CARchitecture: Porsche

I came across this wonderful Porsche Museum dedicated to exhibiting the history of the corporation. The exterior of the building did not appeal to me, but the interior, and particularly the details on the stairs were breathtaking. Credit have to be given to the photographer Michael Schnell, however, for capturing such elegant shots of the building.

The interior of the exhibition hall is designed to "convey a sense of arrival and approachability", guiding the visitors throughout the different spaces. It is located in Stuttgart, joining the Porsche plant and the Porsche Center at the historic birthplace of sports cars bearing the Porsche logo since the 1950s.

Formula Zero

The LA Auto Show's Design Challege this year have witnessed some amazing entries from Audi, BMW, Mazda, Toyota, as well as other manufacturers. But Mercedes have came up with this amazing concept that could be the begining of a really interesting sporting event, which they call Formula Zero.

The main goal is not simply to finish first as in most other motorsports, but with how energy efficient the winner is. Each team would be allocated the same amount of stored energy and it is left to the teams and drivers to manage the variables to win the race. The winner, therefore, is determined by total elapsed time combined with the energy efficiency factor.

The Formula Zero Racer is loaded with technology designed to extract the maximum thrust from the electric hub motors, aero-efficient solar skin and high-tech rigid sail... Incorporating luxury racing with the thrill of Formula One, the track dynamics of the bobsled or luge, and the grace and efficiency of yacht racing.

More info here and here.

Spite

Spite noun
1. a malicious, usually petty, desire to harm, annoy, frustrate, or humiliate another person; bitter ill will; malice.

Can such an ugly feeling generate beauty?

Well, legend has it that Ferruccio Lamborghini, provider of the agricultural machinery that drove Italy’s post war reconstruction, was the recipient of poor customer service from another more established Italian manufacturer. Lamborghini was insulted after complaining about a clutch problem, indicating that a “tractor manufacturer was not qualified to criticize such a highly acclaimed sports car”. Resolving never again to own a car with a prancing horse, the engineer set about creating a rival.

The result was not only in the logo of the car; a charging bull made up of the inverted colors of Ferrari’s prancing horse. Lambroghini became the main counterpart to Ferrari in the Italian sports car business. This began with the Miura in 1966. Named after a Spanish ranch whose bulls have a proverbial attack instinct, the car soon was beloved of film stars and tycoons.



Lamborghini continued producing amazing sports car that rivalled Ferrari, with a tradition of naming cars after famous Spanish fighting bulls. The latest addition was the Murciélago which means "bat" in Spanish. It comes from a bull that survived numerous sword strokes and fought with such passion and spirit that the matador chose to spare its life, a rare honor.



The latest, most powerful and expensive Lambo is the Reventón, which only 20 lucky people will own as reports indicate that no more than 20 examples will be manufactured. Reventón means "burst" in Spanish, and it is named after a bull who was best known for killing a famous bullfighter.

Festival of Speed Art Displays

The Goodwood Festival of Speed is an annual festival featuring a variety of historic motor racing vehicles. The festival started in 1993 in order to bring motor racing back to the Goodwood estate, a location steeped in British motor racing history. Since 1997, the festival honors a car manufacturer company each year.


Audi Art Display '99


Ford Art Display '03

Each year a different artistic display is installed in front of the Goodwood House. And just like Tilke's monopoly over designing new F1 circuits, Gerry Judah have been commissioned each year to design a new jaw-breaking sculpture starting with Ferraris in 1997.


Mercedes Art Display '01


Renault Art Display '02

This year's art display is an incredible artistic piece dedicated to Land Rover, celebrating the company's 60th anniversary. The naturally-rusted steel sculpture is 34m high, weighs 120 tonnes, and features five different Land Rover models. The form of the sculpture seems to be inspired by the rough mountainous landscape that these five cars are designed to endure.



Land Rover Art Display '08

Playing with the City

Here is another fabulous add... Funny how its always the cheap cars that come up with the best and cleverest ideas for advertisements... I know they do need to give extra motivation for people to buy their cars but I guess the main reason is that they aim to avoid concentrating on the car itself since it won't have that much to offer... instead they need these elaborate story lines to spice up their products.

Peugeot kicks Ferrari's @$$??!!

The 2007 Peugeot Design Contest had an interesting theme; P.L.E.A.S.E. innovate. The P.L.E.A.S.E. stands for:

P leasurable
L ively
E fficient
A ccessible
S imple
E cological

The winner of the competition provided an incredible design that took my breath away... I just hope Peugeot can wait a couple of 10 years until I can afford such a beauty... Screw Porsche, Ferrari, Aston Martin and any other sports car.... this is definitely the car I'm buying in my mid-life crisis.

The second winner was kind of cool too although it looked very conceptual and not very practical to me... more of the contest entries can be found here, here and here.