set a new record for world's fastest production car: 256mph (on a public road no less...)

This last is testament to the quality of engineering that had gone into the car, largely executed by Shelby himself. Unfortunately for him - and the credibility of SSC - the standard of engineering is not matched by that of the interior and exterior design.

I don't condone plagiarism, but mimicry a key part of the learning process, and it's clear that the Lamborghini Diablo was a key influence on the Ultimate Aero. It's also the reason why it displays another attribute common in low volume cars – it looks a little bit dated. Commonly operating in isolation, the design is more likely to be informed by production items contemporary during the design process, so by the time it actually reaches market it's a little dated. Designers working in the mainstream industry are not only more aware of, and contributing to, to emerging trends their job description by definition means they're designing for 12, 24 sometimes more months into the future.

Aesthetic considerations tend to get short shrift from engineers (indeed, Mr Shelby has admitted that looks weren't a priority first time around). Here again, Shelby differs from many who've gone before him by not only identifying and acknowledging this weakness, but getting professional help in...

...In the shape of Jason Castriota. Doubtless a perfectly nice chap, but to be honest I find a lot of his stuff overrated. He's designer of record for the Pininfarina P4/5, Bertone Mantide, neo Maserati Birdcage and Rolls-Royce Hyperion. I would honestly rather have the donor / namesake in all cases, really – especially in the Mantides'.

But the new SSC concept?..... in a word: WOW

This is what the future used to look like and of the moment - at the same time: part Angel Interceptor, part post-apocalytic, manga Lambo - shown off to perfection in white with the black glasshouse. At a stroke, the Reventon and Sesto Elemento seem to be trying just a little too hard which, as anyone knows, just isn't cool.

It's also one those few occasions where the importance of exterior design can be examined. Though it will have a new chassis, the wheelbase and basic dimensions will be carried over, as well as the transmission, suspension, brakes, engine block – even the doors; but the difference is night and day.

As well as owing a particular debt to the Diablo, the original obeyed a number of the supercar design clichés rules that Castriota has dispensed with. Whilst Lotus & Ferrari show that there's mileage yet in the bullseye taillight, unless they're bespoke or used in interesting way, they scream 'kitcar' (in a pejorative sense). Along with round taillights, flying buttresses have become a sportscar staple. Similarly, the original was liberally peppered with inlets and vents, many of whose purpose could only be guessed at, all of these needs have been met with a streamlined (in all senses) set of dramatic features. The glasshouse is an evolution of that seen on the P4/5 (is it just me or are there echoes of a '72 Riviera there too?) 

 

In fact, it's only the oily bits that now sound distinctly old hat. The SSC concept looks every inch the 21^st century hypercar; now if they just copy the CX-75's drivetrain it'd go like one too...

Alfa Romeo Spider

First post for a while, thought I'd ease into things by starting with an old piece about the Alfa Spider, based on notes made just after it's launch at Geneva in 2006.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
I would like to think of myself as a reasonably moderate, progressive individual; but there are things about which I remain resolutely unreconstructed. Such as convertibles, I just don't see the point. At all.

They're machines for being seen in, not driving: why would someone pay a premium for something that's heavier yet flimsier (comprising both performance and handling), less practical and – as a general rule – uglier?  Also, speaking as a heterosexual male, you also tend to look like a bit of a ponce (and now over forty, even more so), although I gleefully note that the more tanned & chiselled you are, the more ridiculous you look (there is a god). To my mind Dale Winton is the archetypal convertible driver; which is fine if he's your role model....

The open top driving experience itself is overrated: who wants to be buffeted and windchilled, really? Judging by the number of devices devoted to addressing such issues on contemporary convertibles (screens, air scarves, etc), not even the owners of such vehicles.

In my book the only acceptable convertible is one that started out as a bare bones, stripped out, focussed driving machine, such as a racing car, where being roofless is a byproduct of pursuing minimal cross-sectional area (& therefore drag) and the 'convertible' aspect consists of little more than a hole let into the upper surface as a grudging concession to basic ergonomics.

As well as being a better vehicle dynamically, the coupé sister is generally the looker too. Did anyone appreciate how huge the TT's arse was until the roof chopped off? The sweeping roofline was the perfect counterpoint to this. The frankly odd looking (chinless & dumpy) Z4 has been transformed by the addition of a roof (now all they need to do is fix that elongated yet chinless snout). Even the rare-as-hen's-teeth MX-5 Coupé is prettier than the original. The Cayman?.... OK, may be it's the exception that proves the rule.

But then I saw the new Alfa Spider. Wow. Here's something worth bending the rules for. The Brera never quite did it for me; in particular it's always seemed a little beetle-browed, bordering on the Neanderthal. I realised that the roofline and chunky C-pillar were the culprits but failed to anticipate just how much of a difference removing them would make; incredible.

At a stroke, something squat and lugubrious is rendered lithe and pert. On the Brera, the rear fender line is carried through from the beltline and, along with the shoulder line, tailgate shutline, and rear screen, converge on the rear badging; neat, but it does make it look like a hatchback rather than a coupe. On the Spider, the form in the rear fender and deck is well judged without being too much, no doubt helped by making the headrest fairings part of the interior by dint of colour coding. We assume the lip spoiler to be functional, but so well integrated is it that it'd be admissable on purely aesthetic grounds.

Were I to own one, I would move somewhere where the quality of both the neighbourhood and climate allowed me to leave it parked with the top down, and such that I approached it from the rear (too much information?...)

lagonda

tditd